Mastering Continuous Integration: Git and Jenkins Integration Best Practices

Prajjwala Nandeesh
3 min readFeb 24, 2023

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As a developer, you must have heard about Git and Jenkins, two of the most popular tools used in the software development process. Git is a distributed version control system, while Jenkins is a continuous integration tool. The integration between these two tools is very important to automate the development process and to ensure that your code is continuously built, tested, and deployed. In this blog, we will explain in detail how to integrate Git with Jenkins.

Why Integrate Git with Jenkins?

Integrating Git with Jenkins is important to automate the software development process. When a change is made to the codebase, Git notifies Jenkins of the change, and Jenkins triggers the build and test process automatically. This ensures that the code is continuously built and tested, which reduces the chances of errors and issues in production.

Steps to Integrate Git with Jenkins

The integration between Git and Jenkins involves several steps. We have outlined the steps below.

Step 1: Install Git on the Jenkins Server

The first step is to install Git on the Jenkins server. This can be done by running the following command on the command line:

sudo apt-get install git

Step 2: Install the Git Plugin in Jenkins

The next step is to install the Git plugin in Jenkins. This can be done by navigating to the Manage Jenkins -> Manage Plugins -> Available tab and searching for Git plugin. Once the plugin is found, click on the Install button and restart Jenkins.

Step 3: Create a New Jenkins Job

The next step is to create a new Jenkins job. This can be done by navigating to the Jenkins dashboard and clicking on the New Item button. Give the job a name, select the Freestyle project option, and click on OK.

Step 4: Configure the Git Repository

The next step is to configure the Git repository. This can be done by navigating to the Source Code Management section of the job configuration page and selecting Git. Enter the URL of the Git repository, and select the branch to build.

Step 5: Configure the Build Triggers

The next step is to configure the build triggers. This can be done by navigating to the Build Triggers section of the job configuration page and selecting the Poll SCM option. Enter a schedule for the build to trigger, for example, every five minutes.

Step 6: Configure the Build Steps

The next step is to configure the build steps. This can be done by navigating to the Build section of the job configuration page and selecting the Add Build Step option. Select the type of build step to add, for example, Execute Shell or Invoke Gradle script.

Step 7: Save and Run the Jenkins Job

The final step is to save the Jenkins job configuration and run the job. Once the job is run, Jenkins will pull the code from the Git repository, build and test the code, and generate a report.

Integrating Git with Jenkins is essential to automate the software development process. The integration between these two tools allows developers to continuously build and test the code, which reduces the chances of errors and issues in production. The steps outlined in this blog provide a general overview of how to integrate Git with Jenkins, but the exact steps may vary depending on your specific project requirements.

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