cache VS jenkins-std-lib

> with no persistent storage

There's https://github.com/actions/cache though?

Use Cache Actions: GitHub Actions provides cache actions that simplify caching implementation. The @actions/cache JavaScript library is a popular choice for managing caching in workflows. It offers flexible options for storing and retrieving cache artifacts based on keys, scopes, and paths.

GitHub maintain a set of repos called actions. One of which is called cache.

By utilizing the actions/cache action action, we implemented a strategy to store and retrieve dependencies, preventing redundant installations.

I do think it's good practice to enable caching, such that your script doesn't hit RubyGems / pip / npm / etc every time it runs.

That way at least the automation activity stays entirely within the GitHub / Azure network.

It looks like you can do that for Ruby by adding this:

https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/master/examples.md#rub...

    - uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1

➜ getting-started-with-act git:(master) act -j build WARN ⚠ You are using Apple M1 chip and you have not specified container architecture, you might encounter issues while running act. If so, try running it with '--container-architecture linux/amd64'. ⚠ [Node.js CI/build] 🚀 Start image=node:16-buster-slim [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker pull image=node:16-buster-slim platform= username= forcePull=false [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker create image=node:16-buster-slim platform= entrypoint=["tail" "-f" "/dev/null"] cmd=[] [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker run image=node:16-buster-slim platform= entrypoint=["tail" "-f" "/dev/null"] cmd=[] [Node.js CI/build] ☁ git clone 'https://github.com/actions/setup-node' # ref=v3 [Node.js CI/build] ☁ git clone 'https://github.com/actions/cache' # ref=v3 [Node.js CI/build] ☁ git clone 'https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact' # ref=v3 [Node.js CI/build] ⭐ Run Main actions/checkout@v3 [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker cp src=/Users/andrewevans/Documents/projects/getting-started-with-act/. dst=/Users/andrewevans/Documents/projects/getting-started-with-act [Node.js CI/build] ✅ Success - Main actions/checkout@v3 [Node.js CI/build] ⭐ Run Main Use Node.js 16.x [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker cp src=/Users/andrewevans/.cache/act/actions-setup-node@v3/ dst=/var/run/act/actions/actions-setup-node@v3/ [Node.js CI/build] 🐳 docker exec cmd=[node /var/run/act/actions/actions-setup-node@v3/dist/setup/index.js] user= workdir= [Node.js CI/build] 💬 ::debug::isExplicit: [Node.js CI/build] 💬 ::debug::explicit? false

You could try to find some point in the process where you can set up Actions caches with actions/cache, otherwise Container customization for Self-Hosted Runners is currently in Beta.

I would configure Github Actions cache so Docker doesn't have to compile all layers from scratch every time

In the copied example, npm caching is done via actions/cache@v2 action. But we can simplify our workflow by dropping this step and using built-in functionality for caching

> On a previous team I had used Concourse CI to some extent, but I wasn’t really blown away by the experience. Travis and Circle were mentioned. I was a fool. I should have committed to seriously researching some of the contenders and making a more informed decision, but I lacked the willpower and the discernment.

The whole post can be summed up as he had very little CICD experience. Made lots of beginner mistakes, which is easy to do in Jenkins. Then decided to write a post where all his complaints about Jenkins are not only wrong but are the issues that plague all the other CICD tools.

> So instead of writing Bash directly, you’re writing Bash inside Groovy

Why are you doing that? You have a fully featured programming language and you are running `sh('npm install')`. You could do this instead https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib/blob/mast... . How is bash inside of YAML better?

> The trouble is: Groovy is a much, much worse language for executing commands than Bash. Bash is interpreted, has a REPL that is great for experimentation, does require a ton of imports, and has lightweight syntax. Groovy has none of these things.

Groovy has a language server, linters and a vscode IDE plugins. They are probably not as stable or full featured as the bash ones, but they are available and very few take advantage of them. Again, how is YAML+Bash better?

> The way that developers test their Groovy steps is by triggering a job on the remote Jenkins server to run them. The feedback loop is 2 orders of magnitude slower than it is for just executing Bash locally.

This is a rookie mistake. For about 60-75% of pipelines you can run them locally in a docker container on your local machine. You can even set up hot code reload so as you change your pipeline the Jenkins reloads it. You can also configure the job to kick off a build when it reloads the code. When Jenkins is configured correctly it has the fastest feedback loop of any CICD tool on the market. GitHub actions comes in a close second since it can also be run locally but you cant run a "clone" of what you run in production, like having the same secrets, so it gets second place. Beside Jenkins and GitHub actions, I dont know of any solutions for the other tools.

You can run a GitHub action on Jenkins. It's a very deep and complex system. It's like an iceberg and so many engineers dont leave the surface before deciding it sucks and one of the YAML CICD tools is better. Sure the YAML alternatives are EASY to get started with and to do basic stuff with. But they are Terrible at anything complex. While Jenkins is not easy to get started with, once mastered, you can build complex pipelines with ease.

I get that I'm a Jenkins fanboy. Most of the things I mentioned above, I either contribute to or I'm the author of. I know Jenkins has issues. I know it has hurt lots of people, I read the complaints online. But it's still the best out there. The best software in the world is not written in bash or yaml and the same is true of the best CICD pipelines in the world. It's a shame very few people get to see/use those pipelines.

With Jenkins you can still run your favorite GitHub actions. https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib/blob/master/jobs/github/actions/step_example.groovy

This library has a lot of helpful features https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib , one of my favorites is being able to run GitHub actions natively in Jenkins pipelines.

Here is an example using s6 overlay https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib/tree/master/docker/prod

Run a Jenkins locally in docker. I use a vscode dev container for this. https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib/blob/master/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

I do my best https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib

If you use Jenkins and want to try actions then check out https://github.com/DontShaveTheYak/jenkins-std-lib

It let's you run actions on top of Jenkins.