Introduction to Jenkins for the .NET DeveloperAbe Diaz@abe238

Who am I?

• Developer -> Evangelist -> Product

• Mostly .Net Developer

• Jenkins Enthusiast

• Contact Info:• Twitter: @abe238

• info@abediaz.com

What is Jenkins?

• Jenkins is an open source continuous integration tool written in Java. The project was forked from Hudson after a dispute with Oracle.

• Jenkins provides continuous integration services for software development. It is a server-based system running in a servlet container such as Apache Tomcat.

• Jenkins is an award-winning application that monitors executions of repeated jobs, such as building a software project or jobs run by cron.

And what is continuous integration?

• Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice that requires developers to integrate code into a shared repository several times a day. Each check-in is then verified by an automated build, allowing teams to detect problems early.

And why do I need this again?

The software development world is

a distributed one

Developer

Works on his machine

Checks in code to repo Source Control

(Git/TFS)

Grabs latest code

Build Artifacts (exe, website,

app)

Builds

Run Tests (Nunit, MSTest, StyleCop,

JSHint)

Publish Output to Live Server

Post Build Steps

Deploy

Report Back

How does Jenkins typically fit into my work?

Before you start - Jenkins and SCM• Jenkins and configuration management tools like Chef and Puppet

go hand in hand.

• The reason for it is to have consistent environments.

• You should script out your Jenkins install and configuration.

• Also useful when using nodes.

Installing Jenkins• Jenkins-CI.org

• Chocolatey.org

• Prerequisites: JAVA

Demo• Install Jenkins via Chocolatey

• Verify Jenkins is running

Job Types• Freestyle

• External

• Multi-config

Requisites for TFS & .NET• Microsoft Team Explorer Everywhere 2013

• .NET 4.5.1

• Easy: choco install visualstudio2013teamexplorer

Secondary Credentials

TFS Project Config

VisualStudio Online is a bit finicky

• When all fails, use plain commands.

Demo• Create first project

• Show GIT Support

• Choco install git

• MSBuild Plugin

• choco install microsoft-build-tools

Pre build, build and post build steps• Pre build steps are great for items such as: StyleCop and JS

minimizers.

• Build steps are for grabbing code, compiling and running tests.

• Post build steps are for communication, archival and deployments.

How are we using Jenkins• Transitioned from TFS to Git

• Trigger Builds upon code checkin

• Run tests

• Deploy to specific AWS machines

• Report via Slack

• Archive and upload files to AWS (S3)

Housekeeping• Backup Jenkins (if possible to the cloud)

• Recom: thinBackup

• Secure your instance• LDAP

• Custom users

• Monitor critical instances • Runscope

• Daily builds

• Let Jenkins manage version numbers

• Always test plugins before installing in production (Same goes for Jenkins)• Uninstall all plugins that are not being used.

Job Reuse• As your number of jobs grow, consider splitting the tasks into

reusable parts

• Multi-Job

• Parameterized Builds • This can be very useful when running tests

• Parameterized Triggers

Using Jenkins for CD• Promoted Builds

• Workflows

• Can integrate with external processes

• Auto test Pull Requests

• Recom: Pull request builder plugin

External Integration• Auto Update GH issues or JIRA tickets

• Create Documentation on the fly

• Recom: Doxygen

• Call any external API (Custom)

Using Nodes • Jenkins has a Master/Slave architecture

• You can add as many nodes as needed.

• These can be generic or environment specific

• These can be used also for testing as nodes could be on a different OS

Demo• Adding a node

Questions?