Jenkins Automation Server Setup (Native)

Next we want to install the containerized version of Jenkins. For the initial install, I’ll plan to install standard Jenkins vs. the containerized Docker version on Docker Hub. So I’m going by the instructions from Jenkins.io for Linux Debian/Ubuntu installs.

Here are the details:

wget -q -O - https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian/jenkins.io.key | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo deb http://pkg.jenkins.io/debian-stable binary/ > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jenkins.list'
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install jenkins

This package installation will:

  • Setup Jenkins as a daemon launched on start. See /etc/init.d/jenkins for more details.
  • Create a jenkins user to run this service.
  • Direct console log output to the file /var/log/jenkins/jenkins.log. Check this file if you are troubleshooting Jenkins.
  • Populate /etc/default/jenkins with configuration parameters for the launch, e.g JENKINS_HOME
  • Set Jenkins to listen on port 8080. Access this port with your browser to start configuration.

Warning

If your /etc/init.d/jenkins file fails to start Jenkins, edit the /etc/default/jenkins to replace the line —-HTTP_PORT=8080—- with —-HTTP_PORT=8081—- Here, “8081” was chosen but you can put another port available.

Configuring Jenkins

Now you can check out the running instance in your browser at localhost:8080

The first time, you’ll be presented with a setup window which will prompt you for a password.

_images/jenkins_unlock.png

As indicated in the dialog, you can either find the initial password in the official Jenkins log file at /var/log/jenkins/jenkins.log or at the location mentioned in the dialog - /var/lib/jenkins/secrets/initialAdminPassword.

Next you’ll be prompted to install plugins. I selected the Install Suggested Plugins option. Next you’ll be prompted to create the first admin account. Finally, you’ll be at the main Jenkins page.

Blue Ocean Plugin

Of course, this option didn’t install the BlueOcean plugin so we need to do this next. Details for this are pulled from the Jenkins.io Getting Started with Blue Ocean page.

To install the Blue Ocean suite of plugins to your Jenkins instance:

  • If required, ensure you are logged in to Jenkins (as a user with the Admin permission).
  • From the Jenkins home page (i.e. the Dashboard of the Jenkins classic UI), click Manage Jenkins on the left and then Manage Plugins in the center.
  • Click the Available tab and type blue ocean into the Filter text box, which filters the list of plugins to those whose name and/or description contains the words “blue” and “ocean”.

Select the Blue Ocean plugin’s check box near the top of the the Install column and then click either the Download now and install after restart button (recommended) or the Install without restart button at the the end of the page.

Note

There is no need to select the check boxes of the other plugins in this filtered list because the main Blue Ocean plugin has other plugin dependencies (constituting the Blue Ocean suite of plugins) which will automatically be selected and installed when you click one of these “Install” buttons.

If you chose the Install without restart button, you may need to restart Jenkins in order to gain full Blue Ocean functionality.