Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like you're just, you know, playing
Speaker 1: whack a mole with your software releases? Yeah, one minute
Speaker 1: you're pushing code, the next you're debugging some build failure,
Speaker 1: then a deployment hiccup, and all while trying to keep
Speaker 1: multiple apps across different platforms moving forward. It's well, it's exhausting.
Speaker 1: You feel like you're constantly fighting fires.
Speaker 2: That feeling is incredibly common. I think the sheer speed
Speaker 2: of modern development, especially in application life cycle management, it
Speaker 2: can just easily overwhelm teams, right, and that leads straight
Speaker 2: to those frustrating late stage failures and yeah, a lot
Speaker 2: of manual firefighting.
Speaker 1: Well, today we're not just going to talk about that struggle.
Speaker 1: We're actually going to show you how to conquer it.
Speaker 1: Our deep dive is all about Jenkins and this really
Speaker 1: game changing philosophy called pipeline as Code, and specifically using
Speaker 1: the elegance and frankly the power of Yamil our mission
Speaker 1: to sort of demystify how these tools can streamline your
Speaker 1: entire development process. You back control exactly whether you're crafting
Speaker 1: mobile apps, complex hybrid solutions, or you know, robust web platforms.
Speaker 2: We've distilled the most potent insights from a really foundational
Speaker 2: guide hands on pipeline as gamble with Jenkins, and combine
Speaker 2: that with other essential stuff on DevOps and automation. We're
Speaker 2: here to offer you, hopefully a genuine shortcut, not just
Speaker 2: being informed, but you know, truly insightful, getting those aha
Speaker 2: moments that clarify why things work.
Speaker 1: So, if you're ready to accelerate your software delivery, dramatically
Speaker 1: improve quality, and finally move past the complexity of well
Speaker 1: chaotic build processes, yeah, settle in. You are absolutely in
Speaker 1: the right place. Let's dig in.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's unpack this a bit before we get into
Speaker 2: the nitty gritty of pipelines themselves. We kind of need
Speaker 2: the big picture, right right. Why is DevOps everywhere? And
Speaker 2: what does it really mean for how we build software today?
Speaker 2: Is it just a buzzword?
Speaker 1: That's a crucial distinction, because DevOps is fundamentally a cultural transformation.
Speaker 1: It's really far more than just a new set of tools.
Speaker 2: It champions the seamless integration of people, processes and tools.
Speaker 2: Think of it like breaking down those old walls, the
Speaker 2: silos exactly, the silos between dev and OPS teams. It's
Speaker 2: about fostering shared ownership, empowering people, and designing processes that
Speaker 2: encourage rapid feedback and continuous improvement. Without that cultural glue,
Speaker 2: even the best tools just well they sit idle.
Speaker 1: That makes sense because I remember the old way, traditional
Speaker 1: serial development. It felt like walking through a minefield sometimes.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you'd only find critical issues right before launch,
Speaker 1: and fixing them then was just incredibly costly and stressful,
Speaker 1: a total reactive nightmare.
Speaker 2: Precisely, that serial approach basically guaranteed late stage failures. Then
Speaker 2: Agile came along, giving us iterative development, which is a
Speaker 2: big step, a huge step forward in responsiveness absolutely, But
Speaker 2: even agile by itself could actually magnify inefficiencies if you
Speaker 2: weren't automating them. Those continuous parts of the workflow, how
Speaker 2: so well, imagine having a fast iterative cycle but still
Speaker 2: manually testing and deploying everything. It just quickly becomes a bottleneck.
Speaker 1: Right, Oh, okay, got it.
Speaker 2: And that's exactly where continuous integration and continuous delivery step in.
Speaker 1: Right, CI and CD. You hear about them constantly for
Speaker 1: those of us maybe already deep in the trenches. What's
Speaker 1: the real like the magic that these continuous practices unlock well.
Speaker 2: For folks already familiar, CI isn't just about running tests.
Speaker 2: It's about relentlessly integrating codes so frequently, ideally multiple times
Speaker 2: a day, that conflicts and bugs simply can't fester for long.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: It forces this early collaborative detection loop. It prevents those
Speaker 2: dreaded integration hell scenarios that used to plague us. It
Speaker 2: fundamentally shifts quality left, meaning issues are caught as they're introduced,
Speaker 2: not days or weeks later.
Speaker 1: So CI gets us that continuously integrated state, catching things
Speaker 1: super fast. But how does continuous delivery take that a
Speaker 1: step further? Making sure our software isn't just built, but
Speaker 1: always deployable. What's the CD magic?
Speaker 2: Yeah? CD builds right on that foundation. It automates the
Speaker 2: deployment of your application packages into various environments you know, dev, testing, uat,
Speaker 2: eventually production. The aha here is that your software isn't
Speaker 2: just ready to go, it's proven to be releasable at
Speaker 2: any given moment.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a key difference, it really is.
Speaker 2: This capability transforms deployment from this high stakes, manual, often
Speaker 2: scary event into a routine, low risk process. And you know,
Speaker 2: beyond just CICD. We're now embracing continuous testing, monitoring, feedback, innovation,
Speaker 2: all working together the whole life cycle exactly, the whole
Speaker 2: application management life cycle.
Speaker 1: And Jenkins. Where does Jenkins fit into orchestrating all of this?
Speaker 1: It seems like the beating heart of so many CICD setups.
Speaker 2: Jenkins is truly that central nervous system for many teams.
Speaker 2: It's an open source automation server designed specifically to simplify
Speaker 2: setting up these complex CICD pipelines.
Speaker 1: Its flexibility is pretty amazing.
Speaker 2: It's remarkable. Yeah, it supports virtually any combination of languages, tools,
Speaker 2: source code, repositories. And what's truly fascinating is its evolution.
Speaker 2: Jenkins actually started way back in two thousand and four,
Speaker 2: originally as Hudson.
Speaker 1: Oh right, Hudson, I remember that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, primarily as a CI server. But then after Jenkins
Speaker 2: two point zero, it underwent this really profound transformation. It
Speaker 2: evolved from just a CI tool into a powerful orchestrator
Speaker 2: for the entire application management life cycle. Ah, and that
Speaker 2: shift really solidified its role as a cornerstone for modern DevOps.
Speaker 1: Okay, here's where it gets really interesting for me. Jenkins
Speaker 1: wasn't always this powerhouse of orchestration. It started quite differently.
Speaker 1: How did it evolve? How did it meet these escalating
Speaker 1: demands of modern development?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jenkins has certainly come a long long way. Historically,
Speaker 2: pipelines were often built using UI based plugins like the
Speaker 2: Build Pipeline plug in clickops. Basically, pretty much, you'd create
Speaker 2: individual jobs for each a task, build, test, deploy, and
Speaker 2: then literally link them together with clicks in the Jenkins UI.
Speaker 1: It worked, but managing it must have been tough.
Speaker 2: Oh, it became incredibly complex, especially across multiple projects, and
Speaker 2: if part of the pipeline failed, debugging was often this
Speaker 2: nightmare of trial and error within the UI. Making changes
Speaker 2: meant tons of manual rework with no clear audit trail.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that sounds brittle, And how do you version control
Speaker 1: that if it's all just clicks in a UI separate
Speaker 1: from your actual application code?
Speaker 2: Exactly? That challenge was the catalyst really for the crucial
Speaker 2: shift towards pipeline's code. Okay, the aha moment here is
Speaker 2: realizing your entire build definition now lives alongside your application code.
Speaker 2: It's version auditible, collaborative right in your repo. This approach
Speaker 2: defines your pipeline in a dedicated script file usually called
Speaker 2: the Jenkins file, which you commit directly into get or
Speaker 2: whatever you use. And the benefits there are immense. Yeah,
Speaker 2: pipeline itself is versioned just like your app code. It's
Speaker 2: way easier to maintain, track changes, recover from disasters. It
Speaker 2: transforms this fragile hidden process into a transparent, robust blueprint.
Speaker 2: Everyone on the team can see it, understand it, contribute
Speaker 2: to it. It's a huge leap.
Speaker 1: So pipeline as code that's the big game changer. Now
Speaker 1: within that idea, what are the different flavors of pipelines
Speaker 1: we can actually create in Jenkins? When would you pick
Speaker 1: one over the other?
Speaker 2: Good question. Within pipeline as code, Jenkins primarily offers two
Speaker 2: main types, scripted and declarative. Okay, the scripted pipeline uses
Speaker 2: Groovy script. It's incredibly powerful for really complex logic, dynamic flows,
Speaker 2: or integrating you bespoke stuff.
Speaker 1: But there's always a butt.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that power comes with steeper learning curve. You
Speaker 2: need decent Groovy programming skills, so it's often ideal for
Speaker 2: seasoned automation engineers tackling really intricate problems.
Speaker 1: Okay, so that's scripted. What about declarative?
Speaker 2: Declarative pipeline is the more recent approach. It was designed
Speaker 2: and specifically with ease of use and readability right at
Speaker 2: the core.
Speaker 1: Ah nice.
Speaker 2: It follows a fixed structured format using a domain specific
Speaker 2: language at DSL. It's fantastic for most common CICD scenarios
Speaker 2: because it's much clearer about what the pipeline should do,
Speaker 2: hiding some of the groovy complexities.
Speaker 1: Here to get started with.
Speaker 2: Definitely excellent for onboarding new team members, and it promotes
Speaker 2: consistency across different projects.
Speaker 1: Now, I've also heard people talk about Blue Ocean. Is
Speaker 1: that another pipeline type or something else?
Speaker 2: Great question. Blue Ocean isn't a pipeline type itself. It's
Speaker 2: more of an enhanced user experience layer for Jenkins, like
Speaker 2: a better UI, exactly specifically designed to make creating, visualizing,
Speaker 2: and interacting with declarative pipelines incredibly intuitive. Think of it
Speaker 2: as a modern visual editor. You can often select components
Speaker 2: steps and it helps generate the declarative script for.
Speaker 1: You, and visualization is key there hugely.
Speaker 2: It provides really clear stage wise logs and these nice
Speaker 2: graphical representations of your pipeline's progress. That's invaluable for quickly
Speaker 2: spotting bottlenecks or failures and complex flows. It just makes
Speaker 2: the whole pipeline much more approachable.
Speaker 1: So we've got declarative pipelines, which are already a huge
Speaker 1: step up in clarity, but for teams wanting even more readability,
Speaker 1: maybe a shallower learning curve, there's this other evolution. Right
Speaker 1: this pipeline as YAML, Where does that fit in?
Speaker 2: Right pipeline as YAML basically takes that declarative approach and
Speaker 2: wraps it in an even cleaner, more human readable syntax.
Speaker 1: Yamo's pretty common now.
Speaker 2: It is. It uses a specialized plug in that takes
Speaker 2: your intuitive YAML script and actually converts it into a
Speaker 2: declarative pipeline behind the scenes during execution.
Speaker 1: Ah.
Speaker 2: So it offers this incredibly simplified, structured way to define
Speaker 2: your pipelines, makes them super accessible, especially if your team
Speaker 2: already uses YAML for other configs like Kubernetes or something.
Speaker 1: So this whole evolution means more robust, easier to manage
Speaker 1: automation for everyone.
Speaker 2: Really exactly, no matter your skill level. There's a way
Speaker 2: to leverage this power effectively if we connect this back
Speaker 2: to the bigger picture, that Yammel pipeline structure. It gives
Speaker 2: you this beautifully clear, organized way to define your entire
Speaker 2: application life cycle, makes it inherently understandable, auditible, and scalable.
Speaker 2: Should we dig into the core components?
Speaker 1: Yes, definitely. This is where we get into the nuts
Speaker 1: and bolts. How does a YAMAL pipeline actually start? And
Speaker 1: what's that fundamental structure giving us all the clarity?
Speaker 2: Okay, so at its route, every YAMML pipeline starts with
Speaker 2: the pipeline block that encapsulates everything, right, And one of
Speaker 2: the very first things you'll define inside that is the agent.
Speaker 2: This tells Jenkins where your pipeline, or even just a
Speaker 2: specific stage within it is going to run.
Speaker 1: Okay, and this ties into that controller agent architecture.
Speaker 2: You mentioned decisely. It's crucial for how Jenkins works. You
Speaker 2: have a central Jenkins controller that delegates tasks out to
Speaker 2: distributed agents.
Speaker 1: So Jenkins itself isn't doing all the heavy lifting. It's
Speaker 1: farming the workout.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That seems way better than one giant build server.
Speaker 2: It's fundamental for scalability, fault tolerance, and environment consistency. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2: These agents can be you know, physical machines, VMS, Docker containers,
Speaker 2: cloud instances.
Speaker 1: Lots of options.
Speaker 2: Yeah. This allows for parallel execution of stages, load balancing
Speaker 2: across your resources, and ensuring tasks run in dedicated, consistent environments.
Speaker 2: You can specify agent any to let Jenkins.
Speaker 1: Pick one or be more specific right.
Speaker 2: Use label to target a pool of agents with a
Speaker 2: specific tag like Linux build farm or maybe Windows dot
Speaker 2: net agents or even Docker or Docker file to run
Speaker 2: stages right inside a container specified on the fly.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's powerful for consistency. No more, it works on
Speaker 1: my machine problems exactly.
Speaker 2: That's a huge benefit guarantees consistent build environments.
Speaker 1: Okay, that makes sense for where it runs. What about
Speaker 1: the actual work being done? How's that organized? Logically?
Speaker 2: That's where stages come in. Stages are logical blocks that
Speaker 2: group related steps like milestones. Kind of think of a
Speaker 2: stage as a major phase like static, code analysis, build
Speaker 2: or deploy to staging. It provides clear checkpoints, makes it
Speaker 2: easy to see where a pipeline failed.
Speaker 1: Can they get complex?
Speaker 2: They can for more complex workflows. You can even have
Speaker 2: nested stages or run stages in parallel, like running unit
Speaker 2: tests and integration tests at the same time to speed
Speaker 2: things up.
Speaker 1: Okay, And the steps are the actual individual commands inside
Speaker 1: those stages exactly.
Speaker 2: Steps are the individual tasks things like executing a bat
Speaker 2: command for Windows or an all shell command for Linux macOS.
Speaker 1: Can you define tools too, like specific Java versions?
Speaker 2: Yep, that's the tools directive. It's Jenkins locate and use
Speaker 2: specific versions of software radal maven, a particular JDK node version, whatever. Yeah,
Speaker 2: makes them available during pipeline execution without hard coding paths
Speaker 2: huge for reproducibility.
Speaker 1: What about flexibility? Don't want to hard code everything? Like
Speaker 1: which environment to deploy to? How do you handle that?
Speaker 2: Right? That's crucial for that. You use parameters. These let
Speaker 2: users provide values when they trigger the pipeline.
Speaker 1: Ah like run time options exactly.
Speaker 2: Specify a target environment like staging or production, maybe a
Speaker 2: specific branch name or build version. You can give them
Speaker 2: default values, helpful descriptions. It stops the hard coding. It
Speaker 2: makes the pipeline way more flexible and reusable.
Speaker 1: Okay. Now, I've definitely seen sections that run after a
Speaker 1: stage or even the whole pipeline finishes, like for notifications
Speaker 1: or cleanup.
Speaker 2: What are those that's the post section, and it's incredibly
Speaker 2: powerful for reliability in just knowing what happened.
Speaker 1: How does it work?
Speaker 2: It defines steps that execute based on the outcome. You
Speaker 2: can have steps run always or only on success, failure,
Speaker 2: unstable or there's cleanup.
Speaker 1: Too, so sending a Slack message on failure perfect.
Speaker 2: Example, or archiving build artifacts on success, maybe cleaning up
Speaker 2: temporary files always. It's essential for notifications, evidence gathering, cleanup,
Speaker 2: making sure you know the outcome and how what you need.
Speaker 1: Got it And are there any overall pipeline settings that
Speaker 1: apply globally yep.
Speaker 2: Those go under options. This block defines pipeline wide settings,
Speaker 2: things like skip to check out if you handle checkout manually,
Speaker 2: setting a time out for the entire run. Oh timeouts
Speaker 2: are useful very or adding time stamps to console output
Speaker 2: for clarity, or build discarder to manage how many old
Speaker 2: build records Jenkins keeps helps keep things tidy.
Speaker 1: And the yamal plug in itself helps you get it right.
Speaker 2: It does the pipeline has Yamel incubated plugin has built
Speaker 2: in validation. If your YAML syntax is off, Jenkins will
Speaker 2: usually tell you right away and help pinpoint the air mix,
Speaker 2: writing the pipeline much smoother.
Speaker 1: So understanding all these bits agent stages, steps, parameters, post
Speaker 1: options that gives you real.
Speaker 2: Control, precise control exactly, and it lets you write clear,
Speaker 2: readable automation scripts that truly map to your applications life cycle.
Speaker 1: So what does this actually look like for the different
Speaker 1: kinds of apps people are building? You know, let's connect
Speaker 1: this Yamel power to mobile web hybrid and maybe tackle
Speaker 1: some real world headaches people run into.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is where the versatility really shines. We can
Speaker 2: define these robust, multi stage ce ICD pipelines Inyamel for
Speaker 2: a huge array of applications. And what you'll see, interestingly,
Speaker 2: are these recurring patterns.
Speaker 1: Common themes across different textacks.
Speaker 2: Definitely, Even though the specific commands change, the stages often
Speaker 2: look very similar.
Speaker 1: Okay, what are some of those common stages you'd almost
Speaker 1: always see and what's the core problem they're solving for us?
Speaker 2: Well? Recurring stages often include static code analysis, SEA or linting.
Speaker 1: Checking the code quality first.
Speaker 2: Exactly, using tools like flutter Analyze or Android lint or
Speaker 2: Sonar koub to scan your code for bugs, vulnerabilities, code
Speaker 2: smells before you even try to build or run anything
Speaker 2: shifting left. That's the key AHA moments. Shifting security and
Speaker 2: quality left. Catching issues before they even get compiled dramatically
Speaker 2: reduces downstream pain. Then you'll nearly always see unit, test
Speaker 2: execution and code coverage.
Speaker 1: Running the tests right.
Speaker 2: Commands like Flutter, test machine, maybe NPM run test GRADELU,
Speaker 2: dot bat, che coco, test report to bug, integrating with
Speaker 2: plugins like JUnit for reports, or publish coverage for tools
Speaker 2: like Jacco or Cobratura. It's not just about pass fail.
Speaker 2: It's validating logic and making sure you have good test coverage.
Speaker 1: So check the code quality, check the functionality. Then what
Speaker 1: then comes the build stage itself, creating the actual deployable.
Speaker 2: Package ePK, the web bungal.
Speaker 1: Precisely Flutter build ac or Ionic Cordova, build android prod
Speaker 1: for hybrid gray lu, dot bat assemble for native Android,
Speaker 1: NPM run run build dot pro dot nn for a
Speaker 1: web app whatever fits your stack, And.
Speaker 2: You need to save that build artifact right, absolutely crucial.
Speaker 2: That's the artifact archiving stage, using steps like archive artifacts,
Speaker 2: dot app k or maybe zip dear debt, disk browser,
Speaker 2: zip file, dot browser, dot zip to save those outputs.
Speaker 2: You need them for deployment, for testing, for history.
Speaker 1: And finally getting it out there.
Speaker 2: Finally distribution or deployment sending the app where it needs
Speaker 2: to go, maybe using an app Center step for mobile distribution,
Speaker 2: or doing a Docker build and Docker run for web apps,
Speaker 2: maybe deploying to Kubernetes.
Speaker 1: Okay, those patterns are super clear, but you know, real
Speaker 1: world development it isn't always that smooth. Are there specific
Speaker 1: examples or common challenges for different platforms that people should
Speaker 1: watch out for? How do yammel pipelines?
Speaker 2: Hope theyre Oh? Definitely. For Flutter apps, for instance, a
Speaker 2: common first step is running Flutter doctor just to make
Speaker 2: sure the build agent environment is sane. Good check. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And a practical tip and aha moment really yeah is
Speaker 2: using a catcher block around your sea stage your linting
Speaker 2: What is that? It prevents the entire pipeline from failing
Speaker 2: just because of minor linting warnings. You can let the
Speaker 2: bill proceed, but mark the stage is unstable. That's often
Speaker 2: better for developer productivity than just feeling everything for a
Speaker 2: style issue.
Speaker 1: Ah smart distinction. Okay. What about hybrid apps like Ionic,
Speaker 1: Cordova or Angular, They often have their own ecosystem.
Speaker 2: Quirks for sure. With Ionic, Cordovanngular, you'll typically configure Karma
Speaker 2: dot com dot js very explicitly for testing, specifying plugins
Speaker 2: for j unit reports, coprature coverage reports, enabling Edla's browser
Speaker 2: so your CI tests don't eat a.
Speaker 1: Real screen right needs to run automated exactly, and.
Speaker 2: Your package dot Jason will define clear scripts for lint
Speaker 2: test build. A common pain point listeners phase is with
Speaker 2: MPM resolving security vulnerabilities using NPM auditfix, or maybe hitting
Speaker 2: those tricky get project metadata errors which often mean needs
Speaker 2: adjusting versions like the at Angular DevKit build Angular package.
Speaker 2: Your pipeline definition needs to handle that dependency management precisely.
Speaker 1: Good point, and for a native Android that often involves
Speaker 1: its own specific tool chain steps.
Speaker 2: Definitely, for Android, you can integrate lint analysis deeply using
Speaker 2: gradlud dot bat, clean, lint Jockcoco plugins are pretty standard
Speaker 2: for code coverage reports, and a really critical step is
Speaker 2: using jar signer dot exe or the equivalent for actually
Speaker 2: signing your apk's before you distribute them to Google Play
Speaker 2: or app Center or wherever. Can't skip the signing no way,
Speaker 2: So these specific examples they really show off the versatility
Speaker 2: of Jenkins AMOL pipelines. They give you concrete, actionable insights
Speaker 2: for different environments and knowing about these common issues and solutions.
Speaker 2: That's practical wisdom for navigating real world projects, which actually
Speaker 2: raises a really important question. How do we not just
Speaker 2: build these pipelines, get them working initially, but build them
Speaker 2: well and keep them secure, scalable, reliable over the long haul.
Speaker 2: That's where the true value proposition lies.
Speaker 1: I think that is the real challenge, isn't it going
Speaker 1: beyond just it works, to making it robust, secure, something
Speaker 1: you can rely on for years. Let's start with installation
Speaker 1: and scalability. How do you set up Jenkins itself for
Speaker 1: that long haul, especially now with cloud and containers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, A critical best practice for easy installation, consistency and
Speaker 2: fault tolerance is definitely deploying Jenkins using doctor containers. Leveraging
Speaker 2: something like the official Jenkins SI Blue Ocean image makes
Speaker 2: set up much simpler and for bigger scale, for even
Speaker 2: greater scalability, resilience, dynamic resource allocation, deploying Jenkins on a
Speaker 2: cloud Kubernetes service like Azure, Akas or Amazon eks is
Speaker 2: highly recommended.
Speaker 1: Why Kupernetti's specifically.
Speaker 2: Well gives you self healing, easy scaling of the Jenkins
Speaker 2: controller itself and using docro file agents within Kubernetes pods
Speaker 2: that massively simplifies environment set up for your builds, makes
Speaker 2: it incredibly consistent for developers.
Speaker 1: And this all ties back to that controller agent architecture
Speaker 1: again right, using distributed power.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you want to really lean into that distributed model.
Speaker 2: Use multiple agents, whether they're dynamic doc or containers spun
Speaker 2: up on demand or Kubernetes pods. This allows for parallel execution,
Speaker 2: efficient load balancing, and.
Speaker 1: You use labels to manage them.
Speaker 2: Exactly. You assign labels to these agents maybe no JS
Speaker 2: agent and roid build VM stroop you enabled, and your
Speaker 2: pipeline then intelligently targets the right pool, optimizes resource use,
Speaker 2: insures builds run on the correctly configured environment.
Speaker 1: Okay, infrastructure covered. Security paramount obviously, especially for something controlling
Speaker 1: your whole delivery process? What are the non negotiables for
Speaker 1: locking down Jenkins and the pipelines.
Speaker 2: Security has got to be a primary design thought, not
Speaker 2: tacked on later. You absolutely need robust authentication and authorization.
Speaker 1: Like integrating with existing systems.
Speaker 2: Ideally Yeah, integrating with enterprise identity providers like Azure, ADLDPP,
Speaker 2: or maybe just using jenkin'sone user database for authentication if needed,
Speaker 2: and then for authorization. Who can do what? Implementing matrix
Speaker 2: based or project based security is crucial for fine grained
Speaker 2: access control.
Speaker 1: So not everyone can trigger every pipeline.
Speaker 2: Definitely not. This ensures only authorized users or teams can trigger,
Speaker 2: configure or even see specific jobs or folders. Project based security,
Speaker 2: especially lets you set permissions at a very granular level
Speaker 2: for specific pipelines, really reduces the risk of unauthorized access
Speaker 2: or accidental changes.
Speaker 1: Okay, it makes sense. And beyond setup insecurity, what about
Speaker 1: keeping the system itself reliable handling the unexpected. Nobody wants
Speaker 1: their CICD system going down right before.
Speaker 2: Release, no kidding. Critical for reliability, robust back up and
Speaker 2: restore procedures. This is absolutely non negotiable for disaster recovery.
Speaker 1: What are the options there?
Speaker 2: Well, you can manually back up the jenkinsom directory, but
Speaker 2: that's aero prone. Using plugins like thin Backup for scheduled,
Speaker 2: full or incremental backups is much better.
Speaker 1: And the aha moment here.
Speaker 2: Isn't just having a backup it's regularly simulating failures and
Speaker 2: practicing your restoration process make sure it actually works flawlessly
Speaker 2: when you desperately need it.
Speaker 1: Practice makes perfect even for disaster.
Speaker 2: Recovery, especially for disaster recovery, and also proactively monitoring Jenkins
Speaker 2: dashboards for notifications, careful managing plug in updates and compatibility.
Speaker 2: That helps prevent breaking changes and keeps the system stable
Speaker 2: day to day.
Speaker 1: Okay, that covers the Jenkins system itself. What about designing
Speaker 1: the pipelines, any best practices there to make them more maintainable,
Speaker 1: more effective?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely for pipeline design itself. Really embrace tools like
Speaker 2: Blue Ocean and the Stippet Generator. They significantly accelerate creating
Speaker 2: declarative Jenkins files, making scriptwriting easier and less error prone.
Speaker 1: Less manual typing of boilerplate exactly.
Speaker 2: Another crucial tip try to combine related commands within single
Speaker 2: steps where it makes sense, or use external script files.
Speaker 2: Avoid breaking everything into tiny inefficient steps that just slow
Speaker 2: down your bills with overhead.
Speaker 1: And stick to declarative mostly generally.
Speaker 2: Yes, a key recommendation is to avoid overly complex scripted
Speaker 2: pipelines unless absolutely necessary. Declarative pipelines are usually far easier
Speaker 2: to manage, understand, and hand over to new team members
Speaker 2: down the line.
Speaker 1: What about managing different branches like feature branches versus main Use.
Speaker 2: Multi branch pipelines, they're designed for this, Combine them with
Speaker 2: branch filters to manage different configurations per branch efficiently, ensuring
Speaker 2: consistency across your development life cycle.
Speaker 1: So using pipeline as code doesn't just automate, it can
Speaker 1: actually improve quality itself. How do you build that? In?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you implement quality gates directly within your pipelines, meaning
Speaker 2: meaning setting automated thresholds for critical metrics like require minimum
Speaker 2: code coverage percentage, or maybe fail to build if static
Speaker 2: analysis finds more than x critical errors.
Speaker 1: Ah automated checks exactly.
Speaker 2: This ensures quality standards are met at each stage before
Speaker 2: code can progress further, prevents regressions, uphold your team's quality
Speaker 2: standards automatically. All these best practices, they aren't just about
Speaker 2: making life easier today. They ensure your investment in CICD
Speaker 2: is robust, secure, sustainable, making your whole journey smoother.
Speaker 1: This has been a truly fantastic deep dive. It's so
Speaker 1: clear that Jenkins with YAML pipelines isn't just automating a
Speaker 1: few tasks. It's really enabling this profound cultural and operational
Speaker 1: shift in how we develop software, and that shift brings
Speaker 1: real tangible benefits faster time to market, much higher quality software,
Speaker 1: increased productivity for your teams, and genuinely better collaboration. It
Speaker 1: really empowers you to catch issues early, streamline that entire
Speaker 1: application life cycle from commit to deploy exactly, very first
Speaker 1: commit to reliable deployment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've covered a lot of ground today from understanding
Speaker 2: that core DevOps mindset. The really interesting evolution of Jenkins
Speaker 2: from UI clicks to pipeline is code to dissecting the
Speaker 2: precise structure of Yamel pipelines, agents, stages, parameters, this crucial
Speaker 2: post section. Then we brought it to life with those practical,
Speaker 2: real world examples across mobile, hybrid.
Speaker 1: Web, tackling those common issues.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tackling common issues, offering actional solutions.
Speaker 1: And crucially we wrapped it up with those essential best
Speaker 1: practices making sure your Genkin setup isn't just working, but
Speaker 1: it's scalable, secure, easy to maintain from Docker and Kubernetes
Speaker 1: deployment to backup strategies and smart pipeline design. Hopefully you
Speaker 1: now have a comprehensive picture.
Speaker 2: So maybe the thought to leave folks with is this,
Speaker 2: consider how automating your pipeline, truly making it code transforms it.
Speaker 2: It stops being just a reactive, often brittle task and
Speaker 2: becomes this living, evolving blueprint that continuously improves your tire
Speaker 2: development journey.
Speaker 1: That's powerful.
Speaker 2: And then ask what other parts of your workflow, maybe
Speaker 2: even beyond CICD, could really benefit from adopting this as
Speaker 2: code approach, turning that manual effort into transparent, version controlled automation.
Speaker 1: That's a fantastic provocative thought. Tend on thinking beyond the
Speaker 1: pipeline itself. Well, thank you for joining us on this
Speaker 1: deep dive. We really hope you found those aha moments
Speaker 1: and are brooming with ideas to put this knowledge into action.
Speaker 2: Well so too.
Speaker 1: Until next time, keep innovating, keep learning, and keep building
Speaker 1: those robust, beautiful pipelines