About Jenkins Home Page Menu
Let's dive deep into the Jenkins home page to understand each menu item on the dashboard, one by one.
Complete Dashboard Image.
ones you login to the Jenkins that below page will be opened.
The primary way to interact with Jenkins is through the navigation pane on the left side of the UI.
This pane contains various sections depending on your specific Jenkins configuration, but it typically includes:
- Dashboard: This provides an overview of the current status of your builds and jobs.
- New Item: This button allows you to create new jobs within Jenkins. There are various types like "Freestyle project" or pipeline jobs depending on your needs.
- Jobs: This section lists all your configured jobs for automating tasks.
- Builds: This section shows the history of all builds executed within Jenkins.
- User Menu: In the top right corner, you'll typically find a drop down menu associated with your username. This menu provides options related to your user account, such as managing preferences or logging out.
- Plugins can add functionality: Jenkins has a robust plugin system that can add new features and menu items. The specific options available in your Jenkins instance will depend on the plugins you have installed.
Manage Jenkins:This option provides access to various configuration settings for your Jenkins server.
Access: It's typically located under a hidden menu.
Permissions: You'll need administrative privileges to see and use "Manage Jenkins."
Here's how to access it:
- Look for a small gear icon or a dropdown menu in the top left corner (it might be subtle).
- Click on the icon or menu and select "Manage Jenkins" (or a similar option).
- My Views: "My Views" isn't a standard option on the Jenkins homepage, but it's a concept related to how you organize your Jenkins jobs.
Here's how you might interact with views:
- Creating Views: If you have the necessary permissions (usually "Create View"), you might see a "+" icon in the navigation pane. Clicking this allows you to create new views.
- Existing Views: If other users or administrators have created views, you might see them listed in the left-hand navigation pane under their own section names. These views will provide a filtered view of Jenkins jobs based on the creator's configuration.
Now we learn more about the create project menus.
Freestyle Project:
- Description: A Freestyle Project is a basic, flexible project type that allows you to configure a series of build steps to perform various tasks, such as running shell scripts, invoking Ant, Maven, Gradle, etc.
- Use Cases: Suitable for simple, straightforward tasks and builds that do not require complex, scripted pipelines.
Pipeline:
- Description: A Pipeline Project is used to define complex build workflows using a Groovy-based DSL (Domain Specific Language). Pipelines can be defined in a Jenkins file, which is typically stored in the version control system alongside your code.
- Use Cases: Ideal for defining continuous delivery pipelines that involve multiple steps, stages, and conditions, providing better control and flexibility over the build process.
Multi branch Pipeline:
- Description: This project type allows you to automatically manage and create pipelines for each branch in your source control repository. Each branch can have its own Jenkins file.
- Use Cases: Best for projects with multiple branches where each branch might have a different pipeline or build process.
GitHub Organization:
- Description: Automatically discovers, manages, and runs pipelines for all repositories in a GitHub organization. This is particularly useful for organizations using GitHub to manage many repositories.
- Use Cases: Suitable for organizations that need to scale Jenkins across multiple repositories and teams without manual configuration for each repository.
Bit bucket Team/Project:
- Description: Similar to the GitHub Organization project, this type is designed for Bit bucket. It scans all repositories in a Bit bucket team or project and creates corresponding Jenkins jobs.
- Use Cases: Ideal for teams using Bit bucket to manage their source code repositories, providing automated job creation and management.
Folder:
- Description: Folders help organize Jenkins jobs into a hierarchical structure. They can contain projects, pipelines, and other folders.
- Use Cases: Useful for managing a large number of Jenkins jobs by grouping them into logical collections, improving organization and manageability.
Multi-job Project:
- Description: A project type provided by the Multi job plugin that allows you to define a job that can trigger other jobs in a sequential or parallel manner.
- Use Cases: Suitable for orchestrating complex build processes that involve multiple jobs with dependencies on each other.
External Job:
- Description: Allows Jenkins to monitor the execution of a job that is run outside Jenkins, reporting back the result once the job completes.
- Use Cases: Useful when you need Jenkins to track jobs executed on external systems or environments.
Pipeline Multi branch:
- Description: Like the Multi branch Pipeline, but specifically tailored to handle pipelines that span multiple branches or repositories.
- Use Cases: Best for projects where each branch represents a different version or feature of the application, with its own build and deploy process.
Matrix Project:
- Description: Allows you to configure and run a matrix of builds based on different configurations, such as multiple JDK versions, operating systems, or other parameters.
- Use Cases: Ideal for testing the same build against various environments or configurations to ensure compatibility and stability.
Each of these project types in Jenkins serves a specific purpose, allowing for a wide range of flexibility and control over your continuous integration and delivery processes.
So, this covers the Jenkins dashboard and the project creation menu. Stay tuned.