Project 1 — Freestyle Job

Goal

Create a job that pulls a GitHub repository and runs a shell command. No Jenkinsfile yet — UI-configured only.

Sample repo used in this course:

https://github.com/VenkatMastercoder/jenkins-cicd-projects

Create a Freestyle job

1. Dashboard → New Item
2. Name: my-first-job
3. Select Freestyle project → OK

Connect a GitHub repository

On the job configuration page:

1. Scroll to Source Code Management
2. Select Git
3. Enter the repository URL:

https://github.com/VenkatMastercoder/jenkins-cicd-projects

4. If the repo is private (or you hit rate limits), click Add → Jenkins credentials:
   • Kind: Username with password
   • Username: your GitHub username
   • Password: a GitHub Personal Access Token (not your login password)
5. Set Branches to build to */main or */master (match the repo default)

Add a build step

1. Scroll to Build Steps
2. Add build step → Execute shell
3. Enter:

echo "Build started!"
echo "Branch: $GIT_BRANCH"
echo "Build Number: $BUILD_NUMBER"
ls -la

4. Click Save
5. Click Build Now

6. Open the build in Build History → Console Output

You should see the echo lines and a directory listing. That is your first Jenkins job.

Understand success vs failure

Common Day 1 failures:

• Wrong branch name (main vs master)
• Missing GitHub credentials for a private repo
• Typo in the shell script

What you achieved today

GitHub repo
    ↓
Freestyle job (UI)
    ↓
Execute shell
    ↓
Console Output → Success / Failure