Jenkins to GitHub Actions path - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Key difference in pipeline triggers between Jenkins and GitHub Actions

Which statement best describes how Jenkins and GitHub Actions trigger pipelines?

A Jenkins pipelines trigger only manually, GitHub Actions triggers only on schedule.

B Jenkins and GitHub Actions both require external cron jobs to trigger pipelines.

C Jenkins triggers pipelines only on push events, GitHub Actions triggers only on pull requests.

D Jenkins uses webhooks configured in GitHub, while GitHub Actions triggers are defined inside YAML files in the repository.

💡 Hint

Think about where the trigger configuration lives in each tool.

Jenkins typically uses webhooks set up in GitHub to start pipelines, while GitHub Actions defines triggers directly inside the workflow YAML files stored in the repo.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of GitHub Actions workflow run status command

What is the output of this GitHub CLI command after a successful workflow run?

Jenkins

gh run view 12345 --json status --jq .status

A "success"

B "completed"

C "passed"

D "done"

💡 Hint

Check the GitHub CLI documentation for the status field values.

The status field in GitHub Actions run JSON is "completed" when the run finishes, regardless of success or failure. The conclusion field shows success or failure.

❓ Configuration

advanced

Correct GitHub Actions YAML syntax for a build job

Which YAML snippet correctly defines a GitHub Actions job that runs on Ubuntu latest and executes a build script?

A

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - script: ./build.sh

B

jobs:
  build:
    runs_on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: ./build.sh

C

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: ./build.sh

D

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - checkout: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: ./build.sh

💡 Hint

Look carefully at the keys and syntax for steps in GitHub Actions.

The correct key for the runner is 'runs-on'. Steps use 'uses' for actions and 'run' for shell commands. Option C follows this syntax correctly.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Reason for GitHub Actions workflow not triggering on push

A GitHub Actions workflow does not start when pushing to the main branch. The workflow YAML has:

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

What is the most likely cause?

A The branch name in the YAML is 'master' but the repository uses 'main'.

B GitHub Actions workflows cannot trigger on push events.

C The workflow file must be named 'main.yml' to trigger on main branch.

D Push events require a personal access token to trigger workflows.

💡 Hint

Check the branch names carefully.

If the repository's default branch is 'main' but the workflow listens to 'master', the workflow will not trigger on pushes to 'main'.

🔀 Workflow

expert

Order of steps to migrate Jenkins pipeline to GitHub Actions

Arrange the steps in the correct order to migrate a Jenkins pipeline to GitHub Actions.

A 1,2,3,4

B 2,1,3,4

C 1,3,2,4

D 3,1,2,4

💡 Hint

Think about logical migration steps from analysis to cleanup.

First analyze Jenkins pipelines, then create GitHub Actions workflows, test them, and finally remove Jenkins jobs and update docs.