How to Connect Bitbucket with Jenkins

Edited 1 week ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

BitbucketJenkinsIntegrationCI/CDDevOpsAutomationPipelineSoftwareToolsDevelopment

Connecting Bitbucket to Jenkins is an essential process for automating the development workflow in modern software engineering. This integration allows for seamless code collaboration and continuous integration, enabling teams to explore, build, test, and deploy code efficiently. Here, we will delve deeper into how to effectively connect Bitbucket to Jenkins. We will detail each step involved, ensuring clarity and completeness throughout the process.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to do some prerequisites. First, you must have Jenkins installed and running on your server or local machine. Additionally, you will need a Bitbucket account with some repositories set up. Lastly, one must have administrative access on both Jenkins and Bitbucket to modify webhooks and permissions. Getting familiar with basic Jenkins and Bitbucket operations will enhance your understanding.

Step 1: Installing required plugins in Jenkins

The first step to connect Jenkins to Bitbucket is to install the required plugins. Jenkins supports a wide range of plugins that extend its functionalities. For integration with Bitbucket, the following plugins are most commonly used:

• Bitbucket Plugin
• Bitbucket branch source plugin
• git plugin

Follow the steps below to install these plugins:

1. Open the Jenkins home page and log in with administrative credentials.
2. Navigate to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins.
3. Go to the Available tab and use the search box to find plugins by name.
4. Select each plugin and click Download Now and after restarting click Install.
5. Once the installation is complete, restart Jenkins to activate the plugins.

Step 2: Creating and configuring a Jenkins job

After ensuring that the required plugins are installed, the next step is to create a job in Jenkins. A job defines an activity or a series of tasks that Jenkins executes. Follow the instructions below:

1. Go back to the Jenkins dashboard and click New Item.
2. Enter the name of your task, for example, MyBitbucketProject.
3. Select Pipeline or Freestyle project, depending on your needs, and click OK.
4. Once the job is created, go to the job configuration page.
5. In the Source Code Management section, select Git.
6. Enter your repository URL in Bitbucket using the following format: https://username@bitbucket.org/username/repository.git.
7. Under Credentials, add the credentials required to access the repository. You can manage the credentials by clicking Add after selecting the correct scope.
8. Save your configuration to finalize the setup.

Step 3: Configuring webhooks in Bitbucket

The webhook will enable Bitbucket to notify Jenkins about a commit or change in the repository, triggering a job. To set up a webhook in Bitbucket:

1. Log into your Bitbucket account and navigate to your repository.
2. Go to the Repository Settings and then find the Webhooks section.
3. Click on 'Add Webhook'.
4. Provide a title for your webhook, such as Jenkins Trigger.
5. In the URL field, enter your Jenkins endpoint URL followed by /bitbucket-hook/. For example: http://your.jenkins.server:8080/bitbucket-hook/
6. Select Repository Push as the trigger event, depending on your needs. You can configure additional triggers.
7. Save the webhook configuration.

Step 4: Installing the pipeline (Optional)

If you are using a pipeline job instead of a freestyle project, you must define the build process using a Jenkinsfile. This file is stored in your repository and can specify the entire build pipeline script using Groovy syntax. An example Jenkinsfile might look like this:

    pipeline {
        agent any 
        stages { 
            stage('checkout') { 
                steps { 
                    git branch: 'main', credentialsId: 'your-credentials-id', url: 'https://username@bitbucket.org/username/repository.git'
                } 
            } 
            stage('build') { 
                steps { 
                    // insert your build steps here
                    sh 'echo building...'
                } 
            } 
            stage('test') { 
                steps { 
                    // insert your test steps here
                    sh 'echo testing...'
                }
            }
            stage('deploy') { 
                steps { 
                    // insert your deployment steps here
                    sh 'echo deployed...'
                } 
            } 
        }
    }

After creating your Jenkinsfile, make sure it is committed to the root of your Bitbucket repository. This script provides more control and flexibility in defining your CI/CD pipeline.

Step 5: Running and monitoring the build

Once the Jenkins job is created and configured, make sure that the pipeline or job can be triggered from Bitbucket. When you commit and push changes to the repository, the webhook should automatically trigger the Jenkins job.

You can monitor the build process directly from the Jenkins dashboard. It provides real-time logs and the status of each build. In case of failures, Jenkins provides detailed logs that can help troubleshoot issues. You can also set up email notifications or other notifications based on your build results.

Additional considerations

Although the above steps cover the basic implementation, there are a few additional considerations and configurations you might want to consider:

• Advanced security: Secure your Jenkins server and Bitbucket repository with proper access controls and secure credential management. Consider using SSH keys or OAuth tokens instead of plain text credentials.
• Branching strategies: Depending on your development workflow, you may need to configure tasks for different branches or implement specific task triggers for feature branches, hotfixes, etc.
• Multiple repositories: If your project has multiple repositories, you may need to configure separate jobs or pipelines for each, or adjust the pipeline logic accordingly.
• Error management: Implement error management mechanisms in your Jenkinsfile to effectively deal with failure scenarios and try to make pipelines idempotent where possible.

Conclusion

Integrating Bitbucket with Jenkins is a powerful way to automate the software delivery process. It can help increase the efficiency of changes being detected, tested, and deployed without manual intervention. By following the steps mentioned above, you can successfully configure this integration and streamline your development workflow, reconciliation, and speed of deployment across your organization's projects. Continuously review and optimize your CI/CD pipeline according to your project needs.

  Share This Article

If you find anything wrong with the article content, you can request an update