Jenkins Slave

Make sure the following ports are enabled in your server firewall to
accept connections from Jenkins master.
Docker Remote API port 4243
Docker Hostport Range 32768 to 60999

32768 to 60999is used by Docker to assign a host port for Jenkins to
connect to the container. Without this connection, the build slave
would go in a pending state.
Lets get started,
Step 1: Spin up a VM, and install docker on it. You can follow the
official documentation for installing docker. based on the Linux
distribution you use. Make sure the docker service is up and running.
Step 2: Log in to the server and open the docker service
file /lib/systemd/system/docker.service . Search for ExecStart and replace
that line with the following.
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd -H tcp://0.0.0.0:4243 -H
unix:///var/run/docker.sock
Step 3: Reload and restart docker service.
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service docker restart
Step 4: Validate API by executing the following curl commands.
Replace 54.221.134.7 with your host IP.
curl http://localhost:4243/version
curl http://54.221.134.7:4243/version
Check the docker remote API article for a detailed explanation of
Docker API.
Once you enabled and tested the API, you can now start building the
docker slave image.
Create a Jenkins Agent Docker Image

I have created a Jenkins docker image for maven. You can use this
image or use its Dockerfile as a reference for creating your own.
If you are creating the image on your own, its image should contain
the following minimum configurations to act as a slave.
1. sshd service running on port 22.
2. Jenkins user with password.
3. All the required application dependencies for the build. For
example, for a java maven project, you need to have git, java,
and maven installed on the image.
Make sure sshd service is running and can be logged into the
containers using a username and password. Otherwise, Jenkins will
not be able to start the build process.
Note: The default ssh username is jenkins and password is

also jenkins as per the given Dockerfile. You will have to use these
credentials in the below configuration.
Configure Jenkins Server
Step 1: Head over to Jenkins Dashboard –> Manage Jenkins –>
Manage Plugins.
Step 2: Under the Available tab, search for “Docker” and install the
docker cloud plugin and restart Jenkins. Here is the official plugin site.
Make sure you install the right plugin as shown below.
Step 3: Once installed, head over to Jenkins Dashboard –> Manage
Jenkins –>Configure system.
Step 4: Under “Configure System”, if you scroll down, there will be a
section named “cloud” at the last. There you can fill out the docker
host parameters for spinning up the slaves.
Note: In Jenkins versions 2.200 or later you will find dedicated cloud
configuration under Manage Jenkins –> Manage Nodes and Clouds
Step 5: Under docker, you need to fill out the details as shown in the
image below.
Note: Replace “Docker URI” with your docker host IP. For
example, tcp://10.128.0.3:4243 You can use the “Test connection” to
test if Jenkins is able to connect to the Docker host.
Step 6: Now, from “Docker Agent Template” dropdown, click

the “Add Docker template” and fill in the details based on the
explanation and the image given below and save the configuration.
1. Labels – Identification for the docker host. It will be used in the
Job configuration. Here we use java-docker-slave
2. Name: Name of the docker template. Here we use the same
name as label ie, java-docker-slave
3. Docker Image – bibinwilson/jenkins-slave:latest or the image that
you created for the slave.
4. Remote Filing System Root – Home folder for the user you
have created. In our case, it’s /home/jenkins
5. Credentials – click add and enter the SSH username and
password that you have created for the docker image. Leave the
rest of the configuration as shown in the image below and click
save. If you are using my Docker image, the user will
be jenkins & password is also jenkins .
Note: There are additional configurations like registry authentication
and container settings that you might have to use when configuring
this set up in the corporate network.
You can also use JNLP based slave agents. For this, the
configurations need a little change as shown below. Primarily
the docker image name and the connect method .
Note: For JNLP to work, you need to enable the JNLP connection port
(50000) in Jenkins’s global security configuration ( TCP port for inbound
agents) . Also, the Jenkins master firewall should be able to accept this
connection form the docker host.
By default, the workspace will not be persisted in the host. However, if

you want the workspace to be persistent, add a host volume path
under container settings.
For example, if you want the workspace to be available at /home/ubuntu ,

you can add the volume path as shown below. /home/jenkins is the path
inside the container.
/home/ubuntu:/home/jenkins
Towards the right of the Volumes option, if you click the question
mark, it will show you additional volume options as shown below.
If you are planning to run docker in docker for your CI process, you
can mount the host docker.sock as volume to execute docker
commands. Check out my article on running docker in docker to know
more about it.
Test Docker Slaves Using FreeStyle Job
Now that you have the slave configurations ready,
1. Create a freestyle job, select “ Restrict where this project can be

run ” option and select the docker host as a slave using the label.
2. Add a shell build step which echoes a simple “ Hello World “
If you have done all the configurations right, Jenkins will spin up a
container, builds the project and destroys the container once the build
is done.
First you will see a pending notification as Jenkins tries to deploy a

container on run time and establishes an SSH connection. After a few
seconds, your job will start building.
You can check the build logs in your jobs console output as shown
below.
Also, you can check out the video explaining the whole process.

Jenkins Slave

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Make sure the following ports are enabled in your server firewall to

accept connections from Jenkins master.

Docker Remote API port 4243

Docker Hostport Range 32768 to 60999

Create a Jenkins Agent Docker Image

Note: The default ssh username is jenkins and password is

Step 6: Now, from “Docker Agent Template” dropdown, click

By default, the workspace will not be persisted in the host. However, if

For example, if you want the workspace to be available at /home/ubuntu ,

1. Create a freestyle job, select “ Restrict where this project can be

First you will see a pending notification as Jenkins tries to deploy a

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