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Jenkins Continuous Delivery for Ruby on Rails

wiktor-plagaWiktor Plaga
March 25, 20238 min reading time

Jenkins Continuous Delivery for Ruby on Rails

Welcome to the Jenkins Continuous Delivery for Ruby on Rails tutorial! In this tutorial, we will explore how to set up a continuous delivery pipeline for a Ruby on Rails application using Jenkins. Continuous delivery is an essential practice for modern software development, enabling teams to deliver high-quality software quickly and reliably.

Jenkins is a popular open-source automation server that can be used to automate various stages of the software delivery process, including building, testing, and deploying applications. By setting up a continuous delivery pipeline with Jenkins, you can automate the entire software delivery process, from code changes to production deployment. In this tutorial, we will cover the basics of continuous delivery, how to set up Jenkins for Ruby on Rails applications, and how to configure a pipeline that includes building, testing, and deploying your application. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a solid understanding of how to use Jenkins to implement continuous delivery for your Ruby on Rails applications.

What is Jenkins?

Jenkins Continuous Delivery is a software development practice that aims to automate the entire software delivery process, from code changes to production deployment. It involves setting up a continuous delivery pipeline that includes various stages, such as building, testing, and deploying applications. The goal of continuous delivery is to enable teams to deliver high-quality software quickly and reliably, with minimal manual intervention.

Jenkins is a popular open-source automation server that can be used to implement continuous delivery. It provides a wide range of plugins and integrations that can be used to automate various stages of the software delivery process. By setting up a continuous delivery pipeline with Jenkins, teams can ensure that their applications are thoroughly tested and validated before being deployed to production. This helps to reduce the risk of errors and downtime, and enables teams to deliver software faster and more efficiently.

Why use Jenkins for Continuous Delivery in Ruby on Rails application?

There are several reasons why one should use Jenkins for Continuous Delivery. Firstly, Jenkins is a highly flexible and customizable automation server that can be easily integrated with a wide range of tools and technologies. This makes it an ideal choice for teams that use a variety of different tools and technologies in their software development process. Jenkins also provides a wide range of plugins and integrations that can be used to automate various stages of the software delivery process, including building, testing, and deploying applications.

Secondly, Jenkins is an open-source tool that is widely used and supported by a large community of developers and users. This means that there is a wealth of documentation, tutorials, and support available for Jenkins, making it easy to get started and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Additionally, Jenkins is highly extensible, which means that it can be customized to meet the specific needs of your team and your software development process.

Finally, Jenkins is a highly reliable and scalable tool that can be used to implement continuous delivery for applications of any size and complexity. It provides a range of features and capabilities that enable teams to automate the entire software delivery process, from code changes to production deployment. By using Jenkins for Continuous Delivery, teams can ensure that their applications are delivered quickly, reliably, and with minimal manual intervention, enabling them to focus on delivering value to their customers.

Prerequisites

To complete the "Jenkins Continuous Delivery for Ruby on Rails" tutorial, you will need the following prerequisites:

  1. A basic understanding of Ruby on Rails development, including how to create and run a Rails application.
  2. A working installation of Jenkins on your local machine or a remote server. You can download Jenkins from the official website and follow the installation instructions.
  3. A Git repository that contains a Ruby on Rails application. You can use an existing repository or create a new one.
  4. A basic understanding of continuous delivery concepts, including the stages involved in a typical continuous delivery pipeline.
  5. A working knowledge of basic Unix commands and shell scripting.
  6. A basic understanding of Docker and containerization concepts. You will need to have Docker installed on your local machine or remote server to complete some of the steps in the tutorial.
  7. A basic understanding of AWS and how to create and configure an EC2 instance. You will need an EC2 instance to deploy your application in the tutorial.

Ruby on Rails Jenkins step by step setup and configuration

Integrating Jenkins into a Ruby on Rails project involves several steps. The first step is to install the necessary plugins in Jenkins. The Jenkins plugins required for Ruby on Rails projects include the Ruby Plugin, the Rake Plugin, and the Git Plugin. Once these plugins are installed, you can create a new Jenkins job for your Ruby on Rails project.

To create a new Jenkins job, navigate to the Jenkins dashboard and click on "New Item". Give your job a name and select "Freestyle project". In the "Source Code Management" section, select "Git" and enter the URL of your Git repository. In the "Build" section, add a new build step and select "Execute shell". In the shell script, you can specify the commands to build and test your Ruby on Rails application. For example:

#!/bin/bash
bundle install
rake db:migrate
rake test

This shell script will install the necessary dependencies, migrate the database, and run the test suite for your application.

Next, you can configure Jenkins to deploy your Ruby on Rails application to a production environment. To do this, you will need to install the necessary plugins for deployment, such as the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Plugin. Once the plugins are installed, you can add a new build step to your Jenkins job and select "Deploy to AWS Elastic Beanstalk". In the deployment configuration, you can specify the AWS credentials and the details of your Elastic Beanstalk environment. For example:

#!/bin/bash
eb init -p ruby-2.7 my-app --region us-west-2
eb create my-env
eb deploy my-env

This shell script will initialize a new Elastic Beanstalk application, create a new environment, and deploy your Ruby on Rails application to the environment.

In summary, integrating Jenkins into a Ruby on Rails project involves installing the necessary plugins, creating a new Jenkins job, and configuring the build and deployment steps. By automating the build, test, and deployment process with Jenkins, you can ensure that your Ruby on Rails application is delivered quickly and reliably.

Jenkins configuration options in Ruby on Rails

Here are the Jenkins configuration options for Ruby on Rails integration with their short explanation:

  1. Ruby Plugin - This plugin provides support for Ruby projects in Jenkins. It allows you to specify the Ruby version and install the necessary dependencies for your project.

  2. Rake Plugin - This plugin provides support for Rake tasks in Jenkins. It allows you to specify the Rake task to run as part of your build process.

  3. Git Plugin - This plugin provides support for Git repositories in Jenkins. It allows you to specify the Git repository URL and credentials for your project.

  4. AWS Elastic Beanstalk Plugin - This plugin provides support for deploying Ruby on Rails applications to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. It allows you to specify the AWS credentials and the details of your Elastic Beanstalk environment.

  5. Execute Shell - This build step allows you to execute shell commands as part of your build process. You can use this step to run commands such as bundle install, rake db:migrate, and rake test.

  6. Deploy to AWS Elastic Beanstalk - This build step allows you to deploy your Ruby on Rails application to an AWS Elastic Beanstalk environment. You can specify the AWS credentials and the details of your Elastic Beanstalk environment in the deployment configuration.

  7. Build Triggers - This configuration option allows you to specify the conditions under which your Jenkins job should be triggered. You can configure triggers based on changes to the Git repository, time-based schedules, or other conditions.

  8. Post-build Actions - This configuration option allows you to specify actions to be taken after the build process is complete. You can configure actions such as sending email notifications, publishing build artifacts, or triggering other Jenkins jobs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Jenkins Continuous Delivery for Ruby on Rails tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to setting up a continuous delivery pipeline for Ruby on Rails applications using Jenkins. By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you can automate the entire software delivery process, from code changes to production deployment, and ensure that your applications are delivered quickly and reliably.

Jenkins is a powerful automation server that provides a wide range of plugins and integrations for Ruby on Rails projects. By integrating Jenkins into your Ruby on Rails development process, you can streamline your workflow, reduce errors, and improve the quality of your software.

We hope that this tutorial has provided you with the knowledge and skills necessary to implement continuous delivery for your Ruby on Rails applications using Jenkins. By adopting continuous delivery practices, you can improve the speed and efficiency of your software delivery process, and ultimately deliver more value to your customers.

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