Jenkinsfile Runner Action for GitHub Actions

In light of the latest development of the Jenkinsfile Runner project, and to follow up on an old Proof-of-Concept (PoC) project preceding it called GitHub Actions POC for Jenkins Single-shot master based on the idea of creating Jenkinsfile Runner action for GitHub Actions, we would like to further develop the latter into a full-fledged feature-complete version combining the strengths of both work into a new Jenkinsfile Runner Action for GitHub Action project. Ideally, the GSoC contributor to work on the project should have some basic Java programming skills, as well as some experience and understanding of the configuration of Jenkins/Jenkinsfile Runner or Docker. The project is suitable to be tackled independently over a summer, or to extend to a slightly longer version based on pace of completion and need.

This project would be a great opportunity for GSoC contributors who are interested in knowing more about DevOps processes, or at least to have a glimpse at what could potentially be involved. This project is chiefly based on two existing projects available on GitHub, namely the Jenkinsfile Runner project and the GitHub Actions POC for Jenkins Single-shot Master project, so the GSoC contributor will be able to build on these and not having to entirely start from scratch from first principles. It is expected that the GSoC contributor may need to contribute pull requests to the Jenkinsfile Runner project in order to facilitate the completion of this goal.

The former GitHub Actions PoC can be used as a study to gain insights on the overall idea; however, the outcome of this project will be based very loosely on it as the tooling with the Jenskinsfile Runner project will be used as a basis instead.

The three potential use cases of Jenkinsfile are but not limited to:

We will focus on a containerized pipeline execution which is the last of the three main Jenkinsfile Runner use-cases. The Jenkinsfile Runner project provides official Docker images which can be used and extended for custom use-cases, as in our case. The existing Jenkinsfile Runner repository provides the Vanilla distribution of Docker.

Additional Docker images are available for common use-cases in this repository; e.g., for building Java projects with either Maven or Gradle. Each Docker image includes a set of Jenkins plugins, configurations, as well as Pipeline libraries which are commonly used in the desired technology stack. These image packs can be pulled from DockerHub.

Finally, the end goal would be to enable running of GitHub Actions using the above. This will neatly tie up all the loose ends once a basic version is implemented. Throughout the entire GSoC project, the GSoC contributor is expected to employ test-driven development (TDD) and to supply supporting documentation for both the user and fellow developers.

It is hoped that through successful completion of this project, the GSoC contributor will be able to gain good software development skills, knowledge, and most importantly habits such as relying on official documentation for the different tools used, writing good documentation for self and others, as well as seeking help from mentors and the Jenkins community at large when needed.

Some useful links serving as the background are as follows:

The "good first issues" at the tracker at the official Jenkinsfile Runner repository would be a good place to start.