When setting up a continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipeline using Jenkins and a GitHub account, you can use the Jenkins GitHub plugin to interact with the GitHub repository. Here are the general steps for setting up a basic Jenkins CI/CD pipeline using a GitHub account:
- Set up a Jenkins server: This can be done by installing Jenkins on a server or by using a cloud-based version, such as Jenkins on Azure or AWS.
- Create a new GitHub account that will be used specifically for your CI/CD pipeline.
- Grant the GitHub account access to the necessary repositories.
- Install the Jenkins GitHub plugin: This plugin allows Jenkins to interact with GitHub, including the ability to trigger builds when code is pushed to a repository.
- Create a new Jenkins job: This job will be used to build and test the code from your GitHub repository. You can configure the job to use a build script, such as a Makefile or a Maven script, to build and test the code.
- In the Jenkins job configuration, specify the repository URL and any branches you want to build. You can also configure the build triggers, such as building on every push to the repository or on a schedule.
- To set up continuous deployment, you’ll need to add another step to the Jenkins job. This step can be configured to deploy the code to a staging or production environment, depending on your requirements.
- Go to your repository in Github, in the settings tab you will find an option named “branch protection” you can use it to restrict certain actions to be taken from the Jenkins account.
- Finally, you can add post-build actions to Jenkins job such as sending notifications to a slack channel, email or other applications.
Limitation of using Github account for CI/C
Using a separate CI/CD GitHub account can be a powerful way to manage access to multiple GitHub repositories and automate your continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) pipeline, but there are some limitations to keep in mind:
- Extra management overhead: Maintaining a separate CI/CD GitHub account requires additional management overhead, such as creating and maintaining the account, and configuring access to the necessary repositories.
- Limited permissions: Even with a CI/CD account, you may still have to grant additional permissions to certain users or services for specific tasks.
- More permissions equals more risk: With more permissions comes more risk, if the account is compromised, an attacker could have more access to repositories and can cause more damage.
- Limited Revocation : Revoking access to a user account can be harder than revoking access to a single key, an attacker may still able to access the repositories even if the account is revoked.
- Limited Auditing: A CI/CD GitHub account may not provide detailed logging or auditing of user activities. This can make it more difficult to track down issues or identify suspicious activities.
- Dependent on Github API rate limit: Some CI/CD scenarios may require high usage of Github API to interact with repository, account may run into rate limit issue which may impact the pipeline.
While using a separate CI/CD GitHub account can provide more flexibility and control over access to your repositories, it also comes with its own set of limitations. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons and determine whether this approach is the best fit for your specific use case and organization.
