An Architecture for Remote Container Builds and Artifact Delivery Using a Controller-Light Jenkins CI/CD Pipeline

TL;DR

This paper presents a controller-light Jenkins CI/CD architecture that offloads resource-intensive build tasks to remote Docker hosts, improving efficiency and scalability for small to medium-sized DevOps teams.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Jenkins setup with a containerized controller that delegates builds to remote hosts, enhancing resource management and automation simplicity.

Findings

Faster build throughput observed in experiments

Reduced CPU and RAM usage on the controller

Lower artifact delivery latency

Abstract

Resource-intensive builds are often executed directly on the controller by conventional Jenkins installations, which can lower reliability and overload system resources. Jenkins functions as a containerized controller with persistent volumes in the controller-light CI/CD framework presented in this paper, delegating difficult build and packaging tasks to a remote Docker host. The controller container maintains secure SSH connections to remote compute nodes while focusing solely on orchestration and reporting. Atomic deployments with time-stamped backups, containerized build environments, immutable artifact packaging, and automated notifications are all included in the system. Faster build throughput, reduced CPU and RAM consumption on the controller, and reduced artifact delivery latency are all revealed by experimental evaluation. For small and medium-sized DevOps businesses looking for scalable automation without adding orchestration complexity, this method offers a repeatable, low-maintenance solution.