Extending Jenkins

Key Features

• Find out how to interact with Jenkins from within Eclipse, NetBeans, and IntelliJ IDEA
• Develop custom solutions that act upon Jenkins information in real time
• A step-by-step, practical guide to help you learn about extension points in existing plugins and how to build your own plugin

Book Description

Jenkins CI is the leading open source continuous integration server. It is written in Java and has a wealth of plugins to support the building and testing of virtually any project. Jenkins supports multiple Software Configuration Management tools such as Git, Subversion, and Mercurial.

This book explores and explains the many extension points and customizations that Jenkins offers its users, and teaches you how to develop your own Jenkins extensions and plugins.

First, you will learn how to adapt Jenkins and leverage its abilities to empower DevOps, Continuous Integration, Continuous Deployment, and Agile projects. Next, you will find out how to reduce the cost of modern software development, increase the quality of deliveries, and thereby reduce the time to market. We will also teach you how to create your own custom plugins using Extension points.

Finally, we will show you how to combine everything you learned over the course of the book into one real-world scenario.

What you will learn

• Retrieve and act upon Jenkins information in real time
• Find out how to interact with Jenkins through a variety of IDEs
• Develop your own Form and Input validation and customization
• Explore how Extension points work, and develop your own Jenkins plugin
• See how to use the Jenkins API and command-line interface
• Get to know how to remotely update your Jenkins configuration
• Design and develop your own Information Radiator
• Discover how Jenkins customization can help improve quality and reduce costs

About the Author

Donald Simpson is an information technology consultant based in Scotland, UK.

He specializes in helping organizations improve the quality and reduce the cost of software development through the adoption of process automation and Agile methodologies.

Starting out as a Java developer, Donald's interest in application servers, networking, and automation led him to a career as a build engineer. He remains highly technical and hands-on and enjoys learning about new technologies and finding ways to automate and improve manual processes.

He can be reached at www.donaldsimpson.co.uk.

Table of Contents

1. Preparatory Steps
2. Automating the Jenkins UI
3. Jenkins and the IDE
4. The API and the CLI
5. Extension Points
6. Developing Your Own Jenkins Plugin
7. Extending Jenkins Plugins
8. Testing and Debugging Jenkins Plugins
9. Putting Things Together