What is JENKINS?

• Jenkins is an open-source automation tool written in Java with plugins built for Continuous Integration purposes.
• Used to build and test your software projects continuously making it easier for developers to integrate changes to the project, and making it easier for users to obtain a fresh build.
• Allows you to continuously deliver your software by integrating with a large number of testing and deployment technologies.
• Organizations can accelerate the software development process through automation.
• Integrates development life-cycle processes of all kinds, including build, document, test, package, stage, deploy, static analysis, and much more.
• Achieves Continuous Integration with the help of plugins. Plugins allows the integration of Various DevOps stages.
• Plugins have been released for Jenkins that extend its use to projects written in languages other than Java. Plugins are available for integrating Jenkins with most version control systems and bug databases. Many build tools are supported via their respective plugins. Plugins can also change the way Jenkins looks or add new functionality.
•  It helps automate the parts of software development related to building, testing, and deploying, facilitating continuous integration and continuous delivery.
• It is a server-based system that runs in servlet containers such as Apache Tomcat.
• Jenkins is a self-contained Java program that is agnostic of the platform on which it is installed.

Top 10 popular Jenkins Plugins are:

1. Kubernetes- The “Kubernetes” plugin is great for automating build agents on a Kubernetes cluster.
2. Swarm – It helps make life easier by allowing you to add worker nodes to a Jenkins master node effectively creating a cluster
3. Amazon elastic container service – A plugin that deploys build agents to an existing Amazon ECS cluste
4. Azure container service – Azure Container Services is being deprecated by Microsoft, but this plugin still supports it as well as Azure Kubernetes Service.
5. Jira – Jira” is an open source plugin that does exactly what it says. Once installed, you can integrate your Jenkins instance with Atlassian Jira Software.
6. Pipeline – “Pipeline” is actually a group of plugins that are used for creating continuous integration pipelines.
7. Metrics – The “Metrics” plugin uses the Dropwizard Metrics API to conduct standard health checks and gather standard metrics on plugins installed on your Jenkins instance.
8. Mailer – Once configured and added to the Post-Build action of the Jenkins job, the “Mailer” plugin will send you emails based on the job results.
9. Git – The “Git” plugin allows jobs to connect to remote repositories and run git operations against them.
10. Scm API – “SCM API” is a plugin that integrates with source control management systems.