make

So far in this blog series, we have seen the CI process from a developer perspective. We have also understood the benefit of using Docker containers for a consistent experience between developers and DevOps systems.

In this blog, I will show you how to use Jenkins as the CI system and build packages automatically. More importantly I will show you how to use the same Docker container image, as used by developers, as a Jenkins agent. This shared use of the infrastructure is important for an effective and efficient CI Process.

It is useful to remember that CI systems and processes usually kick in when developers are ready to merge their code or have already merged their code. So CI systems typically work off the master branch of the source code repository. And the CI process ends with the generation of an artifact. This artifact(s) will be the input for the CD process.

In my earlier blog of the CICD Series, I have highlighted the importance of Docker containers in the CICD process. Using Docker containers, you can create a consistent development environment that can be used by software engineers as well as DevOps systems.

In this edition, I will show you how to convert a Docker container used for development, into a Jenkins agent and yet retain the same experience for the developers. The goal is to show you that developers and the CI system (Jenkins for example) can leverage shared infrastructure and steps to build, package, test, and even deploy the code. This approach reduces environmental errors while creating software products.

So far in the blog series about CI/CD, we have looked at the personas involved in CI/CD and the benefits of using Docker containers to create a consistent environment for developers and Devops practices. In this blog, I will show you how I use Docker and the make utility to execute the CI related steps for my hugo based blogs. Specifically we will see how code is built and tested as a developer. Writing and publishing a new blog is similar to coding and releasing a new feature in a software product. And I will highlight the similarities in this article from the perspective of a developer.