{"id":2067,"date":"2024-04-30T01:54:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T01:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aviator.co\/blog\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2025-09-23T12:37:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:37:31","slug":"how-to-set-up-automated-deployment-pipelines-on-kubernetes-using-jenkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aviator.co\/blog\/how-to-set-up-automated-deployment-pipelines-on-kubernetes-using-jenkins\/","title":{"rendered":"How to set up automated deployment pipelines on Kubernetes using Jenkins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized workloads. There are two core pieces in a Kubernetes cluster: The first is the control plane, which is responsible for managing the state of the cluster in production environments. And the second is a set of worker nodes that run the containerized application workloads. The Jenkins server is deployed inside pods running on these nodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins is an automation server that\u2019s used to build, test, and deploy software. Kuberentes works seamlessly with Jenkins to enable end-to-end automation. When developers commit code changes to a GitHub repository, the Jenkins pipeline is automatically triggered. Jenkins then uses Kaniko<\/a>, which is an open-source tool created by Google as a way to build container images in environments, such as Kubernetes, that may not have access to a Docker daemon. It allows you to build container images from a Dockerfile inside a container or Kubernetes cluster without the need for a Docker daemon. It executes each command from the Dockerfile entirely in userspace, making it more secure and efficient than a typical Docker build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jenkins pipeline then updates the Kubernetes deployment manifest with the new container image tag and applies the changes to the Kubernetes cluster using kubectl. Kubernetes automatically orchestrates the deployment of the new container image, scaling and load balancing the application based on the defined configurations. This automation flow ensures that any changes pushed to the GitHub repository are automatically built, tested, and deployed to the Kubernetes environment, providing a streamlined and reliable continuous deployment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kubernetes deployments using Jenkins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Setting up Jenkins and Kubernetes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prerequisites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. A running Kubernetes cluster and kubectl installed on your workstation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Configuring Jenkins on the Kubernetes cluster<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    1. Create a Jenkins namespace in your Kubernetes cluster<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl create namespace jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    When you\u2019re installing Jenkins, it\u2019s important to set a namespace that can be dedicated to all the Jenkins-related deployments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    2. Createa YAML file to deploy jenkins-aviator.yaml, <\/em>using this manifest: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    apiVersion: apps\/v1\nkind: Deployment\nmetadata:\n  name: jenkins\nspec:\n  replicas: 1\n  selector:\n    matchLabels:\n      app: jenkins\n  template:\n    metadata:\n      labels:\n        app: jenkins\n    spec:\n      containers:\n      - name: jenkins\n        image: jenkins\/jenkins:lts\n        ports:\n          - name: http-port\n            containerPort: 8080\n          - name: jnlp-port\n            containerPort: 50000\n        volumeMounts:\n          - name: jenkins-vol\n            mountPath: \/var\/jenkins_vol\n      volumes:\n        - name: jenkins-vol\n          emptyDir: {}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    On Kubernetes, this manifest will create a deployment using the Jenkins LTS image and expose ports 8080 and 50000, which can be used to access Jenkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    3. Create the deployment using kubectl<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl create -f jenkins-aviator.yaml --namespace jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Once the deployment is successfully created, give the cluster a couple of minutes to pull the Jenkins image and set up pods. To verify that the pods are up and running, you can use the following command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl get pods -n jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    You should receive an output similar to this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    NAME                       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE\njenkins-655f6c69dd-bwqm9   1\/1     Running   0          2m42s<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Note: The pod name might be different for your environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Now that Jenkins is running inside the pod, you need to expose the running Jenkins pod with a service to access it externally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    4. Create a YAML to deploy jenkins-service-aviator.yaml service, using this manifest: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    apiVersion: v1\nkind: Service\nmetadata:\n  name: jenkins\nspec:\n  type: NodePort\n  ports:\n    - port: 8080\n      targetPort: 8080\n      nodePort: 30000\n  selector:\n    app: jenkins\n\n---\n\napiVersion: v1\nkind: Service\nmetadata:\n  name: jenkins-jnlp\nspec:\n  type: ClusterIP\n  ports:\n    - port: 50000\n      targetPort: 50000\n  selector:\n    app: jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    In the YAML above, we\u2019re simply defining our service (NodePort) and then exposing it to ports 8080 and 50000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Create the service using kubectl using the same namespace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl create -f jenkins-service-aviator.yaml --namespace jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    You should get an output similar to this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    service\/jenkins created\nservice\/jenkins-jnlp created<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Service names in your environment can be different. To verify if the service is running, you can use: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl get services --namespace jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    The expected output should be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    NAME           TYPE        CLUSTER-IP          EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)          AGE
    jenkins        NodePort    <your_cluster_ip>   <none>        8080:30000\/TCP   95s
    jenkins-jnlp   ClusterIP   <your_cluster_ip>   <none>        50000\/TCP        94s<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    5. AccessJenkins UI<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    To access Jenkins UI, you need to retrieve node IP, which can be done using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    kubectl get nodes -o wide<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    This command will give you your cluster’s external IP, which can be used to access the Jenkins UI. Copy the external IP and open it in your browser tab with the 30000 port \u2014 for instance http:\/\/<your_external_IP>:30000
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Once it\u2019s open, you should get a Jenkins administrator page asking for the administrator password.\"Jenkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    The administrator password can be retrievedfrom the Jenkins pod running on the Kubernetes cluster using the following commands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Get the running Jenkins pod names using:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      kubectl get pods -n jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Copy the name of the pod and use the following command to fetch this pod\u2019s logs:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        kubectl logs <pod name> -n jenkins<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. Scroll down to see the password and copy it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. Once you type your password, you can install suggested plugins, or you can manually select which plugins to install. For this tutorial, we will go with the Install Suggested Plugins option.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \"Customize<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
            It will take a few minutes for Jenkins to install the plugins. \"Jenkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n
            Once the installation is done, Jenkins will ask you to create a new admin user. You can simply fill out all the fields and create a new user, or you can skip creating a new user. In this case, the default username will be admin, and the password will be your_password<\/em> retrieved from the logs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
            When you\u2019re done, you\u2019ll get a screen where Jenkins asks about instance configuration. You can click on Not Now and continue. After this, Jenkins will prompt you with a message: “Jenkins is ready!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
            Jenkins will take a few minutes to install the plugins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            1. Click on Start Using Jenkins, and you have successfully installed and configured Jenkins on the Kubernetes cluster.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
              \"jenkins<\/p>\n\n\n\n
              Creating a Jenkins pipeline for automated deployments on Kubernetes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              Now that you\u2019ve installed Jenkins on the Kubernetes cluster, you can create a pipeline to deploy things on Kubernetes using Jenkins. For this article, we\u2019ll deploy a small HTML application. But before starting the development of the pipeline, we need to make sure we have the following plugins installed on Jenkins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n