Build a Python app with PyInstaller

This tutorial shows you how to use Jenkins to orchestrate building a simple Python application with PyInstaller.

If you are a Python developer who is new to CI/CD concepts, or you might be familiar with these concepts but don’t know how to implement building your application using Jenkins, then this tutorial is for you.

The simple Python application (which you’ll obtain from a sample repository on GitHub) is a command line tool "add2vals" that outputs the addition of two values. If at least one of the values is a string, "add2vals" treats both values as a string and instead concatenates the values. The "add2" function in the "calc" library (which "add2vals" imports) is accompanied by a set of unit tests. These are tested with pytest to check that this function works as expected and the results are saved to a JUnit XML report.

The delivery of the "add2vals" tool through PyInstaller converts this tool into a standalone executable file for Linux, which you can download through Jenkins and execute at the command line on Linux machines without Python.

Note: Unlike the other tutorials in this documentation, this tutorial requires approximately 500 MB more Docker image data to be downloaded.

Duration: This tutorial takes 20-40 minutes to complete (assuming you’ve already met the prerequisites below). The exact duration will depend on the speed of your machine and whether or not you’ve already run Jenkins in Docker from another tutorial.

You can stop this tutorial at any point in time and continue from where you left off.

If you’ve already run though another tutorial, you can skip the Prerequisites and Run Jenkins in Docker sections below and proceed on to forking the sample repository. (Just ensure you have Git installed locally.) If you need to restart Jenkins, simply follow the restart instructions in Stopping and restarting Jenkins and then proceed on.

Prerequisites

For this tutorial, you will require:

  • A macOS, Linux or Windows machine with:

    • 256 MB of RAM, although more than 2 GB is recommended.

    • 10 GB of drive space for Jenkins and your Docker images and containers.

  • The following software installed:

    • Docker - Read more about installing Docker in the Installing Docker section of the Installing Jenkins page.
      Note: If you use Linux, this tutorial assumes that you are not running Docker commands as the root user, but instead with a single user account that also has access to the other tools used throughout this tutorial.

    • Git and optionally GitHub Desktop

Run Jenkins in Docker

In this tutorial, you’ll be running Jenkins as a Docker container from the jenkins/jenkins Docker image.

To run Jenkins in Docker, follow the relevant instructions below for either macOS and Linux or Windows.

You can read more about Docker container and image concepts in the Docker section of the Installing Jenkins page.

On macOS and Linux

  1. Open up a terminal window.

  2. Create a bridge network in Docker using the following docker network create command:

    docker network create jenkins
  3. In order to execute Docker commands inside Jenkins nodes, download and run the docker:dind Docker image using the following docker run command:

    docker run \
      --name jenkins-docker \(1)
      --rm \(2)
      --detach \(3)
      --privileged \(4)
      --network jenkins \(5)
      --network-alias docker \(6)
      --env DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR=/certs \(7)
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client \(8)
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \(9)
      --publish 2376:2376 \(10)
      --publish 3000:3000 --publish 5000:5000 \(11)
      docker:dind \(12)
      --storage-driver overlay2 (13)
    1 ( Optional ) Specifies the Docker container name to use for running the image. By default, Docker will generate a unique name for the container.
    2 ( Optional ) Automatically removes the Docker container (the instance of the Docker image) when it is shut down.
    3 ( Optional ) Runs the Docker container in the background. This instance can be stopped later by running docker stop jenkins-docker.
    4 Running Docker in Docker currently requires privileged access to function properly. This requirement may be relaxed with newer Linux kernel versions.
    5 This corresponds with the network created in the earlier step.
    6 Makes the Docker in Docker container available as the hostname docker within the jenkins network.
    7 Enables the use of TLS in the Docker server. Due to the use of a privileged container, this is recommended, though it requires the use of the shared volume described below. This environment variable controls the root directory where Docker TLS certificates are managed.
    8 Maps the /certs/client directory inside the container to a Docker volume named jenkins-docker-certs as created above.
    9 Maps the /var/jenkins_home directory inside the container to the Docker volume named jenkins-data. This will allow for other Docker containers controlled by this Docker container’s Docker daemon to mount data from Jenkins.
    10 ( Optional ) Exposes the Docker daemon port on the host machine. This is useful for executing docker commands on the host machine to control this inner Docker daemon.
    11 Exposes ports 3000 and 5000 from the docker in docker container, used by some of the tutorials.
    12 The docker:dind image itself. This image can be downloaded before running by using the command: docker image pull docker:dind.
    13 The storage driver for the Docker volume. See "Docker storage drivers" for supported options.

    Note: If copying and pasting the command snippet above does not work, try copying and pasting this annotation-free version here:

    docker run --name jenkins-docker --rm --detach \
      --privileged --network jenkins --network-alias docker \
      --env DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR=/certs \
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client \
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
      --publish 3000:3000 --publish 5000:5000 --publish 2376:2376 \
      docker:dind --storage-driver overlay2
  4. Customise official Jenkins Docker image, by executing below two steps:

    1. Create Dockerfile with the following content:

      FROM jenkins/jenkins:2.387.1
      USER root
      RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y lsb-release
      RUN curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.asc \
        https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg
      RUN echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
        signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.asc] \
        https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
        $(lsb_release -cs) stable" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
      RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y docker-ce-cli
      USER jenkins
      RUN jenkins-plugin-cli --plugins "blueocean docker-workflow"
    2. Build a new docker image from this Dockerfile and assign the image a meaningful name, e.g. "myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1":

      docker build -t myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1 .

      Keep in mind that the process described above will automatically download the official Jenkins Docker image if this hasn’t been done before.

  5. Run your own myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1 image as a container in Docker using the following docker run command:

    docker run \
      --name jenkins-blueocean \(1)
      --detach \(2)
      --network jenkins \(3)
      --env DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker:2376 \(4)
      --env DOCKER_CERT_PATH=/certs/client \
      --env DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1 \
      --publish 8080:8080 \(5)
      --publish 50000:50000 \(6)
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \(7)
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client:ro \(8)
      --volume "$HOME":/home \(9)
      --restart=on-failure \(10)
      --env JAVA_OPTS="-Dhudson.plugins.git.GitSCM.ALLOW_LOCAL_CHECKOUT=true" \(11)
      myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1 (12)
    1 ( Optional ) Specifies the Docker container name for this instance of the Docker image.
    2 ( Optional ) Runs the current container in the background (i.e. "detached" mode) and outputs the container ID. If you do not specify this option, then the running Docker log for this container is output in the terminal window.
    3 Connects this container to the jenkins network defined in the earlier step. This makes the Docker daemon from the previous step available to this Jenkins container through the hostname docker.
    4 Specifies the environment variables used by docker, docker-compose, and other Docker tools to connect to the Docker daemon from the previous step.
    5 Maps (i.e. "publishes") port 8080 of the current container to port 8080 on the host machine. The first number represents the port on the host while the last represents the container’s port. Therefore, if you specified -p 49000:8080 for this option, you would be accessing Jenkins on your host machine through port 49000.
    6 ( Optional ) Maps port 50000 of the current container to port 50000 on the host machine. This is only necessary if you have set up one or more inbound Jenkins agents on other machines, which in turn interact with your jenkins-blueocean container (the Jenkins "controller"). Inbound Jenkins agents communicate with the Jenkins controller through TCP port 50000 by default. You can change this port number on your Jenkins controller through the Security page. If you were to change the TCP port for inbound Jenkins agents of your Jenkins controller to 51000 (for example), then you would need to re-run Jenkins (via this docker run …​ command) and specify this "publish" option with something like --publish 52000:51000, where the last value matches this changed value on the Jenkins controller and the first value is the port number on the machine hosting the Jenkins controller. Inbound Jenkins agents communicate with the Jenkins controller on that port (52000 in this example). Note that WebSocket agents do not need this configuration.
    7 Maps the /var/jenkins_home directory in the container to the Docker volume with the name jenkins-data. Instead of mapping the /var/jenkins_home directory to a Docker volume, you could also map this directory to one on your machine’s local file system. For example, specifying the option
    --volume $HOME/jenkins:/var/jenkins_home would map the container’s /var/jenkins_home directory to the jenkins subdirectory within the $HOME directory on your local machine, which would typically be /Users/<your-username>/jenkins or /home/<your-username>/jenkins. Note that if you change the source volume or directory for this, the volume from the docker:dind container above needs to be updated to match this.
    8 Maps the /certs/client directory to the previously created jenkins-docker-certs volume. This makes the client TLS certificates needed to connect to the Docker daemon available in the path specified by the DOCKER_CERT_PATH environment variable.
    9 Maps the $HOME directory on the host (i.e. your local) machine (usually the /Users/<your-username> directory) to the /home directory in the container. Used to access local changes to the tutorial repository.
    10 Configure the Docker container restart policy to restart on failure as described in the blog post.
    11 Allow local checkout for the tutorial. See SECURITY-2478 for the reasons why this argument should not be used on a production installation.
    12 The name of the Docker image, which you built in the previous step.

    Note: If copying and pasting the command snippet above does not work, try copying and pasting this annotation-free version here:

    docker run --name jenkins-blueocean --detach \
      --network jenkins --env DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker:2376 \
      --env DOCKER_CERT_PATH=/certs/client --env DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1 \
      --publish 8080:8080 --publish 50000:50000 \
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home \
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client:ro \
      --volume "$HOME":/home \
      --restart=on-failure \
      --env JAVA_OPTS="-Dhudson.plugins.git.GitSCM.ALLOW_LOCAL_CHECKOUT=true" \
      myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1
  6. Proceed to the Post-installation setup wizard.

On Windows

The Jenkins project provides a Linux container image, not a Windows container image. Be sure that your Docker for Windows installation is configured to run Linux Containers rather than Windows Containers. See the Docker documentation for instructions to switch to Linux containers. Once configured to run Linux Containers, the steps are:

  1. Open up a command prompt window and similar to the macOS and Linux instructions above do the following:

  2. Create a bridge network in Docker

    docker network create jenkins
  3. Run a docker:dind Docker image

    docker run --name jenkins-docker --detach ^
      --privileged --network jenkins --network-alias docker ^
      --env DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR=/certs ^
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client ^
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home ^
      --publish 3000:3000 --publish 5000:5000 --publish 2376:2376 ^
      docker:dind
  4. Customise official Jenkins Docker image, by executing below two steps:

    1. Create Dockerfile with the following content:

      FROM jenkins/jenkins:2.387.1
      USER root
      RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y lsb-release
      RUN curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.asc \
        https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg
      RUN echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
        signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.asc] \
        https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
        $(lsb_release -cs) stable" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
      RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y docker-ce-cli
      USER jenkins
      RUN jenkins-plugin-cli --plugins "blueocean docker-workflow"
    2. Build a new docker image from this Dockerfile and assign the image a meaningful name, e.g. "myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1":

      docker build -t myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1 .

      Keep in mind that the process described above will automatically download the official Jenkins Docker image if this hasn’t been done before.

  5. Run your own myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1 image as a container in Docker using the following docker run command:

    docker run --name jenkins-blueocean --detach ^
      --network jenkins --env DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker:2376 ^
      --env DOCKER_CERT_PATH=/certs/client --env DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1 ^
      --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home ^
      --volume jenkins-docker-certs:/certs/client:ro ^
      --volume "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%":/home ^
      --restart=on-failure ^
      --env JAVA_OPTS="-Dhudson.plugins.git.GitSCM.ALLOW_LOCAL_CHECKOUT=true" ^
      --publish 8080:8080 --publish 50000:50000 myjenkins-blueocean:2.387.1-1
  6. Proceed to the Setup wizard.

Accessing the Docker container

If you have some experience with Docker and you wish or need to access your Docker container through a terminal/command prompt using the docker exec command, you can add an option like --name jenkins-tutorial to the docker exec command. That will access the Jenkins Docker container named "jenkins-tutorial".

This means you could access your docker container (through a separate terminal/command prompt window) with a docker exec command like:

docker exec -it jenkins-blueocean bash

Accessing the Docker logs

There is a possibility you may need to access the Jenkins console log, for instance, when Unlocking Jenkins as part of the Post-installation setup wizard.

The Jenkins console log is easily accessible through the terminal/command prompt window from which you executed the docker run …​ command. In case if needed you can also access the Jenkins console log through the Docker logs of your container using the following command:

docker logs <docker-container-name>

Your <docker-container-name> can be obtained using the docker ps command.

Accessing the Jenkins home directory

There is a possibility you may need to access the Jenkins home directory, for instance, to check the details of a Jenkins build in the workspace subdirectory.

If you mapped the Jenkins home directory (/var/jenkins_home) to one on your machine’s local file system (i.e. in the docker run …​ command above), then you can access the contents of this directory through your machine’s usual terminal/command prompt.

Otherwise, if you specified the --volume jenkins-data:/var/jenkins_home option in the docker run …​ command, you can access the contents of the Jenkins home directory through your container’s terminal/command prompt using the docker container exec command:

docker container exec -it <docker-container-name> bash

As mentioned above, your <docker-container-name> can be obtained using the docker container ls command. If you specified the
--name jenkins-blueocean option in the docker container run …​ command above (see also Accessing the Jenkins/Blue Ocean Docker container), you can simply use the docker container exec command:

docker container exec -it jenkins-blueocean bash

Setup wizard

Before you can access Jenkins, there are a few quick "one-off" steps you’ll need to perform.

Unlocking Jenkins

When you first access a new Jenkins instance, you are asked to unlock it using an automatically-generated password.

  1. After the 2 sets of asterisks appear in the terminal/command prompt window, browse to http://localhost:8080 and wait until the Unlock Jenkins page appears.

    Unlock Jenkins page

  2. Display the Jenkins console log with the command:

    docker logs jenkins-blueocean
  3. From your terminal/command prompt window again, copy the automatically-generated alphanumeric password (between the 2 sets of asterisks).

    Copying initial admin password

  4. On the Unlock Jenkins page, paste this password into the Administrator password field and click Continue.

Customizing Jenkins with plugins

After unlocking Jenkins, the Customize Jenkins page appears.

On this page, click Install suggested plugins.

The setup wizard shows the progression of Jenkins being configured and the suggested plugins being installed. This process may take a few minutes.

Creating the first administrator user

Finally, Jenkins asks you to create your first administrator user.

  1. When the Create First Admin User page appears, specify your details in the respective fields and click Save and Finish.

  2. When the Jenkins is ready page appears, click Start using Jenkins.
    Notes:

    • This page may indicate Jenkins is almost ready! instead and if so, click Restart.

    • If the page doesn’t automatically refresh after a minute, use your web browser to refresh the page manually.

  3. If required, log in to Jenkins with the credentials of the user you just created and you’re ready to start using Jenkins!

Stopping and restarting Jenkins

Throughout the remainder of this tutorial, you can stop your Docker container by running:

docker stop jenkins-blueocean jenkins-docker

To restart your Docker container:

  1. Run the same docker run …​ commands you ran for macOS, Linux or Windows above.

  2. Browse to http://localhost:8080.

  3. Wait until the log in page appears and log in.

Fork and clone the sample repository

Obtain the simple "add" Python application from GitHub, by forking the sample repository of the application’s source code into your own GitHub account and then cloning this fork locally.

  1. Ensure you are signed in to your GitHub account. If you don’t yet have a GitHub account, sign up for a free one on the GitHub website.

  2. Fork the simple-python-pyinstaller-app on GitHub into your local GitHub account. If you need help with this process, refer to the Fork A Repo documentation on the GitHub website for more information.

  3. Clone your forked simple-python-pyinstaller-app repository (on GitHub) locally to your machine. To begin this process, do either of the following (where <your-username> is the name of your user account on your operating system):

    • If you have the GitHub Desktop app installed on your machine:

      1. In GitHub, click the green Clone or download button on your forked repository, then Open in Desktop.

      2. In GitHub Desktop, before clicking Clone on the Clone a Repository dialog box, ensure Local Path for:

        • macOS is /Users/<your-username>/Documents/GitHub/simple-python-pyinstaller-app

        • Linux is /home/<your-username>/GitHub/simple-python-pyinstaller-app

        • Windows is C:\Users\<your-username>\Documents\GitHub\simple-python-pyinstaller-app

    • Otherwise:

      1. Open up a terminal/command line prompt and cd to the appropriate directory on:

        • macOS - /Users/<your-username>/Documents/GitHub/

        • Linux - /home/<your-username>/GitHub/

        • Windows - C:\Users\<your-username>\Documents\GitHub\ (although use a Git bash command line window as opposed to the usual Microsoft command prompt)

      2. Run the following command to continue/complete cloning your forked repo:
        git clone https://github.com/YOUR-GITHUB-ACCOUNT-NAME/simple-python-pyinstaller-app
        where YOUR-GITHUB-ACCOUNT-NAME is the name of your GitHub account.

Create your Pipeline project in Jenkins

  1. Go back to Jenkins, log in again if necessary and click create new jobs under Welcome to Jenkins!
    Note: If you don’t see this, click New Item at the top left.

  2. In the Enter an item name field, specify the name for your new Pipeline project (e.g. simple-python-pyinstaller-app).

  3. Scroll down and click Pipeline, then click OK at the end of the page.

  4. ( Optional ) On the next page, specify a brief description for your Pipeline in the Description field (e.g. An entry-level Pipeline demonstrating how to use Jenkins to build a simple Python application with PyInstaller.)

  5. Click the Pipeline tab at the top of the page to scroll down to the Pipeline section.

  6. From the Definition field, choose the Pipeline script from SCM option. This option instructs Jenkins to obtain your Pipeline from Source Control Management (SCM), which will be your locally cloned Git repository.

  7. From the SCM field, choose Git.

  8. In the Repository URL field, specify the directory path of your locally cloned repository above, which is from your user account/home directory on your host machine, mapped to the /home directory of the Jenkins container - i.e.

    • For macOS - /home/Documents/GitHub/simple-python-pyinstaller-app

    • For Linux - /home/GitHub/simple-python-pyinstaller-app

    • For Windows - /home/Documents/GitHub/simple-python-pyinstaller-app

  9. Click Save to save your new Pipeline project. You’re now ready to begin creating your Jenkinsfile, which you’ll be checking into your locally cloned Git repository.

Create your initial Pipeline as a Jenkinsfile

You’re now ready to create your Pipeline that will automate building your Python application with PyInstaller in Jenkins. Your Pipeline will be created as a Jenkinsfile, which will be committed to your locally cloned Git repository (simple-python-pyinstaller-app).

This is the foundation of "Pipeline-as-Code", which treats the continuous delivery pipeline a part of the application to be versioned and reviewed like any other code. Read more about Pipeline and what a Jenkinsfile is in the Pipeline and Using a Jenkinsfile sections of the User Handbook.

First, create an initial Pipeline with a "Build" stage that executes the first part of the entire production process for your application. This "Build" stage downloads a Python Docker image and runs it as a Docker container, which in turn compiles your simple Python application into byte code.

  1. Using your favorite text editor or IDE, create and save new text file with the name Jenkinsfile at the root of your local simple-python-pyinstaller-app Git repository.

  2. Copy the following Declarative Pipeline code and paste it into your empty Jenkinsfile:

    pipeline {
        agent none (1)
        stages {
            stage('Build') { (2)
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'python:2-alpine' (3)
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'python -m py_compile sources/add2vals.py sources/calc.py' (4)
                    stash(name: 'compiled-results', includes: 'sources/*.py*') (5)
                }
            }
        }
    }
    1 The agent section with the none parameter specified at the top of this Pipeline code block means that no global agent will be allocated for the entire Pipeline’s execution and that each stage directive must specify its own agent section.
    2 Defines a stage (directive) called Build that appears on the Jenkins UI.
    3 This image parameter (of the agent section’s docker parameter) downloads the python:2-alpine Docker image (if it’s not already available on your machine) and runs this image as a separate container. This means that:
    • You’ll have separate Jenkins and Python containers running locally in Docker.

    • The Python container becomes the agent that Jenkins uses to run the Build stage of your Pipeline project. However, this container is short-lived - its lifespan is only that of the duration of your Build stage’s execution.

    4 This sh step (of the steps section) runs the Python command to compile your application and its calc library into byte code files (each with .pyc extension), which are placed into the sources workspace directory (within the /var/jenkins_home/workspace/simple-python-pyinstaller-app directory in the Jenkins container).
    5 This stash step (of the basic steps section) saves the Python source code and compiled byte code files (with .pyc extension) from the sources workspace directory for use in later stages.
  3. Save your edited Jenkinsfile and commit it to your local simple-python-pyinstaller-app Git repository. E.g. Within the simple-python-pyinstaller-app directory, run the commands:
    git add .
    then
    git commit -m "Add initial Jenkinsfile"

  4. Go back to Jenkins again, log in again if necessary and click Open Blue Ocean on the left to access Jenkins’s Blue Ocean interface.

  5. In the This job has not been run message box, click Run, then quickly click the OPEN link which appears briefly at the lower-right to see Jenkins running your Pipeline project. If you weren’t able to click the OPEN link, click the row on the main Blue Ocean interface to access this feature.
    Note: You may need to wait a few minutes for this first run to complete. After making a clone of your local simple-python-pyinstaller-app Git repository itself, Jenkins:

    1. Initially queues the project to be run on the agent.

    2. Runs the Build stage (defined in the Jenkinsfile) on the Python container. During this time, Python uses the py_compile module to compile the code of your Python application and its calc library into byte code, which are stored in the sources workspace directory (within the Jenkins home directory).

    The Blue Ocean interface turns green if Jenkins compiled your Python application successfully.

    Initial Pipeline runs successfully

  6. Click the X at the top-right to return to the main Blue Ocean interface.

    Main Blue Ocean interface

Add a test stage to your Pipeline

  1. Go back to your text editor/IDE and ensure your Jenkinsfile is open.

  2. Copy and paste the following Declarative Pipeline syntax immediately under the Build stage of your Jenkinsfile:

            stage('Test') {
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'qnib/pytest'
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'py.test --junit-xml test-reports/results.xml sources/test_calc.py'
                }
                post {
                    always {
                        junit 'test-reports/results.xml'
                    }
                }
            }

    so that you end up with:

    pipeline {
        agent none
        stages {
            stage('Build') {
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'python:2-alpine'
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'python -m py_compile sources/add2vals.py sources/calc.py'
                    stash(name: 'compiled-results', includes: 'sources/*.py*')
                }
            }
            stage('Test') { (1)
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'qnib/pytest' (2)
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'py.test --junit-xml test-reports/results.xml sources/test_calc.py' (3)
                }
                post {
                    always {
                        junit 'test-reports/results.xml' (4)
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    1 Defines a stage (directive) called Test that appears on the Jenkins UI.
    2 This image parameter (of the agent section’s docker parameter) downloads the qnib:pytest Docker image (if it’s not already available on your machine) and runs this image as a separate container. This means that:
    • You’ll have separate Jenkins and pytest containers running locally in Docker.

    • The pytest container becomes the agent that Jenkins uses to run the Test stage of your Pipeline project. This container’s lifespan lasts the duration of your Test stage’s execution.

    3 This sh step (of the steps section) executes pytest’s py.test command on sources/test_calc.py, which runs a set of unit tests (defined in test_calc.py) on the "calc" library’s add2 function (used by your simple Python application add2vals). The:
    • --junit-xml test-reports/results.xml option makes py.test generate a JUnit XML report, which is saved to test-reports/results.xml (within the /var/jenkins_home/workspace/simple-python-pyinstaller-app directory in the Jenkins container).

    4 This junit step (provided by the JUnit Plugin) archives the JUnit XML report (generated by the py.test command above) and exposes the results through the Jenkins interface. In Blue Ocean, the results are accessible through the Tests page of a Pipeline run. The post section’s always condition that contains this junit step ensures that the step is always executed at the completion of the Test stage, regardless of the stage’s outcome.
  3. Save your edited Jenkinsfile and commit it to your local simple-python-pyinstaller-app Git repository. E.g. Within the simple-python-pyinstaller-app directory, run the commands:
    git stage .
    then
    git commit -m "Add 'Test' stage"

  4. Go back to Jenkins again, log in again if necessary and ensure you’ve accessed Jenkins’s Blue Ocean interface.

  5. Click Run at the top left, then quickly click the OPEN link which appears briefly at the lower-right to see Jenkins running your amended Pipeline project. If you weren’t able to click the OPEN link, click the top row on the Blue Ocean interface to access this feature.
    Note: It may take a few minutes for the qnib:pytest Docker image to download (if this hasn’t already been done).
    If your amended Pipeline ran successfully, here’s what the Blue Ocean interface should look like. Notice the additional "Test" stage. You can click on the previous "Build" stage circle to access the output from that stage.

    Test stage runs successfully (with output)

  6. Click the X at the top-right to return to the main Blue Ocean interface.

Add a final deliver stage to your Pipeline

  1. Go back to your text editor/IDE and ensure your Jenkinsfile is open.

  2. Copy and paste the following Declarative Pipeline syntax immediately under the Test stage of your Jenkinsfile:

            stage('Deliver') {
                agent any
                environment {
                    VOLUME = '$(pwd)/sources:/src'
                    IMAGE = 'cdrx/pyinstaller-linux:python2'
                }
                steps {
                    dir(path: env.BUILD_ID) {
                        unstash(name: 'compiled-results')
                        sh "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME} ${IMAGE} 'pyinstaller -F add2vals.py'"
                    }
                }
                post {
                    success {
                        archiveArtifacts "${env.BUILD_ID}/sources/dist/add2vals"
                        sh "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME} ${IMAGE} 'rm -rf build dist'"
                    }
                }
            }

    and add a skipStagesAfterUnstable option so that you end up with:

    pipeline {
        agent none
        options {
            skipStagesAfterUnstable()
        }
        stages {
            stage('Build') {
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'python:2-alpine'
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'python -m py_compile sources/add2vals.py sources/calc.py'
                    stash(name: 'compiled-results', includes: 'sources/*.py*')
                }
            }
            stage('Test') {
                agent {
                    docker {
                        image 'qnib/pytest'
                    }
                }
                steps {
                    sh 'py.test --junit-xml test-reports/results.xml sources/test_calc.py'
                }
                post {
                    always {
                        junit 'test-reports/results.xml'
                    }
                }
            }
            stage('Deliver') { (1)
                agent any
                environment { (2)
                    VOLUME = '$(pwd)/sources:/src'
                    IMAGE = 'cdrx/pyinstaller-linux:python2'
                }
                steps {
                    dir(path: env.BUILD_ID) { (3)
                        unstash(name: 'compiled-results') (4)
                        sh "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME} ${IMAGE} 'pyinstaller -F add2vals.py'" (5)
                    }
                }
                post {
                    success {
                        archiveArtifacts "${env.BUILD_ID}/sources/dist/add2vals" (6)
                        sh "docker run --rm -v ${VOLUME} ${IMAGE} 'rm -rf build dist'"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    1 Defines a stage (directive) called Deliver that appears on the Jenkins UI.
    2 This environment block defines two variables which will be used later in the 'Deliver' stage.
    3 This dir step (of the basic steps section) creates a new subdirectory named by the build number. The final program will be created in that directory by pyinstaller. BUILD_ID is one of the pre-defined Jenkins environment variables and is available in all jobs.
    4 This unstash step (of the basic steps section) restores the Python source code and compiled byte code files (with .pyc extension) from the previously saved stash image (if it’s not already available on your machine) and runs this image as a separate container. This means that:
    • You’ll have separate Jenkins and PyInstaller (for Linux) containers running locally in Docker.

    • The PyInstaller container becomes the agent that Jenkins uses to run the Deliver stage of your Pipeline project. This container’s lifespan lasts the duration of your Deliver stage’s execution.

    5 This sh step (of the steps section) executes the pyinstaller command (in the PyInstaller container) on your simple Python application. This bundles your add2vals.py Python application into a single standalone executable file (via the --onefile option) and outputs the this file to the dist workspace directory (within the Jenkins home directory). Although this step consists of a single command, as a general principle, it’s a good idea to keep your Pipeline code (i.e. the Jenkinsfile) as tidy as possible and place more complex build steps (particularly for stages consisting of 2 or more steps) into separate shell script files like the deliver.sh file. This ultimately makes maintaining your Pipeline code easier, especially if your Pipeline gains more complexity.
    6 This archiveArtifacts step (provided as part of Jenkins core) archives the standalone executable file (generated by the pyinstaller command above at dist/add2vals within the Jenkins home’s workspace directory) and exposes this file through the Jenkins interface. In Blue Ocean, archived artifacts like these are accessible through the Artifacts page of a Pipeline run. The post section’s success condition that contains this archiveArtifacts step ensures that the step is executed at the completion of the Deliver stage only if this stage completed successfully.
  3. Save your edited Jenkinsfile and commit it to your local simple-python-pyinstaller-app Git repository. E.g. Within the simple-python-pyinstaller-app directory, run the commands:
    git stage .
    then
    git commit -m "Add 'Deliver' stage"

  4. Go back to Jenkins again, log in again if necessary and ensure you’ve accessed Jenkins’s Blue Ocean interface.

  5. Click Run at the top left, then quickly click the OPEN link which appears briefly at the lower-right to see Jenkins running your amended Pipeline project. If you weren’t able to click the OPEN link, click the top row on the Blue Ocean interface to access this feature.
    Note: It may take a few minutes for the cdrx/pyinstaller-linux Docker image to download (if this hasn’t already been done).
    If your amended Pipeline ran successfully, here’s what the Blue Ocean interface should look like. Notice the additional "Deliver" stage. Click on the previous "Test" and "Build" stage circles to access the outputs from those stages.

    Deliver stage runs successfully

    Here’s what the output of the "Deliver" stage should look like, showing you the results of PyInstaller bundling your Python application into a single standalone executable file.

    Deliver stage output only

  6. Click the X at the top-right to return to the main Blue Ocean interface, which lists your previous Pipeline runs in reverse chronological order.

    Main Blue Ocean interface with all previous runs displayed

Follow up (optional)

If you use Linux, you can try running the standalone add2vals application you generated with PyInstaller locally on your machine. To do this:

  1. From the main Blue Ocean interface, access your last Pipeline run you performed above. To do this, click the top row (representing the most recent Pipeline run) on the main Blue Ocean’s Activity page.

    Main Blue Ocean interface with all previous runs displayed

  2. On the results page of the Pipeline run, click Artifacts at the top right to access the Artifacts page.

    Deliver stage runs successfully

  3. In the list of artifacts, click the down-arrow icon at the far right of the dist/add2vals artifact item to download the standalone executable file to your browser’s "Downloads" directory.

    Deliver stage Artifacts page

  4. Back in your operating system’s terminal prompt, cd to your browser’s "Downloads" directory.

  5. Make the add2vals file executable - i.e. chmod a+x add2vals

  6. Run the command ./add2vals and follow the instructions provided by your app.

Wrapping up

Well done! You’ve just used Jenkins to build a simple Python application!

The "Build", "Test" and "Deliver" stages you created above are the basis for building more complex Python applications in Jenkins, as well as Python applications that integrate with other technology stacks.

Because Jenkins is extremely extensible, it can be modified and configured to handle practically any aspect of build orchestration and automation.

To learn more about what Jenkins can do, check out:


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