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Azure Solution for SmartBuildings
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Scaling with branches
The goal of this project is to extend the Jenkins environment created in Part 1 by integrating it with a remote server through SSH (Secure Shell). In this exercise, we will create a container that acts as a remote host with an SSH server and configure Jenkins to securely connect to it.
By the end of this project, Jenkins will be able to execute commands and scripts on a remote machine, enabling automation tasks such as running scripts, managing servers, and performing deployment-related operations.
The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate how Jenkins can interact with external systems through SSH. In real-world DevOps environments, Jenkins often needs to run commands on remote machines to perform operations such as application deployment, server configuration, and maintenance tasks.
By creating a dedicated SSH-enabled container and integrating it with Jenkins, we simulate a typical automation scenario where Jenkins acts as the orchestration tool while executing commands on remote infrastructure.
This setup helps us to understand how Jenkins communicates with remote systems securely using SSH keys and credentials, which is a fundamental concept in building automated CI/CD pipelines.
Before starting this project, ensure the following requirements are completed:
Ready to use Host and the directory structure to run Dockerfiles and docker-compose.yml (Refer to Part 1)
Access to the Jenkins dashboard with administrative privileges.
The purpose of the SSH server is to run shell commands or scripts on other servers
The directory should look like this:
Note- Since we are using Docker, we will use Dockerfiles or images available on Docker Hub.
Create Containers
Jenkins - will download the latest image from Docker Hub
SSH server - Customized Dockerfile (name: remote-host)
jenkins/jenkins_home/centos7Note- centos7 is just random directory name I used
Dockerfile
FROM rockylinux:9
RUN dnf install -y openssh-server passwd sudo && dnf clean all
RUN useradd -m remote_user && \
echo "remote_user:1234" | chpasswd
RUN mkdir -p /home/remote_user/.ssh
COPY remote-key.pub /home/remote_user/.ssh/authorized_keys
RUN chown -R remote_user:remote_user /home/remote_user/.ssh && \
chmod 700 /home/remote_user/.ssh && \
chmod 600 /home/remote_user/.ssh/authorized_keys
RUN sed -i 's/#PasswordAuthentication yes/PasswordAuthentication yes/' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
RUN ssh-keygen -A
EXPOSE 22
CMD ["/usr/sbin/sshd","-D"]
jenkins/jenkins_home/docker-compose.yml
services:
jenkins:
container_name: jenkins
image: jenkins/jenkins
ports:
- "8080:8080"
volumes:
- $PWD/jenkins_home:/var/jenkins_home
networks:
- net
remote_host:
container_name: remote-host
image: remote-host
build:
context: centos7
networks:
- net
networks:
net:
docker compose build
docker images
jenkins/jenkins_home/docker compose up -d
docker ps
Note - host_ip:8080
By using the credentials you created (Refer First part of this article if needed)
remote-user and copy the private key as a remote key belowNote- This is created part of docker compose and placed in container context (centos: it will act like persistant volume for remote-host container)
Manage Jenkins --> SSH Servere and add details of our SSH server and Check connection
here: Integration completed
Click Build now and check console output from Job number
remote-host
In this part of the series, we successfully created a remote server container running an SSH service and integrated it with Jenkins. We configured Jenkins to securely connect to the remote host using SSH credentials and executed commands on the remote system through a Jenkins job.
This setup demonstrates how Jenkins can control external infrastructure and automate tasks beyond its own environment. Remote command execution is widely used in DevOps pipelines for tasks such as application deployment, server maintenance, configuration management, and system monitoring.
With this integration in place, Jenkins is now capable of orchestrating tasks across multiple systems, which is a critical capability for modern CI/CD automation.
In the next part of the series, we will build on this foundation by creating a real-world automation workflow where Jenkins performs a MySQL database backup and uploads it to AWS S3 automatically.
⬅️ Previous Article: Part 2 Creating Your First Jenkins Pipeline
➡️ Next Article: Part 4 Automating MySQL Backup to AWS S3
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