spicysomtam / ansible-jenkins-ec2

Deploy a Jenkins instance to aws ec2 using ansible

Introduction

Deploy a Jenkins instance to ec2 using ansible.

Noteable points:

• Deploys to localhost, which uses the ansible ec2 cloud modules (boto) to interact with aws.
• Jenkins setup on ec2 instance uses ec2 userdata to run an install script to install java and jenkins.
• Ec2 userdata could have used ansible; but this over complcates the solution?
• Follows the devops ideas on creating and destroying a stack.
• Playbooks are used to deploy and destroy the stack. Since ansible cannot be played in reverse we need a playbook to deploy and another to destroy.
• Each included yaml file includes plays for state present and absent so they can be called from the deploy and destroy playbooks.
• Terraform is a much better tool for this, but it was requested to be done in ansible.

Just deploys an instance; not a launch config/scaling group, since once Jenkins is up and running, you will need to configure it, install plugins, setup jobs, etc. What I mean is it cannot be autoscaled at will.

Deploying jenkins

You may wish to adapt the cidr ranges in the security group (sg) yaml files. Also review vars/app.yaml.

This was developed with ansible 2.7, so use that or a later version.

Setup your aws credentials in the normal way; I like to use env var AWS_PROFILE.

Example deploy:

$ AWS_PROFILE=aws2-admin ansible-playbook -c local -i localhost,  deploy.yaml 

PLAY [Deploy jenkins ec2 instance] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [fact stack=jenkins] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/sg-ssh.yaml for localhost

TASK [create sg jenkins-ssh] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [rm sg jenkins-ssh] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/sg-http.yaml for localhost

TASK [create sg jenkins-http] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [rm sg jenkins-http] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/jenkins-ec2.yaml for localhost

TASK [create jenkins instance] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [rm jenkins instance running] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [rm jenkins instance stopped] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=7    changed=3    unreachable=0    failed=0   

After deployment, head to http://<public-dns>:8080, and begin the Jenkins configure process.

Destroying the Jenkins instance

To be run with care; you might wish to try this out just after deploy, so you understand how it works (and then deploy again).

Destroying the Jenkins instance:

ansible-playbook -c local -i localhost,  destroy.yaml 

PLAY [Destroy jenkins ec2 instance] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [fact stack=jenkins] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/jenkins-ec2.yaml for localhost

TASK [create jenkins instance] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [rm jenkins instance running] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [rm jenkins instance stopped] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/sg-http.yaml for localhost

TASK [create sg jenkins-http] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [rm sg jenkins-http] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

TASK [include_tasks] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/amunro/git/spicysomtam/jenkins-aws-ec2/ansible/sg-ssh.yaml for localhost

TASK [create sg jenkins-ssh] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
skipping: [localhost]

TASK [rm sg jenkins-ssh] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [localhost]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=8    changed=3    unreachable=0    failed=0   

Things to consider after deploy

• Make the root volume larger; 8Gb is a bit small for Jenkins so a better size might be 20Gb.
• Switch to a more powerful instance type; t2.small with 2Gb of memory just allows Jenkins to run. Consider at least a t3.medium (t3's are cheaper than t2's and have more cores; medium gives 4Gb of memory).
• Backup your instance regularly to protect against bad plugin/jenkins upgrades; as mentioned the Lifecycle Manager is a good way to do it.
• Integrate your Jenkins with ldap or Active Directory to simplify user management.

Jenkins pipeline

Added a Jenkinsfile to allow this to be deployed via Jenkins. This might be a chicken and egg scenario! However you might have another Jenkins where you can deploy it.

Your Jenkins will need the following:

• aws Jenkins plugin.
• ansible Jenkins plugin.
• ansible 2.7 installed.
• python botocore and boto3.
• aws credential in Jenkins to access aws.