Avoiding hard-coded values in Jenkins - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Avoiding Hard-Coded Values in Jenkins Pipeline

📖 Scenario: You are creating a Jenkins pipeline script to build and deploy a simple application. To make your pipeline flexible and easy to maintain, you want to avoid hard-coding values like the branch name and build environment directly in the script.

🎯 Goal: Build a Jenkins pipeline script that uses variables for branch name and environment instead of hard-coded values. This will help you reuse the pipeline for different branches and environments easily.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create variables for branch name and environment

Use these variables in the pipeline stages

Print the values of these variables during the build

Avoid any hard-coded strings for branch or environment in the pipeline steps

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

In real projects, hard-coded values make pipelines rigid and hard to update. Using variables allows teams to reuse pipelines for multiple branches and environments without changing the code.

💼 Career

DevOps engineers and Jenkins administrators often create pipelines that must work across many projects and environments. Knowing how to avoid hard-coded values is essential for writing maintainable and scalable CI/CD pipelines.

1

Create variables for branch and environment

Create two variables called branchName and environment and set them to "main" and "production" respectively.

Jenkins

# Create variables branchName and environment with values "main" and "production"
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use def to declare variables in Jenkins scripted pipeline.

2

Use variables in the pipeline stages

Add a pipeline block with an agent any. Inside stages, create a stage called Build that echoes the message "Building branch: ${branchName}" using the branchName variable.

Jenkins

def branchName = "main"
def environment = "production"

// Add pipeline block with Build stage that echoes branchName
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use pipeline and stage blocks. Use echo to print messages.

3

Add a Deploy stage using the environment variable

Inside the existing pipeline block, add a new stage called Deploy that echoes the message "Deploying to environment: ${environment}" using the environment variable.

Jenkins

def branchName = "main"
def environment = "production"

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                echo "Building branch: ${branchName}"
            }
        }
        // Add Deploy stage here
        // Your code here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Add another stage block inside stages with echo step.

4

Print both variables in the pipeline

Add a final stage called Print Info inside the pipeline that echoes both branchName and environment in the format: "Branch: ${branchName}, Environment: ${environment}".

Jenkins

def branchName = "main"
def environment = "production"

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                echo "Building branch: ${branchName}"
            }
        }
        stage('Deploy') {
            steps {
                echo "Deploying to environment: ${environment}"
            }
        }
        // Add Print Info stage here
        // Your code here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use echo to print both variables in one message inside a new stage.