Jenkins is an old product, and we encounter performance issues and slow response. Also, some of the plugins are not stable.
Senior Quality Engineer, Cloud Platform Engineer at Belong
A free tool that has broad community support
Pros and Cons
- "The deployment of traditional Jenkins is easy."
- "Jenkins is an old product, and we encounter performance issues and slow response. Also, some of the plugins are not stable."
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Jenkins' stability a six out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the product's scalability an eight out of ten. My company has 150 users for Jenkins.
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How was the initial setup?
The deployment of traditional Jenkins is easy. I rate cloud-based deployment a five out of ten. It takes half and hour to complete.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use the tool's free version.
What other advice do I have?
Jenkins has broad community support. I rate it a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Snr Tech Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a single-pane-of-glass view, but error messages need improvement
Pros and Cons
- "When we have manual tasks, we have to depend on multiple technical teams. With Jenkins, we can bring all the technologies together by the click of a button. We can see results without having to depend on different teams. Jenkins makes life easy for the database and DevOps teams."
- "Tasks such as deployment, cloning, database switchover, and all other database missions and tasks are being done through Jenkins. If a job does not go through, at times the error message does not clearly indicate what caused the failure. I have to escalate it to the Jenkins DevOps team just to see what caused the failure. If the error message is clear, then I wouldn't have to escalate the issue to different teams."
What is our primary use case?
We use Jenkins for database products and automation of other applications as well.
What is most valuable?
When we have manual tasks, we have to depend on multiple technical teams. With Jenkins, we can bring all the technologies together by the click of a button. We can see results without having to depend on different teams. Jenkins makes life easy for the database and DevOps teams.
What needs improvement?
Tasks such as deployment, cloning, database switchover, and all other database missions and tasks are being done through Jenkins. If a job does not go through, at times the error message does not clearly indicate what caused the failure. I have to escalate it to the Jenkins DevOps team just to see what caused the failure. If the error message is clear, then I wouldn't have to escalate the issue to different teams.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with Jenkins for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Jenkin's stability at three.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable because the Jenkins jobs are in AWS, whereas the deployments are being done on-premises. My understanding is that these will be brought on-premises as well.
We have 10 plus users for the database and application teams. We have less than 50 databases.
What other advice do I have?
If you want to have a single-pane-of-glass view in terms of automation, you can go for Jenkins. It does the job it's supposed to do. Therefore, I would give this solution a rating of seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Buyer's Guide
Jenkins
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Jenkins. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
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Automation Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Effective continuous deployment, simple multi-cluster implementation, and one-click setup
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Jenkins is its continuous deployment. We can deploy to multi-cluster and multi-regions in the cloud."
- "Jenkins could improve by allowing more scripting languages. We need to use Groovy scripting and it is difficult to debug and it is not ideal for creating file scripts. We tried to search for assistance but we did not find much help."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Jenkins for running our test jobs, and multi-cluster deployments in the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Jenkins is its continuous deployment. We can deploy to multi-cluster and multi-regions in the cloud.
What needs improvement?
Jenkins could improve by allowing more scripting languages. We need to use Groovy scripting and it is difficult to debug and it is not ideal for creating file scripts. We tried to search for assistance but we did not find much help.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Jenkins for approximately three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Jenkins is not always stable. We have encountered approximately 20 percent downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Jenkins could improve. If we are running a lot of jobs, it is not scaling up or down very well.
We have multiple jobs running and they can be between 50 to 100 at a time.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used another solution prior to Jenkins.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Jenkins is a one-click deployment to multiple regions which is helpful. Additionally, it is easy to configure, and it is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
Jenkins is easy to maintain.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is they should use Jenkins in the cloud. If they try to access the solution outside of the cloud environment, you need to configure whitelists and other configurations and keep an eye on them.
I rate Jenkins a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot has made contact with the reviewer to validate that the person is a real user. The information in the posting is based upon a vendor-supplied case study, but the reviewer has confirmed the content's accuracy.
Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It's a scalable, open-source tool with multiple plugins that's easy to use and set up.
Pros and Cons
- "We can schedule anything with Jenkins, which is useful for deployment or anything that requires scheduling. It also has multiple plugins we can use for Maven, JUnit, etc."
- "Jenkins could have better cloud functionality. Currently, we are using the existing legacy model, but we are moving toward the cloud, so it would be great if they could improve in that area. In the future, I would like more cloud features and related training materials, like a video tutorial."
What is our primary use case?
We use Jenkins to trigger the URL and necessary files in a batch. Jenkins is integrated with Jira and Litmus. We'll put a URL into Jenkins and trigger it. We can schedule it to run overnight every day, week, month, etc.
Multiple teams are using Jenkins, and it's integrated with multiple Jira plugins. I believe around 250 people using it.
What is most valuable?
We can schedule anything with Jenkins, which is useful for deployment or anything that requires scheduling. It also has multiple plugins we can use for Maven, JUnit, etc.
What needs improvement?
Jenkins could have better cloud functionality. Currently, we are using the existing legacy model, but we are moving toward the cloud, so it would be great if they could improve in that area. In the future, I would like more cloud features and related training materials, like a video tutorial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Jenkins for one year, and I know about related automation tools like Selenium, Tosca, etc.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Jenkins' main advantage over other solutions is multiple plugins and ease of setup. Open-source and secured versions are also available, so maybe that's why there are multiple processes. Other deployment tools cost more, and the setup is messy. These are some reasons management decided to use Jenkins instead of other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The Jenkins setup is easy because it's open-source, and we can get a community edition. We don't need to do anything. We only need to install it and it's ready to use. The total deployment time depends on how long you have to code. In my case, it generally takes half an hour to one hour.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Jenkins eight out of 10. It's a scalable, open-source tool with multiple plugins. It's easy to use and set up. I don't rate it 10 because there is room for improvement in terms of the cloud and related capabilities.
If somebody wants to use Jenkins, they need to first consider the scope. What is the scope, and what tech are you using? Jenkins is easy to set up, and we can integrate it with multiple technologies, whether a .NET application or anything else. We can deploy the code and can run with that.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
DevOps engineer at HSBC
A very powerful integration tool that runs automatically
Pros and Cons
- "This is a great integration tool and very powerful."
- "A more user-friendly UI for creating pipelines would be helpful."
What is our primary use case?
Our main use cases are for restarting applications and monitoring system health. We instal the solution for companies and once it's up and running, we do all the health checks. We are customers of Jenkins and I'm a DevOps engineer.
How has it helped my organization?
Jenkins has helped us to become more efficient and saves us a lot of time.
What is most valuable?
The solution is an integration tool and that is its value; we are able to integrate a lot of tools, whether it's Nexus for building automation, for plugins or repositories. This is what makes it a powerful tool. The most beneficial thing is being able to do everything with just one click, which was not possible previously when any changes needed to be carried out manually. Jenkins enables you to log in to multiple servers and it runs automatically on all your servers.
What needs improvement?
I'd like to see some more features for scriptwriting and a more user-friendly UI for creating pipelines.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't had any problems with stability, even when we're running multiple builds. We use the product on a daily basis and although it doesn't require maintenance, there are some regular activities carried out by Jenkins every few months.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
If you're deploying on-premise, then scalability requires introducing new nodes and deploying application instances on two servers. We have multiple teams and they all have access to Jenkins so we currently have around 60 to 70 users.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't had any problems with customer support.
How was the initial setup?
Our implementation process depends on what type of deployment is needed. If it's a very small chain and the deployment process is not complex, steps will be limited. If it's a larger implementation, more steps are involved and it becomes more complex. When needed, we have a networks team and a database team. For a small build, deployment can take 15 minutes. For a more complex build that has a lot of changes, it can take several hours.
What other advice do I have?
It's important to know your requirements before implementing Jenkins. It's a good tool for integration and automation in an organization.
I rate the solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Easy to use with clear documentation and good dashboards
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is simple."
- "We cannot change the ownership of any directory or file or any kind of directory."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution as a build automation tool.
If we have to do some automation, we have to deploy the code on a server, and on the production server, so we can create a Jenkins pipeline, which we can call from Jenkins itself. Therefore, whenever we want to deploy the code on a server, on the production server, we use the Jenkins pipeline.
How has it helped my organization?
Within the organization, we have to manage nine applications as DevOps engineers. My expertise is in Unix, so whenever they need any Unix-related help, I'm on it. Okay. For all the nine teams I have to maintain their tasks. It is up to me and I can use Jenkins, Ansible, et cetera.
What is most valuable?
From a deployment perspective, we don't require any passwords or any permissions and all. Everything we can do from Jenkins.
Whenever something fails, so we have the facility to check the logs. Based on that, we can find the solutions and we can fix things.
The initial setup is simple.
The stability of Jenkins is good.
The dashboards are very good.
The solution has been very easy to use.
We have found that the solution offers very good, very clear documentation. Everything is laid out well and easy to explain to a new user.
What needs improvement?
There are some 13 commands that we cannot run for Jenkins. For those particular commands, for the smallest small command (not the bigger task at a deeper level), for example, a copy command, we cannot run it from Jenkins. We cannot change the ownership of any directory or file or any kind of directory. In that case, we have a dependency on, for example, Ansible. There are some limited commands in Jenkins.
For how long have I used the solution?
I joined this current organization in November of 2019. From November 2019 onwards, I've been using this. It's been approximately two years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has been very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. it doesn't crash or freeze.
In some cases, it is a very reliable solution and tool. We had some dependencies, however, we have another solution for those dependencies. Whenever we do not have any dependencies somewhere else, we can use Jenkins.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I've never attempted to scale Jenkins.
My team has nine applications. Our organization has between 250 to 300 people. Many people are using the product. I'm not sure how many teams we have, however, I am sure that all the teams are using Jenkins.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't directly deal with technical support. Typically, I create a ticket, however, usually, I try troubleshooting from my end. If the issue is not from our end, we have to raise a GR ticket and it takes approximately 24 to 48 hours to get it resolved, or for them to actually get in touch with us.
In my company, we also have a Sharepoint that contains troubleshooting documentation that is quite helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was previously using Ansible.
How was the initial setup?
The solution offers easy deployment. We just need to follow some steps and we have to give some URL paths and that's all. It's not time-consuming.
Initially, we do the setup for a particular or one particular task. If whenever we get a request in the future and based on the task, we just make a copy of that initial task and we do the minor changes and in that way, we can implement new tasks very easily.
We have a Jenkins central team. Whenever they upgrade, they send us a notification. A separate team handles the upgrade.
What about the implementation team?
We are able to implement the solution for our clients.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I understand that the licensing is renewed about once a year. The pricing itself is fine. I wouldn't describe it as being overly expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using.
I'm just using this tool to automate items for my teams. Whenever my team requires my help, I support them.
I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations, however, it depends on the requirement and what exactly the users need.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Mobile QA Developer at a tech vendor
It's a good alternative to become parallel infrastructure purely dedicated for testing, but it lacks the ability to control interim status messages.
What is most valuable?
1) Easy to install and setup (including setup to run as windows service)
2) Free and always available alternative to any other build solutions
3) Relatively simple and intuitive UI
4) Big number of pretty useful plugins
5) Easily configurable and scalable
How has it helped my organization?
In some of my projects I had a chance to participate we used to use some commercial solutions like TeamCity or Bamboo. Since we had limited number of build machines and build agents it was really hard to organize automated acceptance and high-level system test runs as it took a while to perform the run.
Even more, since we had restricted number of build agents the huge number of long-running tests could make serious bottle-neck to the entire build process, hence, the feedback is a bit delayed. Jenkins appeared to be a good alternative to become parallel infrastructure purely dedicated for testing.
The bottle-neck problem was mitigated and we were able to make large scale runs on infinite basis. Thus, we could get results 2-3 times a day instead of 1 which brought us more consolidated and consistent picture about application under test state during the day. This trick was helpful for me on many projects
What needs improvement?
A lot of features (even small ones) can be taken from existing analogs. E.g.:
1) Ability to control interim status messages. This feature exists in TeamCity where you can log a message of specific format and it could change the build text and temporary status. In particular it's useful to see the number of tests already passed/failed without waiting for the completion
2) When we need to restart the server while some jobs are running it could be useful to re-run those dropped jobs after restart automatically.
3) There is some set of plugins which is being set up very frequently for many projects. It could be useful to have some pre-defined installations which either contain all necessary plugins by default or install them at the initial run (to decrease the size of initial application package)
Generally, other systems have lots of features which could be useful to see in Jenkins
For how long have I used the solution?
Since 2009. At that time it was called Hudson
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No. Deployment easiness is one of the advantages of Jenkins
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
From time to time Jenkins experiences problems after 1-2 weeks of intensive work (where at least 1-2 jobs are running at any point of time).
There used to be some issues when entire configurations could become invisible from the UI (usually that could happen after unexpected system shut down or even simple configuration rename operation) which was a bit painful. But I didn't encounter such problems in the most recent versions. So, it definitely indicates that some work at this direction was definitely done.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Never had a chance to communicate
Technical Support:Never had a chance to communicate
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Mainly Jenkins used to be either main system or parallel solution. Major reason for using it was mainly related to:
1) Licensing
2) Limited capacity of build agents
How was the initial setup?
Setup is pretty straightforward
What about the implementation team?
Both in-house and vendor
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's free. There's no advice required
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
it specialist at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Customizable plugins enhance integration for build and deployment automation
Pros and Cons
- "Also, the ability to customize these plugins is valuable. Its user-friendliness stands out, especially in its user interface which allows easy installation and configuration."
- "Jenkins could improve in areas related to Kubernetes and Docker container integration, like machine allocation of nodes and Marshaling integration improvements."
What is our primary use case?
We used Jenkins for integration purposes, primarily for integrating with version control systems like Git and build tools such as Maven. Later, there were plans to use it in Docker deployment for Docker containers.
I configured environments for non-production, production, and development in the pipeline.
I also used Jenkins for a Bluegreen deployment strategy, quality assurance with SonarQube, and artifact storage in JFrog Artifactory.
How has it helped my organization?
In our previous company, Jenkins was used for complete automation of build and deployment in a project. From part of automation and customization, I was involved in the project.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Jenkins is the plugins available. You name any tool, and there is a plugin available for it in Jenkins.
Also, the ability to customize these plugins is valuable. Its user-friendliness stands out, especially in its user interface which allows easy installation and configuration.
What needs improvement?
Jenkins could improve in areas related to Kubernetes and Docker container integration, like machine allocation of nodes and Marshaling integration improvements. Making these aspects more robust would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Jenkins for around five years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Jenkins is stable. Any tool can have latency of a few seconds, but I would rate Jenkins four and a half out of five for its stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Jenkins is not as scalable compared to container solutions like Docker or Kubernetes. While it can be configured at the server end, the other solutions offer more robust automation and scalability.
How are customer service and support?
My team handles technical support for Jenkins when necessary. However, since I moved into AI and machine learning projects, I haven't been closely involved with technical support issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Jenkins is very straightforward and not difficult.
What was our ROI?
By installing Jenkins in a master-slave environment, there is significant cost saving, making it a cost-effective tool compared to other CI tools.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not have extensive knowledge on the pricing or licensing aspect as I used Jenkins for free at the local machine level. However, it is generally regarded as cost-effective.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Oct 31, 2024
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