Jenkins Setup in Docker using Docker Compose

To run Jenkins in Docker, use the following production-ready docker-compose.yml file. This configuration includes data persistence and mounts the Docker socket so Jenkins can build and run other Docker containers inside your pipelines.

1. The docker-compose.yml File

services:
  jenkins:
    image: jenkins/jenkins:lts
    container_name: jenkins
    restart: unless-stopped
    privileged: true
    user: root
    ports:
      - "8181:8080"   # Jenkins Web UI
      - "50000:50000" # Jenkins inbound agents port
    volumes:
      - ./jenkins_data:/var/jenkins_home
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock

2. How to Start Jenkins

1. Create a directory for your project and navigate into it:
   

   mkdir jenkins-docker && cd jenkins-docker
   

2. Save the configuration above into a file named docker-compose.yml.

3. Start the container in the background:
   

   docker compose up -d
   

3. Retrieve the Initial Admin Password

Once the container starts, Jenkins will generate a one-time setup password. Run this command to read it directly from the container:

docker exec jenkins cat /var/jenkins_home/secrets/initialAdminPassword

Copy the printed code, open your browser to http://localhost:8181, and paste it in to finish your setup.