Practice Exercises

Reading about Jenkins is not enough. You need to actually set it up, break it, fix it, and run real tests through it. Here are hands-on exercises ordered from beginner to advanced.

Exercise 1: Install and Run Jenkins

1. Install Jenkins using Docker (docker run command from Lesson 3).
2. Complete the setup wizard. Install suggested plugins.
3. Install additional plugins: Maven Integration, TestNG Results, Allure, Email Extension.
4. Configure JDK-17 and Maven-3.9 in Manage Jenkins > Tools.
5. Verification: Jenkins dashboard loads at http://localhost:8080 with your admin user.

Exercise 2: Create a Freestyle Job

1. Create a Freestyle job called "My-First-Job."
2. Build Step: Add "Execute shell" with command: echo "Hello from Jenkins! Build number: $BUILD_NUMBER"
3. Run it 3 times. Check the console output of each build.
4. Verification: You see "Hello from Jenkins! Build number: 3" in the third build.

Exercise 3: Freestyle Job with Maven Tests

1. Create a Freestyle job that clones your Selenium project from Git.
2. Add Maven build step: clean test -DsuiteXmlFile=testng.xml -Dheadless=true
3. Add Post-build action: Publish TestNG Results (**/testng-results.xml).
4. Run the build. Check the TestNG Results tab.
5. Verification: You see pass/fail counts in the TestNG report.

Exercise 4: Create a Pipeline Job

1. Create a Jenkinsfile in your project root (use the template from Lesson 6).
2. Push it to your Git repo.
3. Create a Pipeline job in Jenkins. Set "Pipeline script from SCM." Point to your repo.
4. Run the pipeline. Watch the stage view — each stage should light up green.
5. Verification: Pipeline completes with Checkout > Build > Run Tests > Publish Reports.

Exercise 5: Parameterized Pipeline

1. Add parameters block to your Jenkinsfile (browser, environment, suite, headless).
2. Push the updated Jenkinsfile.
3. Run the pipeline once (first run discovers parameters).
4. Click "Build with Parameters" — select Firefox, staging, testng-smoke.xml.
5. Verification: Console output shows Maven running with -Dbrowser=firefox.

Exercise 6: Cron-Scheduled Pipeline

1. Add a cron trigger to your Jenkinsfile: triggers { cron("H/5 * * * *") }
2. Push and wait. Within 5 minutes, Jenkins should auto-trigger the build.
3. Check the build cause — it should say "Started by timer."
4. Change to a realistic schedule: triggers { cron("H 2 * * 1-5") }
5. Verification: Build triggers automatically without clicking "Build Now."

Exercise 7: GitHub Actions Workflow

1. Create .github/workflows/tests.yml in your project (use template from Lesson 12).
2. Push to GitHub.
3. Go to your repo > Actions tab. You should see the workflow running.
4. Check the test results and downloaded artifacts.
5. Verification: Green checkmark on your commit in GitHub.