Another Jenkins server as backup

[Pulkit Lall]

Hi everyone, 
I am new to Jenkins and just thought of doing the below mentioned scenario but not sure how to proceed. 
Here is the scenario: 

I have Jenkins server running on my Linux/Windows machine which runs multiple jobs. 

Now, the problem that I thought was if some one triggered a job in Jenkins and in middle, Jenkins server stopped responding then all the Jenkins jobs with configuration, workspace, artifacts, etc would not be accessible and Jenkins admin will need to fix this asap but till then the Jenkins server is not accessible by anyone and no jobs can be triggered. 

I was thinking, if I could create another Jenkins server on different machine having same OS, Jenkins version, same plugins installed then can I make sure that if my main Jenkin server fails then this copy should automatically be live i.e. link of copy Jenkins be accessed instead of Main Jenkins. 

If yes, what is the pre-requisites that I need to keep in mind and how can I sync between the two Jenkins. 

I would appreciate if anyone could help me in this.

[Wei-min Lee]

I think what you're looking for is a paid solution, https://www.cloudbees.com/products/cloudbees-jenkins-platform/enterprise-edition/features/high-availability-plugin.

[Khai Do]

I don't think Pulkit needs a high availablility solution to solve his use case especially if he anticipates that it doesn't happen that often.  One thing that can be done is to save and version the Jenkins configuration and jobs in SCM then load them to the secondary Jenkins only when needed then it's just a matter of switching the DNS to point to the new Jenkins?  

[Wei-min Lee]

If there's concern about jobs in flight, then periodic versioning of the matter config and files cannot address the requirement. HA is what would address a live failover requirement.

[Pulkit Lall]

Wei-min Lee, thanks for the help but am currently not open to paid solution.

[Pulkit Lall]

Khai Do,

I had thought of this but one scenario was if Jenkins administrator is on leave and if by chance Jenkins server crashed then administrator will not be there to resolve it and there could be chances that by the time he arrives there will be a huge loss. So, I thought of automated failOver for Jenkins.

[Pulkit Lall]

After spending some time I also heard of HA. Any idea regarding this or where can I find proper documentation for this process?

[Brian Ray]

The last chapter of the book Jenkins: The Definitive Guide describes a few practices that, if used together, would give you something like a "cold" or "warm" Jenkins master mirror.

Failover however would not be automatic or instant. But it would be "free" in the sense of no software license.

[Pulkit Lall]

Thanks Brian.... Will have a look and let you know.

---

From: Brian Ray
Sent: ‎20-‎08-‎2015 12:08 AM
To: Jenkins Users
Subject: Re: Another Jenkins server as backup

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[Khai Do]

Pulkit,  Another option that might work for you is having multiple jenkins masters.  Take a look at the gearman plugin, it might help you with your use case: https://wiki.jenkins-ci.org/display/JENKINS/Gearman+Plugin

[Pulkit Lall]

Thanks Khai Do....

 

Regards,
Pulkit Lall.

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