The Jenkins platform architecture and configuration techniques
Jenkins, as you are probably aware, was built using Java. It's cross platform and supports a wide variety of engineering patterns and technologies. It can effectively support organizations of all sizes. Jenkins offers endless automation possibilities and even has a vibrant plugin ecosystem.
In this section, we will cover configuration techniques aimed at advancing our knowledge of the Jenkins architecture. Together, we will lay a foundation for reliable automation and future scalability by learning how to configure the Jenkins main operating environment.
Jenkins offers a cross-platform user experience by running on a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). A JVM is a powerful virtualization technology used to execute Java bytecode instructions, and provides a consistent software platform regardless of the host OS.
The Jenkins community has created native installation packages for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Unix. If Jenkins is not already installed (this book assumes it is), it's highly recommended that you use one of the community-provided packages if possible. If a native package is not available, Jenkins an most likely still be configured to run, providing that the host operating system supports any of the following web architectures:
- Apache Tomcat v5.0+
- JBoss Application Server 4.2+
- IBM WebSphere 7.0.0.7+
- WebLogic
Tip
It's recommended that you install Jenkins as a system service. There are many available options to accomplish this task on the most popular OS platforms. Additionally, it's important to automatically launch Jenkins during the boot-up phase of the machine.
