Jenkins CI/CD Project

🚀 From Local Development to Production: My Journey Building a Complete CI/CD Pipeline

I recently deployed a fully automated Jenkins CI/CD pipeline on AWS, and I want to share what I learned to help others navigate this journey.

🎯 What I Built

A production-ready CI/CD pipeline that reduced deployment time by 50% (10 minutes → 5 minutes) with:

✅ AWS EC2 deployment with custom domain and SSL
✅ GitHub webhook integration for instant build triggers (<5 seconds)
✅ 92% test coverage with 30 comprehensive unit tests
✅ Python virtual environments for isolated dependencies
✅ Nginx reverse proxy with Let’s Encrypt SSL
✅ Full automation — 40+ releases/year capability

Live Demo: https://sushilkumarsb.xyz/job/jenkins-cicd-automation/
GitHub: https://github.com/sushilkumarsb/jenkins-cicd-automation

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💡 Key Challenges & Solutions

Challenge 1: Ubuntu 24.04 PEP 668 Restrictions
Python’s new security model blocked system-wide pip installs. Solution? Implemented virtual environments in the Jenkins pipeline — better practice anyway!

Challenge 2: Windows → Linux Pipeline Conversion
My Jenkinsfile used Windows bat commands. Converted to sh with python3 for the Ubuntu EC2 instance. Cross-platform awareness is crucial.

Challenge 3: Professional Setup vs. Cost
Achieved enterprise-grade deployment (SSL, custom domain, reverse proxy) for just $12/month using:

• AWS EC2 free tier eligible
• Let’s Encrypt (FREE SSL)
• Nginx (open source)
• GoDaddy domain ($12/year)

Challenge 4: GitHub Webhook Integration
Configured real-time triggers requiring HTTPS, proper DNS, and security group configurations. The result? Instant builds on every push.

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🏗️ Architecture Overview

Developer (Git Push)
↓
GitHub Webhook (HTTPS)
↓
AWS EC2 Ubuntu 24.04
↓
Nginx :443 (SSL Termination)
↓
Jenkins :8080 (CI/CD Pipeline)
↓
Build → Test (pytest + coverage) → Code Quality
↓
Automated Results & Reports

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Become a member

📚 What I Learned (For Others Starting Out)

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1. Start Small, Scale Up
I began with local Jenkins, then moved to AWS. Don’t try to build everything at once.

2. Infrastructure as Code
Everything in my Jenkinsfile is version-controlled. No manual configurations that can be lost.

3. Security First

• SSL encryption via Let’s Encrypt
• Jenkins accessible only through Nginx reverse proxy
• Port 8080 blocked from internet (localhost only)
• Matrix-based authorization with read-only public access

4. Test Thoroughly
30 unit tests covering edge cases, error handling, and concurrent requests. Testing isn’t optional — it’s your safety net.

5. Document Everything
Created comprehensive guides for setup, troubleshooting, and interview prep. Future you will thank present you.

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🎓 Technologies Used

Backend: Python 3.12, Flask 3.0
Testing: pytest, pytest-cov (92% coverage)
CI/CD: Jenkins 2.528, Groovy
Cloud: AWS EC2 (Ubuntu 24.04)
Web Server: Nginx (reverse proxy + SSL)
Security: Let’s Encrypt SSL, AWS Security Groups
Version Control: Git, GitHub webhooks
Automation: Bash scripting, Python venv

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💼 Impact Metrics

⚡ 50% deployment time reduction (10 min → 5 min)
🧪 92% code coverage with 30 comprehensive tests
🚀 40+ releases/year capability through automation
☁️ Production-ready AWS deployment with SSL
💰 Cost-effective (~$12/month for full stack)
🔒 Zero security incidents — proper auth & encryption

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Let’s connect! I’m happy to share knowledge, discuss opportunities, or help others on their DevOps journey.
🔗 Portfolio: https://github.com/sushilkumarsb, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sushilkumarsb/

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P.S. The entire project is open source! Check out my GitHub for the code, documentation, and detailed setup guides. Feel free to fork, learn, and ask questions. We all grow together. 🌱

If this helped you or inspired your own CI/CD journey, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

#DevOps #Jenkins #CICD #AWS #CloudComputing #Automation #Python #SRE #CloudEngineer #InfrastructureAsCode