Cloud-Native Development Topics 

CloudBees and Jenkins support Kubernetes with 3 new plugins

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by Alan Shimel

In conjunction with the release of Kubernetes v1.0 and the formation of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, CloudBees, the enterprise Jenkins company and managers of the Jenkins community announced three new plugins to allow for easy integration of Jenkins and CloudBees enterprise to work with Kubernetes in containerized environments including massively scaled deployments.

The three new plugins build on the previous announced Docker plugins. Taken together, these allow developers to use the leading continuous delivery solution in bringing microservices-based applications to market quickly using containers.

For those who may not be familiar with Kubernetes, from the CloudBees release:

Kubernetes, launched by Google, is used for managing containerized applications – such as those handled with Docker – in a clustered environment. It provides a better way for teams to work with related but distributed components across varied infrastructures. Kubernetes provides the orchestration and support services required in environments such as these. With the Kubernetes plugins, DevOps teams can leverage Jenkins and Docker at scale, while collaborating more readily across different environments.

The three plugins for Kubernetes are:

  • Kubernetes Plugin – Easily run Jenkins slaves elastically within a Kubernetes cluster of Docker containers
  • Docker Build and Publish Plugin – Easily prepare Docker images and push them to a Docker registry. With help from the Google Container Registry Auth plugin, it can be used to push to the Google Container Registry in a Kubernetes cluster
  • Docker Custom Build Environment – Allow developers to easily define custom build environments with Docker containers running within a Kubernetes cluster. The plugin can now pull in Docker containers from the Google Container Registry

As part of supporting the Kubernetes release, Kohsuke Kawaguchi, Jenkins founder and CTO of CloudBees spoke at the Kubernetes launch event on July 21st. Kawaguchi had this to say, “the strong integration that the Jenkins community previously delivered for Docker is not only useful for users but also provides a powerful foundation for other container technologies; that is how we delivered Kubernetes support quickly. The easy extensibility that Jenkins offers puts Jenkins ahead of the curve when it comes to support for the overall container ecosystem.”

CloudBees believes that when used together, Jenkins, Docker and Kubernetes give DevOps teams a powerful set of tools that streamline the end-to-end delivery process by helping them speak the same language, share the same pipeline processes and work towards the same goals.

There was no mention of CloudBees joining the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Container Journal has inquired to find out if this is something planned for the not to distant future for CloudBees. It would seem a natural fit.

CloudBees is one of the leaders of the DevOps movement. The fact that they have so quickly come on board in supporting Kubernetes release shows how much the industry has lined up behind this. Along with other announcements in support of the release it shows that Google Cloud and the Kubernetes team have done a great job of gathering together just about the entire industry behind Kubernetes. Now with it being seeded over the CNCF the stage is set for broad industry support around a robust container toolset.

Alan Shimel

Alan Shimel is founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Techstrong Group, a Futurum company, and a member of Futurum's executive leadership team. A technology entrepreneur, media executive and industry commentator, Shimel has spent more than three decades building businesses, communities and media platforms serving enterprise technology professionals, including co-founding StillSecure, a network security company, and the DevOps Institute, a DevOps certification and training body. At Techstrong, he leads a portfolio of media brands including DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, Cloud Native Now, Techstrong AI, Techstrong IT, Digital CxO, Platform Engineering, Techstrong Semi and Techstrong TV, along with a growing portfolio of events, educational programs and digital communities. With more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, Shimel is a familiar voice in the space and was an early advocate of the DevOps movement, helping bring DevOps practices into mainstream enterprise technology. His work today spans cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud-native technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and digital transformation, and he hosts popular programs including Techstrong Gang, Shimmy Says and Still Cyber, After All These Years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from St. John's University and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School.

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