Amazon CI/CD Pipelines Interview Questions

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Code organization: use Declarative Pipeline for consistency and maintainability, store Jenkinsfile in repository root under version control, use Shared Libraries for common code across pipelines, organize stages logically (Build, Test, Deploy), extract complex logic to functions or Shared Libraries, keep Jenkinsfile readable with clear stage names and comments. Pipeline structure best practices: ```groovy @Library('shared-library') _ pipeline { agent none // Define per stage for flexibility options { timestamps() timeout(time: 1, unit: 'HOURS') buildDiscarder(logRotator(numToKeepStr: '30')) } environment { APP_NAME = 'myapp' REGISTRY = 'docker.io' } stages { stage('Build') { agent { docker 'maven:3.8-jdk-11' } steps { sh 'mvn clean package' } } stage('Test') { parallel { stage('Unit Tests') { agent any steps { sh 'mvn test' } } stage('Integration Tests') { agent any steps { sh 'mvn verify' } } } } stage('Deploy') { when { branch 'main' } agent any steps { script { deployToEnvironment('production') } } } } post { always { junit '**/target/test-results/*.xml' cleanWs() } success { slackSend color: 'good', message: 'Build succeeded' } failure { slackSend color: 'danger', message: 'Build failed' } } } ``` Security best practices: never hardcode secrets in Jenkinsfile, use credentials plugin with withCredentials, restrict credential access with folder-level permissions, scan credentials regularly for exposure, use least privilege (minimal permissions), enable CSRF protection, implement audit logging, use HTTPS for Jenkins, regularly update Jenkins and plugins, scan container images for vulnerabilities. Credentials usage: ```groovy withCredentials([usernamePassword( credentialsId: 'docker-hub', usernameVariable: 'DOCKER_USER', passwordVariable: 'DOCKER_PASS' )]) { sh 'docker login -u $DOCKER_USER -p $DOCKER_PASS' } ``` Testing pipelines: use replay feature for testing changes without committing, create test branch for pipeline development, use Multibranch Pipeline testing in feature branches, implement pipeline unit tests with JenkinsPipelineUnit, validate Jenkinsfile syntax with Jenkins API or CLI, test Shared Library functions independently. Error handling and resilience: set timeouts preventing hanging, implement retry for flaky operations, use catchError for non-critical steps, add meaningful error messages, use post conditions for cleanup, implement proper notifications, log important state for debugging. Performance optimization: use parallel stages for independent tasks, implement caching for dependencies, use appropriate agents (Docker, labeled), clean workspaces regularly, skip unnecessary stages with when, use shallow git clone, limit build history retention. Documentation: comment complex logic, document pipeline parameters, create README for shared libraries, maintain changelog for pipeline changes, document required agent labels and tools, provide examples for common use cases, document troubleshooting procedures. Maintenance: regularly update Jenkins and plugins, review and refactor pipelines periodically, monitor pipeline metrics (duration, success rate), remove unused pipelines, standardize pipeline patterns across organization, conduct pipeline code reviews, archive old jobs. Monitoring and observability: collect metrics (build duration, success rate, queue time), implement monitoring dashboards, set up alerts for failures, track agent utilization, monitor plugin health, log important pipeline events, use Blue Ocean for better visualization. Version control practices: commit Jenkinsfile with application code, use meaningful commit messages, protect Jenkinsfile with branch protection, review Jenkinsfile changes through pull requests, tag releases including Jenkinsfile version, use semantic versioning for Shared Libraries. Best practices checklist: Declarative over Scripted, version controlled Jenkinsfile, secrets in credentials, timeouts set, cleanup in post always, parallel independent stages, proper error handling, meaningful stage names, documented parameters, regular maintenance, monitored metrics. Understanding and implementing best practices creates maintainable, secure, efficient pipeline infrastructure.

8. What strategies optimize build performance in CI/CD? Discuss caching, parallelization, incremental builds, and distributed compilation.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Build Optimization

Caching strategies dramatically reduce build time by reusing artifacts from previous builds: Dependency caching stores downloaded packages: ```yaml # GitLab CI variables: MAVEN_OPTS: "-Dmaven.repo.local=.m2/repository" cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - .m2/repository/ - node_modules/ - target/ ``` GitHub Actions: ```yaml - uses: actions/cache@v3 with: path: | ~/.m2/repository ~/.gradle/caches ~/.npm key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json', '**/pom.xml') }} restore-keys: | ${{ runner.os }}-build- ``` Shared cache across builds and branches significantly reduces dependency download time. Parallelization runs independent tasks concurrently: ```yaml # GitLab parallel jobs test_unit: stage: test script: npm run test:unit test_integration: stage: test script: npm run test:integration test_e2e: stage: test script: npm run test:e2e ``` Three test suites run simultaneously if multiple runners available. Matrix parallelization: ```yaml # GitHub Actions strategy: matrix: node: [14, 16, 18] os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest] runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }} steps: - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: ${{ matrix.node }} - run: npm test ``` Creates 6 parallel jobs (3 Node versions × 2 OSes). Incremental compilation compiles only changed files: Gradle: ```groovy tasks.withType(JavaCompile) { options.incremental = true options.fork = true options.forkOptions.jvmArgs = ['-Xmx2g'] } ``` TypeScript: ```json { "compilerOptions": { "incremental": true, "tsBuildInfoFile": ".tsbuildinfo" } } ``` Cache .tsbuildinfo between builds. Build caching for task outputs (Gradle): ```groovy buildCache { local { enabled = true } remote(HttpBuildCache) { url = 'https://build-cache.company.com/' push = true } } ``` Distributed compilation spreads work across multiple machines: Distcc (C/C++): ```bash export DISTCC_HOSTS='localhost build1.company.com build2.company.com' make -j8 CC=distcc ``` Icecc alternative supports heterogeneous environments. Gradle distributed builds with build cache enable sharing task outputs across machines in team. Docker layer caching: ```yaml # GitLab build: image: docker:20.10 services: - docker:20.10-dind script: - docker build --cache-from $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:latest -t $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA . ``` BuildKit cache mounts: ```dockerfile RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.m2 mvn package RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.npm npm ci ``` Resource optimization: ```yaml # Allocate more resources for heavy builds build: tags: - high-memory - high-cpu variables: MAVEN_OPTS: "-Xmx4g" GRADLE_OPTS: "-Xmx4g -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m" ``` Skip unnecessary work: ```yaml build: script: - mvn package -DskipTests # Tests run in separate stage rules: - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"' - changes: - src/**/* ``` Warmup builds for cold start reduction: ```yaml warmup: stage: .pre script: - mvn dependency:go-offline - docker pull $BASE_IMAGE cache: key: warmup paths: - .m2/repository/ ``` Monitoring and profiling: ```bash # Gradle build scan ./gradlew build --scan # Maven with timing mvn clean install -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.showDateTime=true # Profile Docker build time docker build --progress=plain . ``` Optimization checklist: 1. Cache dependencies aggressively 2. Parallelize independent tasks 3. Enable incremental compilation 4. Use build caching (Gradle, Bazel) 5. Optimize Docker layers 6. Use distributed compilation for C/C++ 7. Skip unnecessary stages 8. Allocate appropriate resources 9. Monitor build times 10. Profile to identify bottlenecks Before optimization, measure baseline. After changes, measure improvements. Focus on slowest stages first for maximum impact. Understanding optimization techniques reduces build time from hours to minutes, improving developer productivity.

9. Explain semantic versioning, automated versioning in CI/CD, and release management strategies including tags, changelogs, and release notes.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Versioning & Release Management

Semantic versioning (semver) uses three-part version: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 2.4.1). Increment MAJOR for incompatible API changes (breaking changes), MINOR for backwards-compatible functionality additions, PATCH for backwards-compatible bug fixes. Version 1.0.0 indicates public API. Versions < 1.0.0 are initial development (anything may change). Examples: 1.0.0 → 1.0.1 (bug fix), 1.0.1 → 1.1.0 (new feature, backwards-compatible), 1.1.0 → 2.0.0 (breaking change). Pre-release versions: 2.0.0-alpha, 2.0.0-beta.1, 2.0.0-rc.1. Build metadata: 1.0.0+20230101. Conventional commits enable automated versioning: ``` feat: add user authentication fix: resolve memory leak in cache docs: update API documentation chore: upgrade dependencies ``` Commit types: feat (MINOR bump), fix (PATCH bump), BREAKING CHANGE (MAJOR bump), docs, style, refactor, test, chore (no version bump). Automated versioning with semantic-release: 1. Install: ```bash npm install --save-dev semantic-release ``` 2. Configuration (.releaserc.json): ```json { "branches": ["main"], "plugins": [ "@semantic-release/commit-analyzer", "@semantic-release/release-notes-generator", "@semantic-release/changelog", "@semantic-release/npm", "@semantic-release/github", "@semantic-release/git" ] } ``` 3. CI/CD integration: ```yaml # GitHub Actions release: runs-on: ubuntu-latest if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 - run: npm ci - run: npx semantic-release env: GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }} ``` semantic-release analyzes commits, determines version bump, generates changelog, creates Git tag, publishes package, creates GitHub release. Manual versioning with npm version: ```bash npm version patch # 1.0.0 → 1.0.1 npm version minor # 1.0.1 → 1.1.0 npm version major # 1.1.0 → 2.0.0 git push --follow-tags ``` Git tags for releases: ```bash # Create annotated tag git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release version 1.0.0" git push origin v1.0.0 # List tags git tag -l # Delete tag git tag -d v1.0.0 git push origin :refs/tags/v1.0.0 ``` Trigger release pipeline on tags: ```yaml # GitLab deploy: stage: deploy script: - ./deploy.sh only: - tags ``` ```yaml # GitHub Actions on: push: tags: - 'v*' ``` Changelog generation: Automatic with conventional-changelog: ```bash npx conventional-changelog -p angular -i CHANGELOG.md -s ``` CHANGELOG.md: ```markdown # Changelog ## [2.0.0] - 2024-01-15 ### Breaking Changes - Changed authentication API ### Features - Added user roles - Implemented OAuth2 ### Bug Fixes - Fixed memory leak in cache - Resolved race condition ## [1.5.0] - 2024-01-01 ... ``` GitHub Release Notes: ```yaml - name: Create Release uses: actions/create-release@v1 with: tag_name: ${{ github.ref }} release_name: Release ${{ github.ref }} body: | ## What's New - Feature 1 - Feature 2 ## Bug Fixes - Fix 1 draft: false prerelease: false ``` Release strategies: 1. Trunk-based: release from main branch, tag releases, hotfixes as patches 2. Release branches: create release/v1.x branch, cherry-pick fixes, main continues development 3. GitFlow: develop branch for development, release branches for stabilization, main for production Version file management: ```yaml # Update version in multiple files - name: Bump version run: | VERSION=$(cat VERSION) sed -i "s/version: .*/version: $VERSION/" helm/Chart.yaml sed -i "s/\"version\": .*/\"version\": \"$VERSION\",/" package.json ``` Best practices: follow semantic versioning strictly, use conventional commits for automation, automate versioning and changelog, tag all releases, maintain CHANGELOG.md, create GitHub/GitLab releases, document breaking changes clearly, communicate version changes to users, use pre-release versions for testing (beta, rc). Understanding versioning and release management ensures clear communication of changes and predictable dependency management.

10. What are common Jenkins issues and how do you troubleshoot them? Discuss build failures, agent connection issues, performance problems, and plugin conflicts.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Security & Maintenance

Build failures troubleshooting starts with console output analyzing error messages. Common causes include missing dependencies (tools not installed on agent, wrong versions), environment issues (missing environment variables, wrong PATH), credential problems (expired or incorrect credentials), network issues (can't reach external services), resource constraints (out of memory, disk space), and flaky tests. Check if builds succeed locally, review recent changes (code, pipeline, Jenkins config), ensure agent has required tools with correct versions, verify credentials are valid and properly scoped. Agent connection issues manifest as agents showing offline or disconnected. Troubleshoot by checking network connectivity (can master reach agent on required ports?), verifying agent Java version matches requirements, reviewing agent logs (on agent machine in remoting directory), checking firewall rules allowing communication, verifying SSH credentials or JNLP connection settings, ensuring agent has sufficient resources (CPU, RAM, disk). For SSH agents, test SSH connection manually. For JNLP agents, check agent logs showing connection attempts. Performance problems include slow UI (Jenkins UI slow to respond), long build queue (jobs waiting for available agents), slow builds (builds taking longer than expected), high resource usage (CPU, memory, disk). Diagnose with performance monitoring: check JVM memory usage (heap, garbage collection), monitor agent utilization (executors busy vs idle), analyze disk I/O (slow disk affecting performance), review build durations identifying slowest stages. Solutions include JVM tuning (increase heap size), adding more agents for parallel execution, optimizing pipelines (caching, parallel stages), cleaning old builds and workspaces, upgrading hardware or moving to more powerful cloud instances. Plugin conflicts occur when plugins are incompatible with each other or with Jenkins core version. Symptoms include Jenkins failing to start, features not working, errors in logs. Troubleshoot by checking Jenkins log (JENKINS_HOME/logs/jenkins.log) for plugin errors, testing in safe mode (starts Jenkins without plugins) to isolate issue, updating plugins to compatible versions, rolling back recently installed plugins, checking plugin dependencies for conflicts. Use Plugin Installation Manager tool to analyze dependencies. Out of memory errors (OOM) indicate JVM heap exhaustion. Symptoms include builds failing with OutOfMemoryError, Jenkins becoming unresponsive, or crashes. Solutions: increase JVM heap size (-Xmx flag), analyze heap dumps (with tools like Eclipse MAT) identifying memory leaks, review plugins for memory leaks, implement build retention policies reducing memory usage, avoid storing large build artifacts in Jenkins. Disk space issues cause builds to fail with "No space left on device". Monitor disk usage with Disk Usage plugin, implement workspace cleanup (cleanWs() in pipelines), configure build retention policies discarding old builds, move artifacts to external storage (Artifactory, S3), clean Docker images if using Docker agents (docker system prune), add more disk space or mount external storage. Credential problems include expired credentials, wrong permissions, or credential not found errors. Verify credential exists with correct ID, check credential scope (Global vs System), test credential manually, ensure user/service account has required permissions, rotate credentials if expired, review audit logs for credential usage. Debugging techniques: enable debug logging for specific components (Manage Jenkins > System Log), use replay feature in Pipeline to test changes without committing, add echo statements for variable values and debug output, use timestamps() wrapper showing execution times, check Jenkins system log for backend errors, review SCM webhook delivery logs checking if webhooks reaching Jenkins. Common solutions: restart Jenkins (fixes many transient issues), rebuild agent (for persistent agent problems), clear browser cache (for UI issues), disable plugins one by one (to isolate plugin conflicts), restore from backup (for configuration corruption). Document troubleshooting steps and solutions in runbooks for team reference. Understanding troubleshooting techniques minimizes downtime and enables quick resolution of Jenkins issues.

14. Compare different Jenkins build trigger mechanisms. Discuss webhooks vs polling, manual triggers, scheduled builds, and upstream/downstream triggers with pros and cons.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline Triggers & Conditions

Webhooks (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket hook) are event-driven triggers where SCM pushes notification to Jenkins immediately on code push, pull request, or tag. Pros: instant feedback (builds start within seconds), efficient (no polling overhead), scalable. Cons: requires Jenkins accessible from SCM (public URL or VPN), needs webhook configuration in SCM, may require webhook authentication. Setup: install GitHub/GitLab plugin, configure webhook in repository settings pointing to https://jenkins.example.com/github-webhook/ or /gitlab-webhook/, optionally secure with webhook secret. SCM polling uses cron syntax to periodically check repository for changes, triggering builds when changes detected. Example: H/5 * * * * checks every 5 minutes, H 0 * * * checks once daily. Pros: works when Jenkins not publicly accessible, simple setup, no SCM configuration needed. Cons: delayed builds (up to poll interval), polling overhead on both Jenkins and SCM, not scalable for many jobs. Use H (hash) instead of fixed times to distribute polling load: H/15 * * * * spreads checks across 15-minute window instead of all jobs polling at once. Manual triggers allow on-demand builds via UI, CLI, or API. Pros: full control over when builds run, useful for testing, release deployments, or gated workflows. Cons: no automation, requires human intervention. Use for: deployment to production (requires approval), ad-hoc testing, investigating build issues. Combine with parameters for flexible manual builds: choice parameters for deployment environment, string parameters for version tags. Scheduled builds (Build periodically) trigger at specified times using cron syntax regardless of code changes. Example: H 2 * * * runs daily around 2 AM, H H * * 0 runs weekly on Sunday. Pros: predictable timing for nightly builds, integration testing, or reports. Cons: runs even without changes (waste of resources), poor feedback loop (long delay between commit and build). Use for: nightly full builds, periodic integration tests, scheduled reports, database backups. Upstream/downstream triggers chain jobs where one job (upstream) triggers another (downstream) on completion. Configure with "Build after other projects are built" trigger or pipeline's build step. Pros: orchestrates complex workflows, ensures dependencies run in order, reuses common jobs. Cons: can create complex dependencies, harder to debug, potential for trigger storms. Use for: multi-stage pipelines (build triggers test triggers deploy), splitting large pipelines into reusable jobs. Best practices: prefer webhooks for instant feedback and efficiency, use polling as fallback when webhooks unavailable, use scheduled builds for time-based operations not triggered by code changes, manual triggers for gated deployments, and avoid complex upstream/downstream chains (prefer single pipeline). Understanding trigger mechanisms enables designing responsive, efficient CI/CD workflows.

15. Explain Jenkins security best practices including authentication, authorization, credential management, and securing master-agent communication.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Security & Maintenance

Authentication controls who can access Jenkins. Enable security in Configure Global Security. Authentication options include Jenkins' own user database (simple, for small teams), LDAP (enterprise directory integration), Active Directory, SAML (Single Sign-On), OAuth (GitHub, Google, GitLab). For production, integrate with enterprise identity provider for centralized user management and password policies. Enable CAPTCHA for login to prevent brute force attacks. Use strong passwords and enforce password policies. Authorization controls what users can do. Strategy options: Matrix-based security (fine-grained permissions per user/group), Project-based Matrix (permissions per project/folder), Role-Based Strategy (define roles with permissions, assign users to roles). Implement least privilege: regular users get read/build permissions, developers get configure permissions for their projects, only administrators get Jenkins-wide configuration access. Use folders to organize jobs and apply folder-level permissions. Example: QA team folder with QA role having full access, developers having read-only access. Credential management uses Credentials Plugin for encrypted storage. Never put secrets in Jenkinsfile or job configuration. Store credentials in Jenkins credential store with unique IDs, reference by ID in pipelines using withCredentials or environment directive with credentials() function. Credential types: Username with password, Secret text (API tokens), SSH private key, Secret file, Certificate. Implement credential domains to scope credentials to specific jobs or folders. Integrate with external secret management (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault) for enhanced security. Secure master-agent communication: use JNLP4 protocol with encryption, configure agent-to-master access control preventing agents from executing arbitrary commands on master, use SSH with key-based authentication for SSH agents, implement TLS/SSL for web UI and API access. Configure CSRF protection preventing cross-site request forgery attacks. Enable security realm and authorization before exposing Jenkins externally. Network security: place Jenkins behind VPN or firewall, don't expose directly to internet unless necessary, use reverse proxy (Nginx, Apache) with authentication, implement IP whitelisting for webhook endpoints, use webhook authentication (GitHub secret, GitLab token). Enable HTTPS with valid SSL certificate for encrypted communication. Configure security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options). Audit and monitoring: enable audit trail plugin logging all configuration changes and builds, monitor failed login attempts, regularly review user permissions removing inactive users, keep Jenkins and plugins updated for security patches, scan Docker images used in builds for vulnerabilities. Backup Jenkins configuration including credentials (encrypted), test restore procedures. Plugin security: install plugins only from trusted sources, review plugin permissions, keep plugins updated, remove unused plugins. Some plugins have security vulnerabilities, check Jenkins security advisories. Use Jenkins Configuration as Code to manage configuration declaratively with version control and review process. Understanding Jenkins security prevents unauthorized access and protects sensitive data in CI/CD pipelines.

16. How do you optimize Jenkins performance? Discuss master tuning, agent scaling, pipeline optimization, and resource management.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Security & Maintenance

Master optimization starts with adequate hardware: 4+ CPU cores, 8GB+ RAM (more for large installations), fast SSD storage. JVM tuning: set heap size with -Xms and -Xmx flags (typically 50-75% of available RAM, e.g., -Xmx4g for 8GB system), use G1GC garbage collector for better performance: -XX:+UseG1GC. Monitor JVM metrics with monitoring plugins. Don't run builds on master in production, set executor count to 0 to prevent accidental execution. Reduce master load: use folders to organize jobs (improves UI performance), implement job retention policies limiting build history (discard old builds after 30 days or keep last 50 builds), use external artifact storage (Artifactory, Nexus, S3) instead of storing in Jenkins, regularly clean up orphaned workspaces, limit plugin count removing unused plugins. Enable master-agent security to prevent agents from overloading master. Agent scaling strategies: use cloud agents (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes) for automatic scaling based on queue depth, implement agent labeling allowing pipelines to request specific capabilities (docker, maven, nodejs), configure appropriate executor count per agent (typically CPU core count), use ephemeral agents (Docker, Kubernetes pods) for isolation and cleanup, monitor agent utilization identifying underused or overloaded agents. Pipeline optimization includes caching dependencies (Maven .m2, npm node_modules, Docker layers) between builds using shared volumes or cache plugins, parallel execution for independent tasks: parallel { stage('Unit Tests') {...} stage('Integration Tests') {...} }, skip unnecessary stages with when conditions avoiding work when possible, use lightweight checkouts for Multibranch pipelines reducing SCM polling overhead, implement timeouts preventing hanging builds from blocking agents. Workspace management: clean workspaces regularly with cleanWs() to free disk space, use shared workspaces for related jobs avoiding duplication, mount external storage for large artifacts or dependencies, implement workspace retention policies. Monitor disk usage with disk-usage plugin, set up alerts for low disk space. Build queue optimization: configure quiet period reducing rapid successive builds for same job, use throttle concurrent builds plugin limiting simultaneous builds per job or category, implement build priorities for critical jobs, analyze build queue with queue monitoring, increase agent pool if queue consistently backed up. Database optimization: Jenkins stores configuration and metadata in XML files which can become slow. Consider Jenkins HA or CloudBees Core for better performance with database backend. Regularly backup and compact JENKINS_HOME. Use filesystem compression for JENKINS_HOME. Monitoring and observability: implement Prometheus monitoring for Jenkins metrics (queue length, executor usage, build duration), set up Grafana dashboards for visualization, use Jenkins Metrics plugin, configure alerts for anomalies (long queues, agent disconnections, build failures), analyze build trends identifying bottlenecks. Best practices: regularly review and optimize pipelines, implement build caching, use pipeline libraries for code reuse, avoid checkout multiple times in pipeline, use stash/unstash for small file transfers between stages instead of full workspace, profile builds identifying slow steps, implement incremental builds when possible. Understanding performance optimization ensures Jenkins scales efficiently for large engineering organizations.

17. Explain Jenkins backup and disaster recovery strategies. What should be backed up, how often, and how to restore?

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Security & Maintenance

Critical data to backup includes JENKINS_HOME directory containing jobs (jobs/ directory with job configurations), builds (builds/ directory with build history and artifacts, though often excluded due to size), plugins (plugins/ directory), system configuration (config.xml, credentials.xml, secrets/), user content (userContent/), and workspace (workspace/ rarely backed up as it's recreatable). Essential are job configurations, credentials, and system configuration; build history and artifacts are optional (can be large). Backup strategies: full backup copies entire JENKINS_HOME periodically (weekly), incremental backup copies only changes since last backup (daily), configuration-only backup excludes builds and workspaces (small, frequent). Use thinBackup plugin for automated scheduled backups with retention policies, or Jenkins Backup Plugin, or filesystem-level backups (LVM snapshots, AWS EBS snapshots). Store backups offsite (S3, Azure Blob, separate datacenter) for disaster recovery. Configuration as Code approach: use Jenkins Configuration as Code (JCasC) plugin storing configuration as YAML in version control, Job DSL Plugin or Pipeline for job definitions as code, Credentials stored in external secret management. This enables treating Jenkins as cattle not pets, recreating from code rather than restoring from backup. Combine with backup strategy for defense in depth. Backup schedule and retention: configuration backups daily with 30-day retention, full backups weekly with 4-week retention, monthly backups kept for 12 months. Automate with cron or Jenkins job. Test backups regularly (monthly) by restoring to test environment verifying configuration and jobs work correctly. Untested backups are useless. What to exclude from backups: workspace directories (recreatable from SCM), fingerprints (not critical), large build artifacts (store in artifact repository instead), old build history (implement retention policy). This reduces backup size and time significantly. Disaster recovery procedures: install Jenkins on new server matching version of backed-up instance, stop Jenkins service, restore JENKINS_HOME from backup overwriting new installation, install required plugins (from backed-up plugins list or JCasC), start Jenkins service, verify jobs run correctly, reconfigure agents (agents will reconnect), update DNS or load balancer to point to new instance. Document step-by-step DR procedures with screenshots. High Availability options: Jenkins HA with active-passive setup sharing JENKINS_HOME on network storage, or CloudBees Jenkins Enterprise with HA features. Shared filesystem (NFS, EFS) enables fast failover. Test failover procedures regularly. For critical installations, implement HA rather than relying solely on backups. Backup automation example: ```groovy pipeline { agent any triggers { cron('H 2 * * *') } // Daily at ~2 AM stages { stage('Backup') { steps { sh ''' tar -czf jenkins-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \ --exclude='workspace/*' \ --exclude='builds/*/archive' \ $JENKINS_HOME ''' sh 'aws s3 cp jenkins-backup-*.tar.gz s3://backups/jenkins/' sh 'find . -name "jenkins-backup-*.tar.gz" -mtime +30 -delete' } } } } ``` Understanding backup and DR strategies ensures business continuity and quick recovery from failures, critical for organizations relying on Jenkins for software delivery.

18. What is Jenkins Blue Ocean? Explain its features, benefits, and when to use it compared to classic Jenkins UI.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Core

Blue Ocean is a modern, redesigned user interface for Jenkins focused on Pipeline visualization and creation. It provides a fresh, contemporary UI replacing Jenkins' classic interface which has remained largely unchanged since 2011. Blue Ocean offers intuitive visual pipeline editor, real-time pipeline visualization, personalized dashboard, and improved usability especially for Pipeline-centric workflows. Key features include visual pipeline editor allowing creating declarative pipelines through drag-and-drop interface without writing Groovy code directly. The editor automatically generates Jenkinsfile stored in repository. Pipeline visualization shows stages as horizontal blocks with parallel stages displayed vertically, color-coded by status (blue success, red failure, gray not run). Click stages to see logs for that specific stage, improving debugging experience. Pipeline run details page shows comprehensive view of pipeline execution with stage-level logs, test results, artifacts, and change sets. Timeline view shows duration of each stage helping identify bottlenecks. Branch and pull request discovery automatically creates pipelines for branches and PRs in Multibranch projects. Personalized dashboard shows user's favorites and recent runs with filters. Benefits over classic UI: cleaner, more intuitive interface reducing cognitive load, better pipeline visualization understanding complex pipelines at a glance, improved navigation with breadcrumbs and search, visual editor lowering barrier to pipeline creation for less technical users, faster access to logs and test results with stage-level filtering, responsive design working better on different screen sizes. When to use Blue Ocean: recommended for pipeline-centric workflows (Declarative and Scripted pipelines), organizations transitioning to Pipeline from Freestyle, teams wanting better visualization and UX, use cases requiring visual pipeline editor. Blue Ocean focuses on pipelines and doesn't provide full feature parity with classic UI for some administrative tasks. When to use classic UI: required for Freestyle project management (Blue Ocean primarily supports pipelines), system administration tasks (plugin management, security configuration, agent management), certain plugins only integrate with classic UI, teams preferring traditional interface or having custom classic UI extensions. Installation: install Blue Ocean plugin from Plugin Manager. Access via link in classic UI sidebar or directly at /blue URL path. Both interfaces coexist, switch between them as needed. Blue Ocean reads same Jenkins data as classic UI, so no migration necessary. New installations can start with Blue Ocean for pipeline work while using classic UI for administration. Limitations: some advanced pipeline features require manual Jenkinsfile editing (Blue Ocean editor supports common patterns but not full syntax), not all plugins have Blue Ocean integration, some users prefer classic UI's information density. Blue Ocean development slowed recently as Jenkins community focuses on classic UI improvements. Understanding Blue Ocean enables leveraging modern UI for improved pipeline creation and visualization while knowing when classic UI is more appropriate.

20. Explain Gradle build system including build.gradle syntax, dependency management, tasks, multi-project builds, and performance optimization techniques.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Build Tools

Gradle uses Groovy or Kotlin DSL for build configuration. Build.gradle defines project structure: ```groovy plugins { id 'java' id 'org.springframework.boot' version '2.7.0' id 'io.spring.dependency-management' version '1.0.11.RELEASE' } group = 'com.example' version = '1.0.0' sourceCompatibility = '11' repositories { mavenCentral() maven { url 'https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-public/' credentials { username = System.getenv('NEXUS_USER') password = System.getenv('NEXUS_PASSWORD') } } } dependencies { implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web' implementation 'org.postgresql:postgresql:42.3.1' testImplementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test' testImplementation 'org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter' } tasks.named('test') { useJUnitPlatform() } ``` Dependency configurations: implementation (compile and runtime, not exposed to consumers), api (exposed to consumers in library projects), compileOnly (compile time only, like Maven provided), runtimeOnly (runtime only), testImplementation, testRuntimeOnly. Dependency constraints and versions: ```groovy dependencies { implementation 'com.google.guava:guava:31.0-jre' implementation 'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.13.0' // Constraint (doesn't add dependency, only sets version if included transitively) constraints { implementation 'org.apache.commons:commons-lang3:3.12.0' } } ``` Dependency resolution strategies: ```groovy configurations.all { resolutionStrategy { // Force specific version force 'com.google.guava:guava:31.0-jre' // Fail on version conflict failOnVersionConflict() // Cache for 24 hours cacheDynamicVersionsFor 24, 'hours' } } ``` Custom tasks: ```groovy task hello { doLast { println 'Hello from Gradle!' } } task copyDocs(type: Copy) { from 'src/docs' into 'build/docs' } task buildDockerImage(type: Exec) { commandLine 'docker', 'build', '-t', "myapp:${version}", '.' } task dist(type: Zip) { from 'build/libs' archiveFileName = "myapp-${version}.zip" } ``` Multi-project builds organize related projects: ``` root-project/ ├── settings.gradle ├── build.gradle ├── app/ │ └── build.gradle ├── library/ │ └── build.gradle └── common/ └── build.gradle ``` Settings.gradle: ```groovy rootProject.name = 'my-application' include 'app', 'library', 'common' ``` Root build.gradle: ```groovy subprojects { apply plugin: 'java' repositories { mavenCentral() } dependencies { testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.13.2' } } ``` App build.gradle: ```groovy dependencies { implementation project(':library') implementation project(':common') } ``` Performance optimization: Gradle daemon (enabled by default, reuses JVM across builds), build cache (caches task outputs): ```groovy buildCache { local { enabled = true } remote(HttpBuildCache) { url = 'https://cache.company.com/' credentials { username = System.getenv('BUILD_CACHE_USER') password = System.getenv('BUILD_CACHE_PASSWORD') } push = true } } ``` Parallel execution: ```bash ./gradlew build --parallel ``` Configuration cache (faster configuration phase): ```bash ./gradlew build --configuration-cache ``` CI/CD integration: ```yaml # GitHub Actions - uses: gradle/gradle-build-action@v2 with: arguments: build cache-read-only: false ``` Publishing artifacts: ```groovy plugins { id 'maven-publish' } publishing { publications { mavenJava(MavenPublication) { from components.java } } repositories { maven { url = version.endsWith('SNAPSHOT') ? 'https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-snapshots/' : 'https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-releases/' credentials { username = System.getenv('NEXUS_USER') password = System.getenv('NEXUS_PASSWORD') } } } } ``` Best practices: use Gradle wrapper, enable build cache, use parallel execution, leverage incremental compilation, cache dependencies in CI/CD, use configuration cache for large projects, profile builds (./gradlew build --scan), modularize large projects. Understanding Gradle enables efficient, flexible build automation.

21. Explain npm package management, scripts, versioning, and CI/CD integration. Include npm vs yarn, lock files, and security practices.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Build Tools

npm (Node Package Manager) manages JavaScript dependencies defined in package.json: ```json { "name": "my-app", "version": "1.0.0", "description": "My application", "main": "index.js", "scripts": { "start": "node index.js", "dev": "nodemon index.js", "build": "webpack --mode production", "test": "jest", "lint": "eslint src/", "format": "prettier --write src/" }, "dependencies": { "express": "^4.18.0", "dotenv": "^16.0.0" }, "devDependencies": { "jest": "^28.0.0", "nodemon": "^2.0.0", "eslint": "^8.0.0" }, "engines": { "node": ">=16.0.0", "npm": ">=8.0.0" } } ``` Dependency types: dependencies (production), devDependencies (development only, not installed in production with npm install --production), peerDependencies (required by library but provided by consumer), optionalDependencies (install if possible, failure doesn't stop installation). Version ranges: "^4.18.0" (compatible with 4.x.x, >= 4.18.0 < 5.0.0), "~4.18.0" (patch updates, >= 4.18.0 < 4.19.0), "4.18.0" (exact version), "*" (any version). Caret (^) is default, allows minor and patch updates. Lock files (package-lock.json) ensure reproducible installs by recording exact versions of all dependencies and transitive dependencies: ```json { "name": "my-app", "version": "1.0.0", "lockfileVersion": 2, "requires": true, "packages": { "node_modules/express": { "version": "4.18.2", "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express/-/express-4.18.2.tgz", "integrity": "sha512-..." } } } ``` Commit lock file to version control. npm commands: npm install (install dependencies from package.json), npm ci (clean install from lock file, faster and more reliable for CI/CD), npm update (update packages within version ranges), npm outdated (show outdated packages), npm audit (check for vulnerabilities), npm audit fix (automatically fix vulnerabilities). npm scripts enable automation: ```json "scripts": { "prebuild": "npm run clean", "build": "webpack --mode production", "postbuild": "npm run test", "clean": "rm -rf dist", "test": "jest --coverage", "test:watch": "jest --watch", "deploy": "npm run build && firebase deploy" } ``` pre and post hooks automatically run before/after main script. Yarn alternative offers faster installs, better security, offline mode. Yarn commands: yarn install, yarn add, yarn upgrade. Yarn lock file (yarn.lock) similar to package-lock.json. Modern npm (v7+) matches yarn performance. CI/CD integration: ```yaml # GitHub Actions - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: '18' cache: 'npm' - run: npm ci - run: npm run build - run: npm test ``` Private registry configuration (.npmrc): ``` registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/ @myorg:registry=https://npm.company.com/ //npm.company.com/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN} ``` Publishing packages: ```bash npm version patch # Increment version npm publish ``` Security practices: npm audit regularly, update dependencies, use exact versions for critical dependencies, scan for known vulnerabilities with Snyk or Dependabot, avoid running npm as root, use .npmrc for private registries, enable 2FA for npm account, use npm ci in CI/CD (ignores package.json, only uses lock file). Understanding npm enables efficient Node.js project management and automation.

22. Explain artifact repository management using Nexus or Artifactory. Include repository types, proxy caching, artifact publishing, promotion workflows, and CI/CD integration.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Caching & Artifacts

Artifact repositories manage binary artifacts (JARs, npm packages, Docker images, etc.) providing centralized storage, versioning, and distribution. Major solutions: JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus, AWS CodeArtifact, Azure Artifacts. Repository types: 1. Hosted repositories store artifacts built internally: - maven-releases (release versions) - maven-snapshots (development snapshots) - npm-private (private npm packages) - docker-private (private Docker images) 2. Proxy repositories cache artifacts from remote sources: - maven-central (proxies Maven Central) - npm-registry (proxies npmjs.com) - docker-hub (proxies Docker Hub) Provides faster downloads, reliability when external sources unavailable, control over external dependencies. 3. Group repositories combine multiple repositories: - maven-public (groups maven-releases, maven-snapshots, maven-central) - npm-group (groups npm-private, npm-registry) Simplifies client configuration (one URL for all sources). Nexus configuration example: Maven client configuration (pom.xml): ```xml <repositories> <repository> <id>nexus</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-public/</url> </repository> </repositories> <distributionManagement> <repository> <id>nexus-releases</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-releases/</url> </repository> <snapshotRepository> <id>nexus-snapshots</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-snapshots/</url> </snapshotRepository> </distributionManagement> ``` Credentials in settings.xml (~/.m2/settings.xml): ```xml <settings> <servers> <server> <id>nexus-releases</id> <username>${env.NEXUS_USER}</username> <password>${env.NEXUS_PASSWORD}</password> </server> <server> <id>nexus-snapshots</id> <username>${env.NEXUS_USER}</username> <password>${env.NEXUS_PASSWORD}</password> </server> </servers> </settings> ``` npm configuration (.npmrc): ``` registry=https://nexus.company.com/repository/npm-group/ //nexus.company.com/repository/npm-group/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN} ``` Docker registry configuration: ```bash docker login nexus.company.com:5000 docker tag myapp:latest nexus.company.com:5000/myapp:1.0.0 docker push nexus.company.com:5000/myapp:1.0.0 ``` Artifact publishing in CI/CD: Maven: ```yaml deploy: stage: deploy script: - mvn deploy -DskipTests only: - main ``` npm: ```yaml publish: stage: publish script: - echo "//nexus.company.com/repository/npm-private/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}" > .npmrc - npm publish ``` Docker: ```yaml push_image: stage: publish script: - docker build -t nexus.company.com:5000/myapp:${CI_COMMIT_SHA} . - docker push nexus.company.com:5000/myapp:${CI_COMMIT_SHA} ``` Promotion workflows move artifacts between repositories (e.g., staging to production): 1. Build pushes to staging repository 2. Run tests against staging artifacts 3. Manual approval 4. Promote to production repository Nexus promotion (using REST API): ```bash curl -u admin:password -X POST \ "https://nexus.company.com/service/rest/v1/staging/promote" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "data": { "stagedRepositoryId": "staging-repo", "targetRepositoryId": "releases" } }' ``` Artifactory promotion: ```bash jfrog rt build-promote myapp 1.0.0 production-repo --status="Released" ``` Cleanup policies prevent disk space exhaustion: - Remove snapshots older than 30 days - Keep only last 10 versions of each artifact - Delete unused artifacts after 90 days Access control: - Role-based permissions (developer, QA, ops) - Repository-level permissions - Read/write/deploy permissions - Anonymous access for public artifacts Best practices: use group repositories for clients, separate hosted repositories by maturity (snapshot/release), implement cleanup policies, use promotion workflows for production, enable security scanning, monitor storage usage, backup regularly, use HTTPS, implement access control, integrate with SSO. Understanding artifact repository management enables efficient, secure artifact lifecycle management in enterprise CI/CD.

23. Explain Docker multi-stage builds for optimizing images. Include build strategies, layer caching, security considerations, and CI/CD integration.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Containerization & Docker

Multi-stage builds separate build and runtime environments, creating smaller, more secure images by excluding build tools and intermediate artifacts from final image. Basic multi-stage example (Node.js): ```dockerfile # Build stage FROM node:18 AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci COPY . . RUN npm run build RUN npm prune --production # Production stage FROM node:18-alpine WORKDIR /app COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules COPY package*.json ./ USER node EXPOSE 3000 CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"] ``` Benefits: builder stage includes devDependencies and build tools, production stage only contains runtime dependencies and compiled code, final image significantly smaller (50-80% reduction). Java example with Maven: ```dockerfile # Build stage FROM maven:3.8-jdk-11 AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY pom.xml . RUN mvn dependency:go-offline COPY src ./src RUN mvn package -DskipTests # Production stage FROM openjdk:11-jre-slim WORKDIR /app COPY --from=builder /app/target/*.jar app.jar USER nobody EXPOSE 8080 ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "app.jar"] ``` Layer caching optimization - order instructions from least to most frequently changing: ```dockerfile FROM node:18 AS builder WORKDIR /app # Cache layer 1: package files (rarely change) COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci # Cache layer 2: source code (changes frequently) COPY . . RUN npm run build # Production FROM node:18-alpine WORKDIR /app COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules ``` Changes to source code don't invalidate dependency installation layer. BuildKit features (Docker 18.09+): ```dockerfile # syntax=docker/dockerfile:1 FROM node:18 AS builder WORKDIR /app # Mount cache for npm RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.npm \ npm ci # Mount source without copying (faster) RUN --mount=type=bind,source=package.json,target=package.json \ --mount=type=bind,source=src,target=src \ npm run build ``` Security best practices: ```dockerfile FROM node:18-alpine AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm ci COPY . . RUN npm run build # Production with security FROM node:18-alpine # Create non-root user RUN addgroup -g 1001 -S nodejs && \ adduser -S nodejs -u 1001 WORKDIR /app # Set ownership COPY --from=builder --chown=nodejs:nodejs /app/dist ./dist COPY --from=builder --chown=nodejs:nodejs /app/node_modules ./node_modules COPY --chown=nodejs:nodejs package*.json ./ # Switch to non-root USER nodejs EXPOSE 3000 CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"] ``` Security measures: use minimal base images (alpine), run as non-root user, scan for vulnerabilities, don't include secrets in image, use .dockerignore to exclude unnecessary files. .dockerignore: ``` node_modules npm-debug.log .git .env *.md .DS_Store tests .github ``` CI/CD integration (GitLab): ```yaml build_image: stage: build image: docker:20.10 services: - docker:20.10-dind variables: DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs" DOCKER_BUILDKIT: 1 script: - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY - | docker build \ --cache-from $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:latest \ --tag $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA \ --tag $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:latest \ . - docker push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA - docker push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:latest ``` GitHub Actions with caching: ```yaml - name: Set up Docker Buildx uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2 - name: Build and push uses: docker/build-push-action@v4 with: context: . push: true tags: | myregistry.com/myapp:${{ github.sha }} myregistry.com/myapp:latest cache-from: type=gha cache-to: type=gha,mode=max ``` Image scanning: ```yaml - name: Scan image uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master with: image-ref: 'myapp:${{ github.sha }}' format: 'sarif' output: 'trivy-results.sarif' severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH' ``` Best practices: use multi-stage builds for all languages, order instructions for optimal caching, use minimal base images, run as non-root, scan images for vulnerabilities, leverage BuildKit caching, use .dockerignore, tag images with commit SHA and semantic version, implement image signing. Understanding Docker optimization creates secure, efficient container images for production deployments.

24. Compare Declarative and Scripted Pipeline syntax in detail. When should you use each? Provide examples showing differences in structure, flexibility, and use cases.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline as Code

Declarative Pipeline uses structured, opinionated syntax starting with pipeline block. Required sections include agent and stages. Syntax is rigid but provides better validation, easier learning curve, and built-in best practices. Declarative example: ```groovy pipeline { agent any environment { APP_VERSION = '1.0.0' } stages { stage('Build') { steps { sh 'mvn clean package' } } stage('Test') { steps { sh 'mvn test' } } } post { success { echo 'Success!' } } } ``` Scripted Pipeline uses flexible Groovy-based syntax starting with node block. Allows arbitrary Groovy code, variables, functions, and control flow. More powerful but requires more Groovy knowledge. Scripted example: ```groovy node { def appVersion = '1.0.0' stage('Build') { sh 'mvn clean package' } stage('Test') { try { sh 'mvn test' } catch (Exception e) { echo "Tests failed: ${e.message}" throw e } } if (env.BRANCH_NAME == 'main') { stage('Deploy') { sh './deploy.sh' } } } ``` Key differences: Declarative uses pipeline block vs Scripted's node block, Declarative has predefined structure vs Scripted's free-form, Declarative validates syntax before execution vs Scripted fails at runtime, Declarative supports resume from stage vs Scripted restarts from beginning, Declarative has when directive vs Scripted uses if statements, Declarative uses post for cleanup vs Scripted uses try-catch-finally. Flexibility: Scripted allows complex logic (loops, conditionals, functions) that's cumbersome in Declarative. Declarative can embed Groovy in script step but encourages using predefined directives. Example complex logic better suited for Scripted: ```groovy def envs = ['dev', 'staging', 'prod'] for (env in envs) { stage("Deploy to ${env}") { if (shouldDeploy(env)) { deployTo(env) } } } ``` When to use Declarative: recommended for most pipelines, new pipeline development, teams with limited Groovy experience, when you want structure and validation, simpler maintenance requirements, need restart from stage feature. When to use Scripted: complex dynamic logic (loops, advanced conditionals), need full Groovy capabilities, existing Scripted pipelines (no need to rewrite if working), highly customized workflows not fitting Declarative model. Mixed approach: use Declarative as default with script blocks for complex logic when needed: ```groovy pipeline { agent any stages { stage('Complex Logic') { steps { script { def result = complexGroovyFunction() if (result.success) { echo "Success: ${result.value}" } } } } } } ``` Best practices: prefer Declarative for consistency and maintainability, use script blocks sparingly in Declarative for complex logic, document why Scripted is used if chosen, consider Shared Libraries for complex logic instead of inline Scripted code. Understanding both syntaxes enables choosing appropriate approach and maintaining diverse pipeline codebases.

25. Compare Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, and GitHub Actions. Discuss architecture, configuration, features, scalability, pricing, and use cases for each.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: CI/CD Fundamentals

Architecture comparison: Jenkins: self-hosted, master-agent architecture. Master manages configuration and schedules jobs, agents execute builds. Flexible but requires infrastructure management. Plugin-based extensibility with 1500+ plugins. Highly customizable but steeper learning curve. GitLab CI/CD: integrated with GitLab (self-hosted or cloud). Runners execute jobs, managed similarly to Jenkins agents. Tight GitLab integration (issue tracking, merge requests, security scanning) providing complete DevOps platform. Can use shared runners on GitLab.com or self-hosted runners. GitHub Actions: cloud-native, integrated with GitHub. GitHub-hosted runners or self-hosted runners. Serverless execution model - no master server to manage. Marketplace with thousands of reusable actions. Designed for GitHub ecosystem. Configuration: Jenkins: Jenkinsfile (Declarative or Scripted Pipeline) or GUI configuration. Groovy-based, powerful but requires learning curve. Supports complex logic with full programming capabilities. GitLab CI/CD: .gitlab-ci.yml YAML file. Straightforward syntax with stages, jobs, rules. Includes/extends for reusability. Good balance of simplicity and power. GitHub Actions: .github/workflows/*.yml YAML files. Event-driven workflows. Marketplace actions reduce configuration complexity. Matrix strategy for multi-configuration testing. Features comparison: Jenkins: - Mature ecosystem with extensive plugins - Blue Ocean modern UI - Distributed builds - Pipeline as Code - Shared Libraries - Approval gates - Cons: requires maintenance, setup complexity GitLab CI/CD: - Integrated with GitLab SCM - Auto DevOps for automated pipelines - Built-in container registry - Security scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning) - Kubernetes integration - Review apps for preview environments - Cons: tied to GitLab ecosystem GitHub Actions: - Native GitHub integration - Extensive marketplace - Matrix builds - Reusable workflows - Environments with protection rules - GitHub Packages integration - Cons: GitHub-specific, limited runner customization compared to Jenkins Scalability: Jenkins: highly scalable with agent pools, cloud agents (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes), autoscaling support. Requires managing infrastructure but offers maximum control. GitLab CI/CD: scalable with runner autoscaling (Docker Machine, Kubernetes), shared runners on GitLab.com handle scaling automatically. Good balance of managed and self-hosted options. GitHub Actions: GitHub-hosted runners scale automatically (managed by GitHub), self-hosted runners require manual scaling but support autoscaling with custom solutions. Cloud-native approach simplifies scaling. Pricing: Jenkins: free and open-source but requires infrastructure costs (servers, maintenance, support). Total cost includes hosting, maintenance time, support. GitLab CI/CD: free tier with shared runners (400 compute minutes/month for GitLab.com free plan), paid tiers offer more minutes and features, self-hosted GitLab CE is free (unlimited builds), EE has premium features. Costs: subscription or self-hosting infrastructure. GitHub Actions: free for public repositories, private repositories get 2000-3000 minutes/month (varies by plan), additional minutes purchasable. Self-hosted runners free but require infrastructure. Costs: GitHub subscription and runner infrastructure. Use cases: Jenkins best for: - Organizations with existing Jenkins investment - Complex, customized workflows requiring flexibility - On-premise requirements - Multi-SCM environments (Git, SVN, Mercurial) - Need for specific plugins - Maximum control over infrastructure GitLab CI/CD best for: - Teams using GitLab for SCM - Organizations wanting complete DevOps platform - Need for integrated security scanning - Kubernetes-native workflows - Review apps and preview environments - Self-hosted with good scaling GitHub Actions best for: - GitHub-based projects - Open-source projects (free unlimited minutes) - Minimal infrastructure management desired - Leveraging marketplace ecosystem - Quick setup and getting started - Modern, cloud-native approach Migration considerations: - Jenkins to GitLab/GitHub: port Jenkinsfile to YAML, adapt plugins to native features or marketplace actions - GitLab to GitHub: convert .gitlab-ci.yml to workflows, adapt GitLab-specific features - All platforms support Pipeline as Code, artifacts, caching, parallel execution Decision factors: existing toolchain, team expertise, hosting preference (cloud vs self-hosted), budget, required features, integration needs, scalability requirements. Understanding platform differences enables choosing appropriate CI/CD solution for specific organizational needs.

26. Explain advanced CI/CD patterns including multi-stage pipelines, pipeline orchestration, trunk-based development workflows, and deployment strategies integration.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline Concepts

Multi-stage pipelines organize CI/CD into logical phases with progression gates. Example GitLab: ```yaml stages: - build - test - security - staging - production build: stage: build script: make build artifacts: paths: [dist/] unit_test: stage: test script: make test integration_test: stage: test script: make integration-test needs: [build] sast: stage: security script: semgrep scan deploy_staging: stage: staging script: deploy staging environment: name: staging url: https://staging.example.com deploy_production: stage: production script: deploy production when: manual only: [main] environment: name: production url: https://example.com ``` Pipeline orchestration coordinates multiple pipelines across repositories. Parent-child pipelines in GitLab: ```yaml # Parent pipeline trigger_backend: stage: test trigger: project: team/backend strategy: depend # Wait for triggered pipeline trigger_frontend: stage: test trigger: project: team/frontend ``` GitHub Actions workflow dependencies: ```yaml # Backend workflow triggers frontend - name: Trigger Frontend uses: peter-evans/repository-dispatch@v2 with: token: ${{ secrets.PAT }} repository: org/frontend event-type: backend-updated ``` Trunk-based development workflow with short-lived feature branches: ```yaml # GitHub Actions on: push: branches: [main] pull_request: branches: [main] jobs: pr-checks: if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - run: npm test - run: npm run lint deploy: if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' needs: pr-checks runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - run: ./deploy.sh production ``` Feature flag integration for trunk-based development: ```yaml deploy: stage: deploy script: - deploy --feature-flags=new-ui:50% environment: production ``` Blue-green deployment pattern: ```yaml # GitLab stages: - deploy - switch - cleanup deploy_green: stage: deploy script: - deploy green-environment - run-smoke-tests green environment: name: production-green switch_traffic: stage: switch script: - switch-load-balancer blue green when: manual cleanup_blue: stage: cleanup script: - cleanup blue-environment when: manual ``` Canary deployment with progressive rollout: ```yaml # GitHub Actions - name: Deploy Canary run: | kubectl set image deployment/app app=myapp:${{ github.sha }} kubectl patch deployment app -p '{"spec":{"replicas":1}}' - name: Monitor Canary run: ./monitor-metrics.sh timeout-minutes: 10 - name: Full Rollout if: success() run: kubectl scale deployment/app --replicas=10 - name: Rollback if: failure() run: kubectl rollout undo deployment/app ``` Rollback mechanism: ```yaml rollback_production: stage: rollback script: - kubectl rollout undo deployment/app when: manual only: [main] environment: name: production action: rollback ``` Approval gates for production: ```yaml # GitLab deploy_prod: stage: production script: deploy production when: manual only: [main] environment: name: production # GitHub Actions production: runs-on: ubuntu-latest environment: name: production required-reviewers: ['ops-team'] steps: - run: ./deploy.sh ``` Post-deployment verification: ```yaml verify_deployment: stage: verify script: - curl https://production.example.com/health - run-integration-tests production retry: max: 2 when: script_failure ``` Monitoring integration: ```yaml - name: Send Deployment Event run: | curl -X POST https://monitoring.example.com/api/events \ -d '{"type":"deployment","version":"${{ github.sha }}"}' - name: Check Error Rate run: | ERROR_RATE=$(query-prometheus) if [ $ERROR_RATE -gt 1 ]; then echo "High error rate detected" exit 1 fi ``` Dynamic environment creation (review apps): ```yaml review_app: stage: review script: - deploy review-app-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID environment: name: review/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID url: https://review-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID.example.com on_stop: stop_review_app only: - merge_requests stop_review_app: stage: review script: - destroy review-app-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID environment: name: review/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID action: stop when: manual ``` Understanding advanced patterns enables building sophisticated CI/CD workflows supporting modern development practices and deployment strategies.

27. Explain security best practices for CI/CD pipelines. Include secrets management, artifact security, vulnerability scanning, and supply chain security.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: CI/CD Security

Secrets management is critical for CI/CD security. Never commit secrets to repositories. Use platform secret managers: GitLab CI/CD variables (masked and protected): ```yaml variables: PUBLIC_VAR: "visible" # SECRET_VAR configured in GitLab UI (Settings > CI/CD > Variables) # Mark as "Masked" to hide in logs # Mark as "Protected" to limit to protected branches deploy: script: - deploy --api-key=$SECRET_VAR ``` GitHub Actions secrets: ```yaml steps: - name: Deploy run: ./deploy.sh env: API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }} DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }} ``` External secret management integration (HashiCorp Vault): ```yaml # GitLab vault_secrets: image: vault:latest script: - export VAULT_TOKEN=$(vault login -method=jwt role=my-role jwt=$CI_JOB_JWT -field=token) - export SECRET=$(vault kv get -field=value secret/api-key) - deploy --api-key=$SECRET ``` ```yaml # GitHub Actions with Vault - name: Import Secrets uses: hashicorp/vault-action@v2 with: url: https://vault.example.com method: jwt role: github-actions secrets: | secret/data/api key | API_KEY secret/data/db password | DB_PASS ``` Rotate secrets regularly, use short-lived tokens when possible, limit secret scope (per-project, per-environment), audit secret access. Artifact security ensures build outputs are safe. Sign artifacts for verification: ```yaml # Sign container images - name: Sign Image run: | cosign sign --key cosign.key myapp:${{ github.sha }} ``` Verify artifact integrity: ```yaml - name: Verify Signature run: | cosign verify --key cosign.pub myapp:${{ github.sha }} ``` Vulnerability scanning detects security issues: Container scanning: ```yaml # GitLab (built-in) container_scanning: stage: test variables: DOCKER_IMAGE: myapp:latest allow_failure: true # GitHub Actions with Trivy - name: Scan Image uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master with: image-ref: 'myapp:${{ github.sha }}' format: 'sarif' output: 'trivy-results.sarif' severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH' - name: Upload Results uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v2 with: sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif' ``` Dependency scanning: ```yaml # GitLab (built-in) dependency_scanning: stage: test artifacts: reports: dependency_scanning: gl-dependency-scanning-report.json # GitHub Actions with Snyk - name: Snyk Test uses: snyk/actions/node@master env: SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }} with: args: --severity-threshold=high ``` Static Application Security Testing (SAST): ```yaml # GitLab sast: stage: test artifacts: reports: sast: gl-sast-report.json # GitHub Actions with Semgrep - name: Semgrep uses: returntocorp/semgrep-action@v1 with: config: auto ``` Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST): ```yaml dast: stage: security image: owasp/zap2docker-stable script: - zap-baseline.py -t https://staging.example.com ``` Supply chain security protects against compromised dependencies: Dependency pinning (lock files): ```yaml - name: Verify Lock File run: | if ! git diff --exit-code package-lock.json; then echo "Lock file changed, failing build" exit 1 fi ``` Software Bill of Materials (SBOM): ```yaml - name: Generate SBOM uses: anchore/sbom-action@v0 with: image: myapp:${{ github.sha }} format: cyclonedx output-file: sbom.json - name: Upload SBOM uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3 with: name: sbom path: sbom.json ``` Code signing with Sigstore: ```yaml - name: Sign Artifacts uses: sigstore/cosign-installer@main - run: | cosign sign-blob --key cosign.key artifact.tar.gz > artifact.tar.gz.sig ``` Access control for pipelines: - Protected branches (only certain users can merge/push) - Required reviews before pipeline runs - Branch protection rules - Environment-specific permissions GitHub: ```yaml environment: name: production required-reviewers: ['security-team', 'ops-lead'] ``` GitLab protected environments (Settings > CI/CD > Protected Environments). Audit logging: ```yaml - name: Log Deployment run: | echo "Deployed by ${{ github.actor }} at $(date)" >> audit.log curl -X POST https://audit.example.com/log \ -d '{"user":"${{ github.actor }}","action":"deploy"}' ``` Network security: - Private runners/agents behind firewall - Egress filtering (allow only necessary external access) - Secrets for webhook authentication - HTTPS for all communications Compliance as Code: ```yaml compliance_check: stage: validate script: - run-compliance-tests - check-license-compliance - verify-security-policies ``` Best practices: never commit secrets, use platform secret managers, integrate with Vault/AWS Secrets Manager for production, scan all dependencies, scan containers before deployment, implement SAST/DAST, generate and track SBOMs, sign artifacts, limit pipeline permissions, enable audit logging, regularly update dependencies, use automated security scanning in every pipeline. Understanding security practices prevents breaches and ensures compliance in CI/CD workflows.

28. Explain Jenkins Shared Libraries in detail including directory structure, global variables, classes, versioning, and best practices for building reusable pipeline code.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Reusable Configurations

Shared Library structure follows convention: vars/ contains global variables (pipeline functions), src/ contains Groovy classes (complex logic), resources/ contains non-Groovy files (templates, configs). Directory structure: ``` my-pipeline-library/ ├── vars/ │ ├── buildJava.groovy │ ├── deployApp.groovy │ └── sendNotification.groovy ├── src/ │ └── com/ │ └── example/ │ └── Utils.groovy └── resources/ └── templates/ └── Dockerfile.template ``` Global variables in vars/ define callable functions. Simple function (vars/buildJava.groovy): ```groovy def call(Map config) { pipeline { agent any stages { stage('Build') { steps { sh "mvn ${config.goals ?: 'clean package'}" } } stage('Test') { when { expression { config.runTests != false } } steps { sh 'mvn test' } } } } } ``` Usage in Jenkinsfile: ```groovy @Library('my-pipeline-library') _ buildJava(goals: 'clean install', runTests: true) ``` Custom steps (vars/deployApp.groovy): ```groovy def call(String environment) { echo "Deploying to ${environment}" sh "./deploy.sh ${environment}" } def rollback(String environment) { echo "Rolling back ${environment}" sh "./rollback.sh ${environment}" } ``` Usage: ```groovy @Library('my-pipeline-library') _ pipeline { stages { stage('Deploy') { steps { deployApp('production') } } } } ``` Groovy classes in src/ for complex logic (src/com/example/Utils.groovy): ```groovy package com.example class Utils implements Serializable { def script Utils(script) { this.script = script } def parseVersion(String tag) { def matcher = tag =~ /v(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)/ if (matcher) { return [major: matcher[0][1], minor: matcher[0][2], patch: matcher[0][3]] } return null } } ``` Usage: ```groovy @Library('my-pipeline-library') _ import com.example.Utils node { def utils = new Utils(this) def version = utils.parseVersion(env.TAG_NAME) echo "Version: ${version.major}.${version.minor}.${version.patch}" } ``` Library configuration: configure in Jenkins (Manage Jenkins > Configure System > Global Pipeline Libraries) with name, Git repository URL, and default version (branch/tag). Multiple libraries can be configured. Versioning: specify library version when loading: ```groovy @Library('my-pipeline-library@v1.2.3') _ // Specific tag @Library('my-pipeline-library@main') _ // Branch @Library('my-pipeline-library@commit') _ // Commit SHA @Library('my-pipeline-library') _ // Default version from config ``` Dynamic loading: ```groovy library identifier: 'my-lib@master', retriever: modernSCM([ $class: 'GitSCMSource', remote: 'https://github.com/org/pipeline-library.git' ]) ``` Resource files (resources/templates/Dockerfile.template): ```groovy def dockerfileTemplate = libraryResource 'templates/Dockerfile.template' writeFile file: 'Dockerfile', text: dockerfileTemplate ``` Best practices: version libraries (use semantic versioning), test library changes thoroughly before merging, document functions with comments and examples, keep libraries focused (separate libraries for different concerns), use classes for complex logic (easier to test), make functions configurable with sensible defaults, implement proper error handling, avoid side effects in library code, publish library documentation. Example testing library: ```groovy // test/vars/buildJavaTest.groovy import org.junit.Test import static org.junit.Assert.* class BuildJavaTest { @Test void testBuildJava() { // Mock script context and test function } } ``` Understanding Shared Libraries enables building reusable, maintainable pipeline code shared across organization, reducing duplication and standardizing CI/CD processes.

29. Explain error handling strategies in Jenkins Pipeline. Include try-catch, error step, catchError, post conditions, and retry mechanisms.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline Concepts

Try-catch blocks in script step or Scripted Pipeline handle exceptions: ```groovy stage('Build') { steps { script { try { sh 'mvn clean package' } catch (Exception e) { echo "Build failed: ${e.message}" currentBuild.result = 'FAILURE' throw e // Rethrow to fail pipeline } } } } ``` Caught exceptions can be logged, notifications sent, or pipeline behavior modified. Rethrowing fails the pipeline while catching without rethrowing continues. Error step explicitly fails pipeline with message: ```groovy if (!fileExists('required-file.txt')) { error 'Required file not found' } ``` Error stops execution immediately failing the stage and pipeline. CatchError wraps steps allowing pipeline to continue even if steps fail: ```groovy stage('Optional Task') { steps { catchError(buildResult: 'SUCCESS', stageResult: 'FAILURE') { sh 'npm run optional-task' // Pipeline continues even if this fails } } } ``` Parameters: buildResult (overall build result if error occurs), stageResult (stage result if error occurs), catchInterruptions (catch user abort). Useful for non-critical steps that shouldn't fail entire build. Post conditions handle cleanup and notifications based on result: ```groovy post { failure { echo 'Pipeline failed' mail to: 'team@example.com', subject: "Failed: ${env.JOB_NAME}", body: "${env.BUILD_URL}" } unstable { echo 'Tests failed but build succeeded' } always { junit '**/target/test-results/*.xml' cleanWs() } } ``` Always block runs regardless of result ensuring cleanup happens. Retry mechanism automatically retries failed steps: ```groovy stage('Flaky Test') { steps { retry(3) { sh 'npm run flaky-test' } } } ``` Retries up to 3 times before failing. Useful for flaky tests or transient network issues. Timeout prevents hanging builds: ```groovy stage('Long Running Task') { steps { timeout(time: 1, unit: 'HOURS') { sh './long-task.sh' } } } ``` Aborts step if exceeds timeout. Combining strategies: ```groovy stage('Deploy') { steps { script { def maxRetries = 3 def retryCount = 0 def success = false while (!success && retryCount < maxRetries) { try { timeout(time: 5, unit: 'MINUTES') { sh './deploy.sh' success = true } } catch (Exception e) { retryCount++ if (retryCount >= maxRetries) { error "Deployment failed after ${maxRetries} attempts: ${e.message}" } sleep(time: 30, unit: 'SECONDS') echo "Retry ${retryCount}/${maxRetries} after error: ${e.message}" } } } } } ``` CurrentBuild variable tracks build state: ```groovy script { currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE' // Set result currentBuild.description = 'Custom description' echo "Current result: ${currentBuild.result}" } ``` Results: SUCCESS, UNSTABLE, FAILURE, ABORTED. Best practices: use try-catch for expected errors requiring special handling, use catchError for optional steps, implement retry for transient failures, set timeouts preventing infinite hangs, use post conditions for cleanup ensuring it always runs, log errors with context for debugging, send notifications on failures, fail fast for critical errors, set meaningful build descriptions, avoid catching all exceptions unless necessary. Understanding error handling creates robust pipelines that gracefully handle failures and provide clear feedback.

30. Explain pipeline parameters in Jenkins. Include different parameter types, usage, and building flexible, reusable pipelines with parameters.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline Concepts

Parameters make pipelines flexible by accepting user input at build time. Define parameters in parameters block (Declarative) or properties block (Scripted). Parameter types include string (text input), text (multi-line text), booleanParam (checkbox), choice (dropdown), password (masked input), file (file upload), and others. Declarative parameter definition: ```groovy pipeline { agent any parameters { string(name: 'VERSION', defaultValue: '1.0.0', description: 'Version to deploy') choice(name: 'ENVIRONMENT', choices: ['dev', 'staging', 'prod'], description: 'Target environment') booleanParam(name: 'RUN_TESTS', defaultValue: true, description: 'Run tests?') text(name: 'CHANGELOG', defaultValue: '', description: 'Changelog') } stages { stage('Deploy') { steps { echo "Deploying version ${params.VERSION} to ${params.ENVIRONMENT}" script { if (params.RUN_TESTS) { sh 'npm test' } } sh "./deploy.sh ${params.ENVIRONMENT} ${params.VERSION}" } } } } ``` Access parameters with params object: params.VERSION, params.ENVIRONMENT. First build uses default values, subsequent builds prompt user for input. Advanced parameters: ```groovy parameters { string( name: 'GIT_BRANCH', defaultValue: 'main', description: 'Branch to build', trim: true // Trim whitespace ) choice( name: 'BUILD_TYPE', choices: ['debug', 'release'], description: 'Build configuration' ) password( name: 'API_KEY', defaultValue: '', description: 'API Key for deployment' ) validatingString( name: 'EMAIL', defaultValue: 'user@example.com', regex: '^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$', failedValidationMessage: 'Invalid email format', description: 'Notification email' ) } ``` Dynamic parameters using Active Choices plugin enable parameters depending on other parameters or external data. Example: environment choice determines available regions. Build with parameters: first run establishes parameter definitions, subsequent runs show "Build with Parameters" button. Trigger via API: ```bash curl -X POST http://jenkins/job/myjob/buildWithParameters \ --user user:token \ --data VERSION=1.2.0 \ --data ENVIRONMENT=production ``` Conditional logic based on parameters: ```groovy stage('Performance Tests') { when { expression { params.RUN_PERF_TESTS == true } } steps { sh 'npm run test:performance' } } ``` Multibranch pipeline parameters: Multibranch pipelines don't support parameters block (parameters would differ per branch). Use properties step: ```groovy properties([ parameters([ string(name: 'VERSION', defaultValue: '1.0.0') ]) ]) ``` Best practices: provide sensible defaults, add clear descriptions, validate input (regex, constraints), use choice for limited options preventing invalid input, avoid sensitive data in parameters (use credentials instead), document required parameters, limit parameter count (too many becomes confusing), use boolean for feature flags, consider parameter naming conventions. Understanding parameters enables building flexible, reusable pipelines accommodating different scenarios without code changes.

31. What are strategies for optimizing Jenkins Pipeline performance? Discuss caching, parallelization, agent selection, and resource management.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline Concepts

Caching reduces build time by reusing previous build artifacts and dependencies. Docker layer caching reuses unchanged layers: ```groovy stage('Build') { steps { script { docker.build( "myapp:${env.BUILD_NUMBER}", "--cache-from myapp:latest ." ) } } } ``` Dependency caching for Maven (.m2), npm (node_modules), pip (cache), etc. Use shared volumes or cache plugins: ```groovy stage('Install Dependencies') { steps { sh ''' if [ -d ~/.m2/repository ]; then cp -r ~/.m2/repository ./maven-cache fi mvn dependency:go-offline cp -r ~/.m2/repository ./maven-cache ''' } } ``` Or use Pipeline Caching plugin: ```groovy cache(maxCacheSize: 1000, caches: [ arbitraryFileCache(path: 'node_modules', cacheValidityDecidingFile: 'package-lock.json') ]) { sh 'npm install' } ``` Parallelization runs independent tasks concurrently: ```groovy stage('Test') { parallel { stage('Unit Tests') { steps { sh 'npm run test:unit' } } stage('Integration Tests') { steps { sh 'npm run test:integration' } } stage('E2E Tests') { steps { sh 'npm run test:e2e' } } } } ``` Ensures multiple agents available for parallel execution. Agent selection optimizes resource usage: ```groovy stage('Build') { agent { docker { image 'maven:3.8-jdk-11' args '-v /var/jenkins_home/maven-cache:/root/.m2' reuseNode true // Reuse workspace from parent } } steps { sh 'mvn package' } } ``` Use Docker agents for isolated environments, specific tools. Label-based selection: agent { label 'high-memory' } for resource-intensive tasks. Skip unnecessary work: ```groovy stage('Build') { when { changeset "src/**" } steps { sh 'make build' } } ``` Only builds when source code changes. Incremental builds avoid rebuilding unchanged code: ```groovy sh 'mvn -pl $(git diff --name-only HEAD~1 | grep pom.xml | xargs dirname) clean install' ``` Shallow clone reduces checkout time: ```groovy checkout([ $class: 'GitSCM', branches: [[name: "${env.BRANCH_NAME}"]], extensions: [[$class: 'CloneOption', depth: 1, noTags: true, shallow: true]], userRemoteConfigs: [[url: 'https://github.com/org/repo.git']] ]) ``` Workspace cleanup: ```groovy post { always { cleanWs() // Clean workspace after build } } ``` Prevents disk space issues but increases checkout time on next build. Balance based on workspace size and disk constraints. Reduce log verbosity: ```groovy sh 'mvn -q package' // Quiet mode ``` Large logs slow UI and consume storage. Timeout preventing hanging: ```groovy options { timeout(time: 1, unit: 'HOURS') } ``` Resource-intensive tasks on powerful agents: ```groovy stage('Performance Tests') { agent { label 'high-cpu' } steps { sh './run-perf-tests.sh' } } ``` Monitor and profile pipelines: - Analyze stage durations identifying bottlenecks - Review executor usage - Check agent queue times - Monitor disk I/O and network Best practices: cache dependencies aggressively, parallelize independent tasks, use appropriate agents (Docker for isolation, powerful agents for heavy tasks), skip unnecessary stages with when, implement shallow clones, clean workspaces periodically, set timeouts, reduce log verbosity, use incremental builds when possible, profile regularly identifying optimization opportunities. Understanding optimization techniques significantly reduces build times improving developer productivity.

34. Explain GitLab CI/CD architecture and .gitlab-ci.yml syntax in detail. Include stages, jobs, artifacts, cache, dependencies, and advanced features.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: GitLab CI/CD

GitLab CI/CD YAML structure starts with defining stages (pipeline phases). Stages run sequentially, jobs within stages run in parallel. Default stages are build, test, deploy but custom stages can be defined: ```yaml stages: - build - test - security - deploy - cleanup ``` Jobs are tasks within stages. Job definition includes stage assignment, script (commands to run), and optional directives: ```yaml build_app: stage: build image: node:18 script: - npm install - npm run build artifacts: paths: - dist/ expire_in: 1 week cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - node_modules/ only: - main - merge_requests ``` Artifacts are files generated by jobs passed to subsequent jobs or downloadable after pipeline completes. artifacts keyword specifies paths to preserve. Artifacts persist between stages allowing test stage to use build stage outputs. Example: build job creates dist/ directory, test job uses it: ```yaml test_app: stage: test dependencies: - build_app script: - npm test ``` Cache speeds up jobs by storing dependencies between pipeline runs. Unlike artifacts (passed between jobs in same pipeline), cache persists across pipelines. Cache key determines cache uniqueness, typically using branch name or lock file hash: ```yaml cache: key: files: - package-lock.json paths: - node_modules/ ``` Dependencies specify which jobs' artifacts this job needs. Without dependencies, job receives all previous stage artifacts. With dependencies: [job1, job2], only specified artifacts are available. Variables define environment variables: ```yaml variables: DATABASE_URL: "postgres://localhost/db" DEPLOY_ENV: "staging" job: script: - echo $DATABASE_URL ``` GitLab provides predefined variables (CI_COMMIT_SHA, CI_PIPELINE_ID, CI_COMMIT_BRANCH). Rules provide advanced conditional execution: ```yaml job: script: echo "Deploy" rules: - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"' when: never - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"' when: on_success - when: manual ``` Before_script and after_script run before/after main script: ```yaml job: before_script: - echo "Setup" script: - echo "Main task" after_script: - echo "Cleanup" ``` Services provide additional containers for job (databases, caches): ```yaml test: image: node:18 services: - postgres:13 variables: POSTGRES_DB: testdb script: - npm test ``` Includes enable reusing configuration: ```yaml include: - local: '.gitlab-ci-templates.yml' - project: 'group/project' file: '/templates/ci.yml' - remote: 'https://example.com/ci-template.yml' ``` Extends inherits configuration from templates: ```yaml .deploy_template: script: - ./deploy.sh only: - main deploy_staging: extends: .deploy_template variables: ENVIRONMENT: staging deploy_prod: extends: .deploy_template variables: ENVIRONMENT: production ``` Triggers for multi-project pipelines: ```yaml trigger_downstream: stage: deploy trigger: project: group/downstream-project branch: main ``` Understanding GitLab CI/CD YAML syntax enables building sophisticated pipelines with proper dependency management, caching strategies, and modular configuration.

35. Explain GitHub Actions workflow syntax comprehensively. Include events, jobs, steps, actions, contexts, and advanced patterns.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions workflow starts with name and trigger events: ```yaml name: CI/CD Pipeline on: push: branches: [ main, develop ] paths: - 'src/**' pull_request: branches: [ main ] schedule: - cron: '0 2 * * *' # Daily at 2 AM workflow_dispatch: # Manual trigger inputs: environment: description: 'Deployment environment' required: true default: 'staging' ``` Jobs define workflow tasks running in parallel by default. Jobs can have dependencies using needs: ```yaml jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - run: npm install - run: npm run build - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3 with: name: dist path: dist/ test: needs: build runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - uses: actions/download-artifact@v3 with: name: dist - run: npm test deploy: needs: [build, test] runs-on: ubuntu-latest if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' steps: - run: ./deploy.sh ``` Steps are individual tasks in job. Steps can run commands (run) or use actions (uses): ```yaml steps: - name: Checkout code uses: actions/checkout@v3 - name: Setup Node.js uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: '18' cache: 'npm' - name: Install dependencies run: npm ci - name: Run tests run: npm test env: NODE_ENV: test ``` Actions are reusable units from marketplace or custom. Actions have inputs (with) and outputs: ```yaml - uses: docker/build-push-action@v4 with: context: . push: true tags: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}/myapp:latest cache-from: type=gha cache-to: type=gha,mode=max ``` Contexts provide information about workflow run: ```yaml steps: - name: Print context info run: | echo "Event: ${{ github.event_name }}" echo "Branch: ${{ github.ref }}" echo "Commit: ${{ github.sha }}" echo "Actor: ${{ github.actor }}" echo "Runner OS: ${{ runner.os }}" echo "Job status: ${{ job.status }}" ``` Secrets access sensitive data: ```yaml - name: Deploy run: ./deploy.sh env: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }} AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }} ``` Matrix strategy for multiple configurations: ```yaml strategy: matrix: os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest] node: [14, 16, 18] fail-fast: false runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }} steps: - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: ${{ matrix.node }} ``` Conditionals control step/job execution: ```yaml steps: - name: Deploy to staging if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop' run: ./deploy-staging.sh - name: Deploy to production if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && success() run: ./deploy-prod.sh ``` Environments for deployment protection: ```yaml jobs: deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest environment: name: production url: https://example.com steps: - run: ./deploy.sh ``` Environments can have required reviewers and wait timers. Reusable workflows enable workflow composition: ```yaml # .github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml on: workflow_call: inputs: environment: required: true type: string secrets: deploy-key: required: true jobs: deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - run: ./deploy.sh ${{ inputs.environment }} env: DEPLOY_KEY: ${{ secrets.deploy-key }} # .github/workflows/main.yml jobs: deploy-staging: uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml with: environment: staging secrets: deploy-key: ${{ secrets.STAGING_KEY }} ``` Understanding GitHub Actions syntax enables building sophisticated workflows with proper dependency management, reusability, and integration with GitHub ecosystem.

36. Explain GitLab Runner architecture, executor types, registration, and configuration. Include Docker, Kubernetes, and autoscaling setups.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Runners & Agents

GitLab Runner is an application executing jobs from GitLab CI/CD. Runner architecture consists of runner manager (coordinates job execution), executor (environment where job runs), and job executor (specific implementation for platform). Runner polls GitLab instance for jobs matching its tags, downloads job artifacts, executes job script, uploads results and artifacts. Executor types determine how jobs run. Shell executor runs commands directly on runner machine, sharing environment with runner process. Simple but no isolation: ```toml [[runners]] name = "shell-runner" executor = "shell" ``` Use for simple cases or when runner has required tools installed. Docker executor runs each job in fresh Docker container providing isolation, clean environment per job, and easy tool management via Docker images: ```toml [[runners]] name = "docker-runner" executor = "docker" [runners.docker] image = "alpine:latest" privileged = false volumes = ["/cache", "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"] ``` Jobs specify image: ```yaml job: image: node:18 script: - npm test ``` Docker executor with DinD (Docker-in-Docker) enables building Docker images: ```yaml build_image: image: docker:20.10 services: - docker:20.10-dind variables: DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs" script: - docker build -t myapp . ``` Kubernetes executor runs jobs as Kubernetes pods, ideal for cloud-native environments: ```toml [[runners]] name = "k8s-runner" executor = "kubernetes" [runners.kubernetes] namespace = "gitlab-runner" image = "alpine:latest" privileged = false cpu_request = "100m" memory_request = "128Mi" service_cpu_request = "100m" service_memory_request = "128Mi" ``` Runner registration connects runner to GitLab: ```bash gitlab-runner register \ --non-interactive \ --url "https://gitlab.com/" \ --registration-token "PROJECT_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" \ --executor "docker" \ --docker-image "alpine:latest" \ --description "docker-runner" \ --tag-list "docker,linux" \ --locked="false" ``` Registration types: shared runners (available to all projects in GitLab instance), group runners (available to all projects in group), specific runners (tied to specific projects). Runners match jobs based on tags. Autoscaling with Docker Machine enables dynamic runner provisioning based on load: ```toml [[runners]] executor = "docker+machine" [runners.machine] IdleCount = 2 IdleTime = 600 MaxBuilds = 100 MachineDriver = "amazonec2" MachineName = "gitlab-runner-%s" MachineOptions = [ "amazonec2-access-key=...", "amazonec2-secret-key=...", "amazonec2-region=us-east-1", "amazonec2-instance-type=t3.medium" ] ``` Creates machines on demand when jobs queued, destroys after idle period. Kubernetes autoscaling uses Kubernetes cluster autoscaler. Deploy runner as Kubernetes deployment, cluster automatically scales nodes based on pod resource requests. Runner configuration file (config.toml) contains all runner settings: ```toml concurrent = 4 # Max concurrent jobs check_interval = 0 [[runners]] name = "production-runner" url = "https://gitlab.com/" token = "TOKEN" executor = "docker" [runners.cache] Type = "s3" Shared = true [runners.cache.s3] ServerAddress = "s3.amazonaws.com" BucketName = "runner-cache" ``` Cache configuration enables sharing cache between jobs: ```yaml variables: CACHE_KEY: "${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG}" cache: key: ${CACHE_KEY} paths: - node_modules/ policy: pull-push ``` Security considerations: don't use privileged mode unless necessary, isolate runners (dedicated machines/namespaces), use private Docker registry for base images, implement network policies restricting runner access, regularly update runners, rotate tokens, limit runner scope (specific > group > shared). Understanding runner architecture and configuration enables building scalable, secure CI/CD infrastructure.

37. How do you create custom GitHub Actions? Explain action types (JavaScript, Docker, Composite), inputs, outputs, and publishing to marketplace.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions support three action types: JavaScript actions (run directly on runner), Docker container actions (run in container), and composite actions (combine multiple steps). JavaScript actions execute directly on runner (fast, no container overhead). Create action: 1. Create action repository with action.yml: ```yaml name: 'Hello World' description: 'Greet someone and record time' inputs: who-to-greet: description: 'Who to greet' required: true default: 'World' outputs: time: description: 'The time we greeted you' runs: using: 'node16' main: 'index.js' ``` 2. Create index.js: ```javascript const core = require('@actions/core'); const github = require('@actions/github'); try { const nameToGreet = core.getInput('who-to-greet'); console.log(`Hello ${nameToGreet}!`); const time = (new Date()).toTimeString(); core.setOutput('time', time); core.setSecret('mySecret'); // Mask in logs } catch (error) { core.setFailed(error.message); } ``` 3. Package dependencies: ```bash npm install @actions/core @actions/github npm install @vercel/ncc -g ncc build index.js -o dist ``` Usage: ```yaml steps: - uses: user/hello-world-action@v1 with: who-to-greet: 'GitHub' id: hello - run: echo "Time was ${{ steps.hello.outputs.time }}" ``` Docker container actions run in container with custom environment: 1. Create action.yml: ```yaml name: 'Container Action' description: 'Runs in Docker container' inputs: myInput: description: 'Input parameter' required: true runs: using: 'docker' image: 'Dockerfile' args: - ${{ inputs.myInput }} ``` 2. Create Dockerfile: ```dockerfile FROM alpine:3.15 COPY entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"] ``` 3. Create entrypoint.sh: ```bash #!/bin/sh -l echo "Input was $1" echo "::set-output name=result::Success" ``` Composite actions combine multiple steps (shell commands or other actions): ```yaml name: 'Composite Action' description: 'Runs multiple steps' inputs: node-version: description: 'Node.js version' required: true runs: using: 'composite' steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 shell: bash - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }} shell: bash - run: npm install shell: bash - run: npm test shell: bash ``` Composite actions simplify workflow by grouping common steps. Action inputs and outputs enable parameterization: ```yaml inputs: api-key: description: 'API key' required: true environment: description: 'Deployment environment' required: false default: 'staging' outputs: deployment-url: description: 'Deployed application URL' value: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.url }} ``` Publishing to GitHub Marketplace: 1. Create release with tag (v1, v1.0.0) 2. Add action.yml metadata: ```yaml name: 'My Action' author: 'Your Name' description: 'Detailed description' branding: icon: 'activity' color: 'blue' ``` 3. Publish to marketplace through GitHub UI 4. Users reference: uses: username/action-name@v1 Versioning best practices: use semantic versioning, maintain major version tags (v1, v2), update major tag on releases (git tag -fa v1 -m "Update v1"), users can pin to specific version (v1.0.0) or major version (v1). Testing actions: create .github/workflows/test.yml: ```yaml on: [push] jobs: test: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - uses: ./ # Test local action with: who-to-greet: 'Test' ``` Understanding custom actions enables creating reusable automation, sharing with community, and building organization-specific action libraries.

39. Explain test parallelization strategies to reduce CI/CD pipeline execution time. Include parallel execution approaches, test splitting, and handling shared resources.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Test Strategy & Quality

Test parallelization runs tests concurrently reducing total execution time. Strategies: process-level parallelization (multiple test processes), pipeline-level parallelization (parallel CI jobs), test sharding (split tests across machines). Jest parallel execution (default): ```javascript // jest.config.js module.exports = { maxWorkers: '50%', // Use 50% of CPU cores // or maxWorkers: 4 // Fixed number of workers }; // Run sequentially if needed test.serial('sequential test', () => { // Test that must run alone }); ``` pytest parallel with pytest-xdist: ```bash # Install pip install pytest-xdist # Run with 4 workers pytest -n 4 # Auto-detect CPUs pytest -n auto # Load balancing pytest -n auto --dist loadscope ``` Test sharding splits tests across CI jobs: ```yaml # GitLab CI test: stage: test parallel: 4 script: - npm test -- --shard=$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL ``` GitHub Actions matrix: ```yaml strategy: matrix: shard: [1, 2, 3, 4] steps: - run: npm test -- --shard=${{ matrix.shard }}/4 ``` Playwright sharding: ```javascript // playwright.config.js export default { workers: process.env.CI ? 4 : undefined, fullyParallel: true, }; // Run specific shard // npx playwright test --shard=1/4 ``` Intelligent test splitting based on duration: ```yaml # CircleCI with test splitting test: parallelism: 4 steps: - run: command: | circleci tests glob "tests/**/*.test.js" | \ circleci tests split --split-by=timings | \ xargs npm test ``` Database isolation for parallel tests: ```javascript // Create separate database per worker const workerId = process.env.JEST_WORKER_ID || '1'; const databaseName = `test_db_${workerId}`; beforeAll(async () => { await createDatabase(databaseName); await runMigrations(databaseName); }); afterAll(async () => { await dropDatabase(databaseName); }); ``` Testcontainers with port mapping: ```java @Container private static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:13") .withDatabaseName("testdb") // Random port avoids conflicts .withExposedPorts(5432); ``` Shared resource management with locks: ```javascript const lockfile = require('proper-lockfile'); test('test requiring exclusive resource', async () => { const release = await lockfile.lock('/tmp/test-resource.lock'); try { // Use shared resource exclusively await useSharedResource(); } finally { await release(); } }); ``` Test categorization for parallel execution: ```javascript // Fast tests (unit tests) describe('Unit Tests', () => { test('fast test 1', () => {}); test('fast test 2', () => {}); }); // Slow tests (integration tests) describe('Integration Tests', () => { test('slow test 1', async () => {}); test('slow test 2', async () => {}); }); ``` Pipeline with parallel stages: ```yaml stages: - test unit-tests: stage: test script: - npm run test:unit parallel: 2 integration-tests: stage: test script: - npm run test:integration parallel: 4 e2e-tests: stage: test script: - npm run test:e2e parallel: 8 ``` Dynamic test allocation: ```python # Split tests based on previous run times import json import sys with open('test-timings.json') as f: timings = json.load(f) tests = sorted(timings.items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True) shard = int(sys.argv[1]) # Current shard total_shards = int(sys.argv[2]) # Distribute tests evenly by duration shard_tests = tests[shard::total_shards] print(' '.join([t[0] for t in shard_tests])) ``` Handling test dependencies: ```javascript // Tests with dependencies run sequentially describe.serial('Order-dependent tests', () => { let userId; test('create user', async () => { userId = await createUser(); }); test('update user', async () => { await updateUser(userId); }); test('delete user', async () => { await deleteUser(userId); }); }); ``` Optimization strategies: 1. Profile test suite identifying slow tests 2. Run fast tests first (fail fast) 3. Balance shards by test duration 4. Use test-level parallelization for independent tests 5. Use job-level parallelization for test categories 6. Optimize slow tests before parallelizing 7. Monitor parallel execution efficiency Challenges and solutions: - Race conditions: isolate test data, use unique identifiers - Resource contention: use separate resources per worker - Flaky tests: fix root cause, don't just parallelize - Uneven shard duration: split by test duration not count - Setup overhead: cache dependencies, optimize startup Best practices: ensure test independence, isolate data, use random ports, implement proper cleanup, monitor execution times, balance shards intelligently, fail fast on critical tests. Understanding parallelization reduces feedback time from hours to minutes.

41. Design a comprehensive continuous testing strategy for CI/CD. Include test types, execution frequency, quality gates, and feedback mechanisms.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Test Strategy & Quality

Continuous testing integrates testing throughout development lifecycle with automated execution and rapid feedback. Strategy components: test pyramid implementation, quality gates, shift-left testing, test automation at all levels. Test strategy by pipeline stage: ```yaml stages: - validate - unit-test - build - integration-test - security-scan - deploy-staging - acceptance-test - deploy-production # Stage 1: Pre-commit validation lint: stage: validate script: - npm run lint - npm run format-check only: - merge_requests # Stage 2: Unit tests (every commit) unit-tests: stage: unit-test script: - npm test -- --coverage coverage: '/Statements\s*:\s*(\d+\.\d+)%/' artifacts: reports: coverage_report: coverage_format: cobertura path: coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml rules: - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"' - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"' # Stage 3: Build build: stage: build script: - docker build -t myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHA . dependencies: - unit-tests # Stage 4: Integration tests integration-tests: stage: integration-test services: - postgres:13 - redis:6 script: - npm run test:integration only: - main - merge_requests # Stage 5: Security scanning security-scan: stage: security-scan script: - npm audit --audit-level=high - trivy image myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHA - semgrep --config=auto src/ allow_failure: false # Stage 6: Deploy to staging deploy-staging: stage: deploy-staging script: - kubectl apply -f k8s/staging/ environment: name: staging only: - main # Stage 7: Acceptance/E2E tests acceptance-tests: stage: acceptance-test script: - npm run test:e2e:staging dependencies: - deploy-staging retry: max: 2 when: script_failure performance-tests: stage: acceptance-test script: - k6 run performance/load-test.js only: - main allow_failure: true # Stage 8: Production deployment deploy-production: stage: deploy-production script: - kubectl apply -f k8s/production/ environment: name: production when: manual only: - main # Smoke tests after production deploy smoke-tests: stage: deploy-production script: - npm run test:smoke:production dependencies: - deploy-production when: on_success ``` Quality gates enforce quality standards: ```javascript // quality-gates.js const qualityGates = { unitTests: { coverage: { statements: 80, branches: 75, functions: 80, lines: 80 }, passRate: 100 // All tests must pass }, staticAnalysis: { criticalIssues: 0, highIssues: 0, codeSmells: 50, duplication: 3 // percent }, security: { criticalVulnerabilities: 0, highVulnerabilities: 0, mediumVulnerabilities: 10 }, performance: { p95ResponseTime: 500, // ms errorRate: 1 // percent } }; function evaluateQualityGates(results) { const failures = []; // Check coverage if (results.coverage.statements < qualityGates.unitTests.coverage.statements) { failures.push(`Statement coverage ${results.coverage.statements}% below threshold`); } // Check vulnerabilities if (results.security.critical > qualityGates.security.criticalVulnerabilities) { failures.push(`${results.security.critical} critical vulnerabilities found`); } if (failures.length > 0) { console.error('Quality gate failed:'); failures.forEach(f => console.error(` - ${f}`)); process.exit(1); } console.log('All quality gates passed'); } ``` Test execution frequency: 1. On every commit: - Linting - Unit tests - Static analysis 2. On merge request: - All commit checks - Integration tests - Security scans - Code coverage 3. On main branch: - All MR checks - E2E tests (smoke suite) - Container scanning - Deploy to staging 4. Nightly: - Full E2E test suite - Performance tests - Cross-browser tests - Visual regression tests - Dependency updates check 5. Weekly: - Penetration testing - Chaos engineering tests - Disaster recovery drills Shift-left testing moves testing earlier: ```javascript // Pre-commit hooks with Husky // .husky/pre-commit #!/bin/sh . "$(dirname "$0")/_/husky.sh" npm run lint npm test -- --findRelatedTests --bail npm run type-check ``` Feedback mechanisms: 1. Pull request annotations: ```yaml test: script: - npm test -- --json --outputFile=test-results.json after_script: - node scripts/annotate-pr.js test-results.json ``` 2. Slack notifications: ```yaml notify: stage: .post script: - | curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK \ -d "{ 'text': 'Pipeline ${CI_PIPELINE_STATUS} for ${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}', 'attachments': [{ 'color': '${CI_PIPELINE_STATUS == "success" ? "good" : "danger"}', 'fields': [ {'title': 'Project', 'value': '${CI_PROJECT_NAME}'}, {'title': 'Branch', 'value': '${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}'}, {'title': 'Coverage', 'value': '${COVERAGE}%'} ] }] }" when: always ``` 3. Dashboard metrics: ```javascript // Collect test metrics const metrics = { timestamp: new Date(), pipeline: process.env.CI_PIPELINE_ID, branch: process.env.CI_COMMIT_BRANCH, unitTests: { total: testResults.numTotalTests, passed: testResults.numPassedTests, failed: testResults.numFailedTests, duration: testResults.testResults.reduce((sum, r) => sum + r.perfStats.end - r.perfStats.start, 0) }, coverage: { statements: coverage.total.statements.pct, branches: coverage.total.branches.pct } }; // Send to monitoring system await sendMetrics(metrics); ``` 4. Test trend analysis: ```python # Analyze test trends import pandas as pd import matplotlib.pyplot as plt df = pd.read_csv('test-history.csv') df['date'] = pd.to_datetime(df['date']) # Plot coverage trend plt.plot(df['date'], df['coverage']) plt.axhline(y=80, color='r', linestyle='--', label='Threshold') plt.xlabel('Date') plt.ylabel('Coverage %') plt.title('Test Coverage Trend') plt.savefig('coverage-trend.png') ``` Best practices: 1. Fail fast (run fastest tests first) 2. Test in production-like environment 3. Automate everything 4. Make tests deterministic 5. Maintain test hygiene (remove obsolete tests) 6. Monitor test health metrics 7. Provide clear failure messages 8. Enable easy local reproduction 9. Balance speed and coverage 10. Continuous improvement (review metrics, optimize) Understanding continuous testing strategy ensures quality built into entire development process with rapid, automated feedback.

42. Compare different test automation frameworks for unit, integration, and E2E testing. Include JUnit/TestNG, Jest/Mocha, pytest, Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright with examples.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Testing Fundamentals

Unit testing frameworks vary by language but share common patterns. JUnit 5 (Java) provides annotations, assertions, and lifecycle management: ```java import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test; import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*; class CalculatorTest { @Test void testAddition() { Calculator calc = new Calculator(); assertEquals(5, calc.add(2, 3)); } @Test void testDivisionByZero() { assertThrows(ArithmeticException.class, () -> new Calculator().divide(10, 0)); } } ``` Jest (JavaScript) offers zero-config setup, mocking, and snapshot testing: ```javascript test('adds 1 + 2 to equal 3', () => { expect(sum(1, 2)).toBe(3); }); test('user creation', async () => { const user = await createUser({ name: 'John' }); expect(user).toHaveProperty('id'); expect(user.name).toBe('John'); }); describe('Calculator', () => { beforeEach(() => { // Setup }); test('multiplication', () => { expect(multiply(2, 3)).toBe(6); }); }); ``` pytest (Python) uses simple assertions and fixtures: ```python import pytest def test_addition(): assert add(2, 3) == 5 def test_division_by_zero(): with pytest.raises(ZeroDivisionError): divide(10, 0) @pytest.mark.parametrize("input,expected", [ (2, 4), (3, 9), (4, 16) ]) def test_square(input, expected): assert square(input) == expected @pytest.fixture def database(): db = Database() yield db db.cleanup() ``` Integration testing uses Testcontainers for real dependencies: ```java @Container private static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:13"); @Test void testUserRepository() { UserRepository repo = new UserRepository(postgres.getJdbcUrl()); User user = repo.save(new User("John")); assertNotNull(user.getId()); } ``` E2E framework comparison: Selenium (mature, cross-browser): ```python from selenium import webdriver from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By from selenium.webdriver.support.ui import WebDriverWait from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions as EC driver = webdriver.Chrome() driver.get("https://example.com/login") WebDriverWait(driver, 10).until( EC.presence_of_element_located((By.ID, "username")) ) driver.find_element(By.ID, "username").send_keys("testuser") driver.find_element(By.ID, "password").send_keys("password123") driver.find_element(By.ID, "submit").click() assert "Dashboard" in driver.title driver.quit() ``` Pros: mature, multi-language, supports all browsers. Cons: verbose, requires WebDriver setup, slower, complex wait management. Cypress (modern, developer-friendly): ```javascript describe('User Login', () => { beforeEach(() => { cy.visit('/login'); }); it('should login successfully', () => { cy.get('[data-test="username"]').type('testuser'); cy.get('[data-test="password"]').type('password123'); cy.get('[data-test="submit"]').click(); cy.url().should('include', '/dashboard'); cy.get('h1').should('contain', 'Welcome'); }); it('should show error on invalid credentials', () => { cy.get('[data-test="username"]').type('invalid'); cy.get('[data-test="password"]').type('wrong'); cy.get('[data-test="submit"]').click(); cy.get('[data-test="error"]').should('be.visible'); }); }); ``` Pros: automatic waiting, time-travel debugging, network stubbing, great DX. Cons: limited cross-browser support initially (improving), runs in browser context. Playwright (newest, powerful): ```javascript const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test'); test.describe('User Authentication', () => { test('successful login', async ({ page }) => { await page.goto('https://example.com/login'); await page.fill('[data-test="username"]', 'testuser'); await page.fill('[data-test="password"]', 'password123'); await page.click('[data-test="submit"]'); await expect(page).toHaveURL(/.*dashboard/); await expect(page.locator('h1')).toContainText('Welcome'); }); test('failed login', async ({ page }) => { await page.goto('https://example.com/login'); await page.fill('[data-test="username"]', 'invalid'); await page.fill('[data-test="password"]', 'wrong'); await page.click('[data-test="submit"]'); await expect(page.locator('[data-test="error"]')).toBeVisible(); }); test('mobile login', async ({ page }) => { await page.setViewportSize({ width: 375, height: 667 }); await page.goto('https://example.com/login'); // Test mobile-specific behavior }); }); ``` Pros: cross-browser (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit), auto-waiting, network interception, mobile emulation, parallel execution, trace viewer. Cons: newer ecosystem. Framework selection criteria: language alignment (Jest for Node.js, JUnit for Java), test type requirements, speed needs, cross-browser support, team expertise, ecosystem maturity. Understanding frameworks enables choosing appropriate tools for testing strategy.

43. Explain TDD and BDD practices in CI/CD. Include Red-Green-Refactor cycle, Gherkin syntax, automation strategies, and integration with pipelines.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Testing Fundamentals

Test-Driven Development (TDD) follows Red-Green-Refactor cycle. Red: write failing test defining expected behavior before implementation. Green: write minimal code passing the test. Refactor: improve code quality while keeping tests passing. TDD example: ```javascript // Red: Write failing test test('calculate total with discount', () => { const cart = new ShoppingCart(); cart.addItem({ price: 100, quantity: 2 }); expect(cart.getTotal(0.1)).toBe(180); // 10% discount }); // Green: Minimal implementation class ShoppingCart { constructor() { this.items = []; } addItem(item) { this.items.push(item); } getTotal(discount = 0) { const subtotal = this.items.reduce( (sum, item) => sum + (item.price * item.quantity), 0 ); return subtotal * (1 - discount); } } // Refactor: Add validation, error handling class ShoppingCart { constructor() { this.items = []; } addItem(item) { if (!item.price || item.price < 0) { throw new Error('Invalid price'); } if (!item.quantity || item.quantity < 1) { throw new Error('Invalid quantity'); } this.items.push(item); } getTotal(discount = 0) { if (discount < 0 || discount > 1) { throw new Error('Discount must be between 0 and 1'); } const subtotal = this.items.reduce( (sum, item) => sum + (item.price * item.quantity), 0 ); return subtotal * (1 - discount); } } // Add more tests for edge cases test('throws error on invalid discount', () => { const cart = new ShoppingCart(); cart.addItem({ price: 100, quantity: 1 }); expect(() => cart.getTotal(1.5)).toThrow('Discount must be between 0 and 1'); }); ``` TDD benefits: better design (tests drive API design), high coverage (tests written first), fewer bugs, confidence in refactoring, living documentation. Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) extends TDD using business-readable language (Gherkin): ```gherkin Feature: Shopping Cart As a customer I want to manage items in my cart So that I can purchase products Background: Given I am logged in as "customer@example.com" Scenario: Add item to cart Given I am on the product page for "iPhone 15" When I click "Add to Cart" Then I should see "1 item in cart" And the cart total should be "$999" Scenario: Apply discount code Given I have 1 "iPhone 15" in my cart When I apply discount code "SAVE10" Then the cart total should be "$899.10" And I should see "Discount applied: 10%" Scenario Outline: Bulk purchase discount Given I have <quantity> "iPhone 15" in my cart When I proceed to checkout Then I should receive <discount>% discount And the total should be <total> Examples: | quantity | discount | total | | 1 | 0 | $999.00 | | 5 | 5 | $4745.25 | | 10 | 10 | $8991.00 | ``` Step definitions implement scenarios: ```javascript const { Given, When, Then } = require('@cucumber/cucumber'); const { expect } = require('chai'); Given('I am logged in as {string}', async function (email) { this.user = await loginUser(email); }); Given('I am on the product page for {string}', async function (product) { await this.page.goto(`/products/${product}`); }); When('I click {string}', async function (buttonText) { await this.page.click(`button:has-text("${buttonText}")`); }); Then('I should see {string}', async function (text) { await expect(this.page.locator('body')).toContainText(text); }); Then('the cart total should be {string}', async function (amount) { const total = await this.page.locator('[data-test="cart-total"]').textContent(); expect(total).to.equal(amount); }); When('I apply discount code {string}', async function (code) { await this.page.fill('[data-test="discount-code"]', code); await this.page.click('[data-test="apply-discount"]'); }); ``` CI/CD integration: ```yaml # GitLab CI stages: - unit-test - integration-test - bdd-test unit-tests: stage: unit-test script: - npm test coverage: '/Statements\s*:\s*(\d+\.\d+)%/' rules: - if: '$CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"' - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"' integration-tests: stage: integration-test services: - postgres:13 script: - npm run test:integration only: - main bdd-tests: stage: bdd-test script: - npm run cucumber artifacts: when: always reports: junit: reports/cucumber-report.xml paths: - reports/ only: - main - /^release/.*$/ ``` GitHub Actions: ```yaml name: TDD/BDD Pipeline on: [push, pull_request] jobs: unit-tests: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - uses: actions/setup-node@v3 with: node-version: '18' cache: 'npm' - run: npm ci - run: npm test - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3 bdd-tests: runs-on: ubuntu-latest if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v3 - run: npm ci - run: npm run cucumber - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3 if: always() with: name: cucumber-report path: reports/ ``` Best practices: write tests first (TDD discipline), keep tests fast, make tests deterministic, use descriptive names, test behaviors not implementation, refactor tests regularly, run TDD unit tests on every commit, run BDD acceptance tests on main branch or before release, enforce coverage thresholds, review tests in pull requests. Understanding TDD/BDD integrates quality into development process from start.

44. Explain performance and load testing in CI/CD including tools like JMeter, K6, Gatling, and strategies for baseline performance, regression detection, and scalability testing.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Performance Testing

Performance testing validates application speed, scalability, and stability under load. Types: load testing (normal expected load), stress testing (beyond normal capacity), spike testing (sudden traffic increase), endurance testing (sustained load over time). Apache JMeter (GUI and CLI): ```xml  <jmeterTestPlan version="1.2"> <hashTree> <TestPlan guiclass="TestPlanGui" testclass="TestPlan"> <elementProp name="TestPlan.user_defined_variables"> <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"> <elementProp name="USERS" elementType="Argument"> <stringProp name="Argument.value">100</stringProp> </elementProp> </collectionProp> </elementProp> </TestPlan> <ThreadGroup guiclass="ThreadGroupGui" testclass="ThreadGroup"> <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.num_threads">${USERS}</stringProp> <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.ramp_time">10</stringProp> <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.duration">60</stringProp> </ThreadGroup> </hashTree> </jmeterTestPlan> ``` Run in CI/CD: ```yaml performance_test: stage: test script: - jmeter -n -t test-plan.jmx -l results.jtl -j jmeter.log - jmeter-plugins-cmd --generate-png report.png --input-jtl results.jtl artifacts: paths: - results.jtl - report.png only: - main ``` K6 (modern, JavaScript-based): ```javascript import http from 'k6/http'; import { check, sleep } from 'k6'; import { Rate } from 'k6/metrics'; const errorRate = new Rate('errors'); export const options = { stages: [ { duration: '1m', target: 50 }, // Ramp up { duration: '3m', target: 100 }, // Stay at 100 { duration: '1m', target: 0 }, // Ramp down ], thresholds: { http_req_duration: ['p(95)<500'], // 95% requests < 500ms http_req_failed: ['rate<0.01'], // <1% error rate errors: ['rate<0.1'], }, }; export default function () { const res = http.get('https://api.example.com/products'); const success = check(res, { 'status is 200': (r) => r.status === 200, 'response time < 500ms': (r) => r.timings.duration < 500, }); errorRate.add(!success); sleep(1); } ``` CI/CD integration: ```yaml k6_test: stage: performance image: grafana/k6:latest script: - k6 run --out json=results.json test.js - k6 run --out influxdb=http://influxdb:8086 test.js artifacts: paths: - results.json only: - main ``` Gatling (Scala-based, for JVM apps): ```scala import io.gatling.core.Predef._ import io.gatling.http.Predef._ import scala.concurrent.duration._ class BasicSimulation extends Simulation { val httpProtocol = http .baseUrl("https://api.example.com") .acceptHeader("application/json") val scn = scenario("API Load Test") .exec( http("Get Products") .get("/products") .check(status.is(200)) .check(responseTimeInMillis.lte(500)) ) .pause(1) setUp( scn.inject( rampUsers(100) during (60 seconds) ) ).protocols(httpProtocol) .assertions( global.responseTime.max.lt(1000), global.successfulRequests.percent.gt(95) ) } ``` Baseline performance establishes reference metrics: ```yaml baseline_test: stage: performance script: - k6 run --vus 10 --duration 5m baseline.js - python compare_with_baseline.py results.json baseline.json only: - main ``` Performance regression detection: ```python # compare_with_baseline.py import json import sys with open('results.json') as f: current = json.load(f) with open('baseline.json') as f: baseline = json.load(f) current_p95 = current['metrics']['http_req_duration']['p(95)'] baseline_p95 = baseline['metrics']['http_req_duration']['p(95)'] regression_threshold = 0.1 # 10% slower if current_p95 > baseline_p95 * (1 + regression_threshold): print(f"Performance regression detected: {current_p95}ms vs {baseline_p95}ms") sys.exit(1) else: print(f"Performance acceptable: {current_p95}ms vs {baseline_p95}ms") ``` Scalability testing: ```javascript // K6 scalability test export const options = { scenarios: { low_load: { executor: 'constant-vus', vus: 10, duration: '5m', startTime: '0s', }, medium_load: { executor: 'ramping-vus', startVUs: 10, stages: [ { duration: '2m', target: 50 }, { duration: '5m', target: 50 }, ], startTime: '5m', }, high_load: { executor: 'ramping-vus', startVUs: 50, stages: [ { duration: '2m', target: 100 }, { duration: '5m', target: 100 }, { duration: '2m', target: 0 }, ], startTime: '12m', }, }, }; ``` Monitoring during tests: ```yaml performance_test: stage: performance services: - name: grafana/grafana:latest - name: influxdb:latest script: - k6 run --out influxdb=http://influxdb:8086 test.js - curl -X POST http://grafana:3000/api/annotations \ -d '{"text":"Performance test completed"}' ``` Best practices: establish baseline early, run performance tests regularly (nightly or weekly), test realistic scenarios, monitor system resources (CPU, memory, database), test against production-like environment, use proper test data, include think time (user pauses), gradually increase load, fail builds on significant regressions, track metrics over time. Understanding performance testing prevents scalability issues in production.

45. Explain test data management strategies including data generation, test fixtures, database seeding, and data privacy considerations in CI/CD.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Test Strategy & Quality

Test data management ensures tests have consistent, realistic data without exposing sensitive information. Strategies: synthetic data generation, database seeding, test fixtures, data masking. Synthetic data generation creates realistic test data: ```javascript // Faker.js for realistic data const { faker } = require('@faker-js/faker'); function generateTestUser() { return { id: faker.string.uuid(), email: faker.internet.email(), firstName: faker.person.firstName(), lastName: faker.person.lastName(), phone: faker.phone.number(), address: { street: faker.location.streetAddress(), city: faker.location.city(), zipCode: faker.location.zipCode(), }, createdAt: faker.date.past(), }; } const testUsers = Array.from({ length: 100 }, generateTestUser); ``` Test fixtures provide consistent test data: ```python # pytest fixtures import pytest @pytest.fixture def test_user(): return { 'id': 1, 'email': 'test@example.com', 'name': 'Test User' } @pytest.fixture def database(tmp_path): db_path = tmp_path / "test.db" db = Database(db_path) db.create_tables() yield db db.close() def test_create_user(database, test_user): user_id = database.create_user(test_user) assert user_id == test_user['id'] ``` Database seeding for integration tests: ```javascript // seeds/test-data.js exports.seed = async function(knex) { await knex('users').del(); await knex('products').del(); await knex('users').insert([ { id: 1, email: 'user1@example.com', role: 'customer' }, { id: 2, email: 'admin@example.com', role: 'admin' }, ]); await knex('products').insert([ { id: 1, name: 'Product 1', price: 99.99, stock: 100 }, { id: 2, name: 'Product 2', price: 149.99, stock: 50 }, ]); }; // Run in tests beforeEach(async () => { await knex.migrate.latest(); await knex.seed.run(); }); afterEach(async () => { await knex.migrate.rollback(); }); ``` Testcontainers with seeded database: ```java @Container private static PostgreSQLContainer<?> postgres = new PostgreSQLContainer<>("postgres:13") .withDatabaseName("testdb") .withInitScript("test-data.sql"); @BeforeEach void setUp() { DataSource dataSource = createDataSource(postgres.getJdbcUrl()); userRepository = new UserRepository(dataSource); } ``` test-data.sql: ```sql INSERT INTO users (id, email, name) VALUES (1, 'test1@example.com', 'Test User 1'), (2, 'test2@example.com', 'Test User 2'); INSERT INTO orders (id, user_id, total, status) VALUES (1, 1, 99.99, 'completed'), (2, 1, 149.99, 'pending'); ``` Data masking for production data: ```python # Mask sensitive data from production backup import hashlib def mask_email(email): username, domain = email.split('@') return f"{username[:2]}***@{domain}" def mask_phone(phone): return f"***-***-{phone[-4:]}" def anonymize_user(user): return { **user, 'email': mask_email(user['email']), 'phone': mask_phone(user['phone']), 'ssn': hashlib.sha256(user['ssn'].encode()).hexdigest()[:10], 'credit_card': None, } # Apply to production data export with open('production_users.json') as f: users = json.load(f) masked_users = [anonymize_user(u) for u in users] with open('test_users.json', 'w') as f: json.dump(masked_users, f) ``` CI/CD data management: ```yaml # GitLab CI test: stage: test services: - postgres:13 variables: DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://test:test@postgres:5432/testdb" before_script: - npm run db:migrate - npm run db:seed script: - npm test after_script: - npm run db:reset ``` Factory pattern for test objects: ```javascript // factories/user.factory.js class UserFactory { static build(overrides = {}) { return { id: faker.string.uuid(), email: faker.internet.email(), name: faker.person.fullName(), role: 'customer', createdAt: new Date(), ...overrides }; } static buildAdmin() { return this.build({ role: 'admin' }); } static async create(overrides = {}) { const user = this.build(overrides); return await database.users.create(user); } } // Usage in tests test('admin can delete users', async () => { const admin = await UserFactory.create({ role: 'admin' }); const user = await UserFactory.create(); const result = await deleteUser(admin, user.id); expect(result).toBe(true); }); ``` Data privacy considerations: 1. Never use real production data directly 2. Mask PII (personally identifiable information) 3. Use synthetic data for tests 4. Secure test data storage 5. Rotate test credentials regularly 6. Document data classification 7. Comply with GDPR, CCPA requirements Best practices: use factories for object creation, seed minimal required data, clean up after tests, isolate test data per test, version control seed files, automate data generation, use realistic but fake data, implement data refresh strategies. Understanding test data management ensures reliable, privacy-compliant tests.

46. Design comprehensive environment management strategy including environment types, configuration management, secrets handling, and environment parity.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Environment Management

Environment strategy defines progression from development to production ensuring quality while managing complexity. Standard environments: local (developer machine), development (shared dev environment), staging (pre-production), production (live users). Optional: QA (dedicated testing), UAT (user acceptance), integration (service integration testing), performance (load testing), canary (progressive rollout). Environment characteristics: Local development: ```yaml # docker-compose.yml for local version: '3.8' services: app: build: . environment: - NODE_ENV=development - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/dev - REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379 - LOG_LEVEL=debug volumes: - ./src:/app/src # Hot reload ports: - "3000:3000" postgres: image: postgres:13 environment: - POSTGRES_DB=dev - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=dev volumes: - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data redis: image: redis:6 ``` Development environment: ```yaml # k8s/dev/deployment.yaml apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: myapp namespace: development spec: replicas: 1 template: spec: containers: - name: myapp image: myapp:latest env: - name: ENVIRONMENT value: "development" - name: DATABASE_URL valueFrom: secretKeyRef: name: db-credentials key: url resources: requests: memory: "256Mi" cpu: "250m" limits: memory: "512Mi" cpu: "500m" ``` Staging environment (production-like): ```yaml # k8s/staging/deployment.yaml apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: myapp namespace: staging spec: replicas: 2 # Similar to production template: spec: containers: - name: myapp image: myapp:v1.2.3 # Tagged version env: - name: ENVIRONMENT value: "staging" resources: requests: memory: "512Mi" cpu: "500m" limits: memory: "1Gi" cpu: "1000m" affinity: # Similar to production podAntiAffinity: preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution: - weight: 100 podAffinityTerm: labelSelector: matchLabels: app: myapp topologyKey: kubernetes.io/hostname ``` Production environment: ```yaml # k8s/production/deployment.yaml apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: myapp namespace: production spec: replicas: 5 strategy: type: RollingUpdate rollingUpdate: maxSurge: 1 maxUnavailable: 0 template: spec: containers: - name: myapp image: myapp:v1.2.3 env: - name: ENVIRONMENT value: "production" livenessProbe: httpGet: path: /health port: 8080 initialDelaySeconds: 30 periodSeconds: 10 readinessProbe: httpGet: path: /ready port: 8080 initialDelaySeconds: 5 periodSeconds: 5 resources: requests: memory: "512Mi" cpu: "500m" limits: memory: "1Gi" cpu: "1000m" ``` Configuration management per environment: ```javascript // config/index.js const configs = { development: { api: { baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000', timeout: 30000 }, features: { newCheckout: true, analytics: false }, database: { pool: { min: 2, max: 10 } } }, staging: { api: { baseUrl: 'https://api-staging.example.com', timeout: 10000 }, features: { newCheckout: true, analytics: true }, database: { pool: { min: 5, max: 20 } } }, production: { api: { baseUrl: 'https://api.example.com', timeout: 5000 }, features: { newCheckout: false, analytics: true }, database: { pool: { min: 10, max: 50 } } } }; module.exports = configs[process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development']; ``` Secrets management: ```yaml # Using Sealed Secrets (encrypted in Git) apiVersion: bitnami.com/v1alpha1 kind: SealedSecret metadata: name: db-credentials namespace: production spec: encryptedData: url: AgBH7Vw8K... # Encrypted value --- # Using External Secrets Operator (from Vault) apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1 kind: ExternalSecret metadata: name: db-credentials spec: refreshInterval: 1h secretStoreRef: name: vault-backend kind: SecretStore target: name: db-credentials data: - secretKey: url remoteRef: key: database/production property: connection_url ``` Environment parity checklist: 1. Same infrastructure components (load balancer, database, cache) 2. Similar resource allocation (staging = 50% of production) 3. Same configuration structure (different values) 4. Same monitoring and logging 5. Same deployment process 6. Realistic data volumes in staging Terraform workspaces for environment management: ```hcl # main.tf terraform { backend "s3" { bucket = "terraform-state" key = "myapp/terraform.tfstate" region = "us-east-1" } } variable "environment" { type = string } locals { config = { dev = { instance_count = 1 instance_type = "t3.small" db_instance = "db.t3.micro" } staging = { instance_count = 2 instance_type = "t3.medium" db_instance = "db.t3.small" } production = { instance_count = 5 instance_type = "t3.large" db_instance = "db.r5.large" } } env_config = local.config[var.environment] } resource "aws_instance" "app" { count = local.env_config.instance_count instance_type = local.env_config.instance_type tags = { Environment = var.environment } } ``` CI/CD pipeline with environment progression: ```yaml stages: - build - deploy-dev - test-dev - deploy-staging - test-staging - deploy-production deploy-dev: stage: deploy-dev script: - ./deploy.sh dev $CI_COMMIT_SHA environment: name: development url: https://dev.example.com only: - branches test-dev: stage: test-dev script: - npm run test:integration -- --env=dev deploy-staging: stage: deploy-staging script: - ./deploy.sh staging $CI_COMMIT_SHA environment: name: staging url: https://staging.example.com only: - main test-staging: stage: test-staging script: - npm run test:e2e -- --env=staging - npm run test:performance -- --env=staging deploy-production: stage: deploy-production script: - ./deploy.sh production $CI_COMMIT_TAG environment: name: production url: https://example.com when: manual only: - tags ``` Best practices: maintain environment parity (staging mirrors production), automate environment provisioning (Infrastructure as Code), isolate environments (separate networks/accounts), use consistent naming, implement proper access control, document environment differences, use environment-specific configurations, test production deployment in staging first, maintain separate credentials per environment, implement cost controls (auto-shutdown dev environments), regular environment refresh (reset staging data). Understanding environment management ensures quality progression to production.

52. Explain Jenkins master-agent architecture in detail. Discuss components, communication, scaling strategies, and best practices for production deployments.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Core

Jenkins master is the central server managing the entire Jenkins environment. Master responsibilities include hosting the Jenkins UI (web interface), storing configuration (jobs, pipelines, system settings), scheduling builds and distributing to agents, monitoring agent health, collecting and displaying build results, managing plugins, and handling authentication/authorization. Master runs on JVM and stores data in JENKINS_HOME directory containing jobs, build history, plugins, and configuration. Agents (nodes) are worker machines executing builds. Agent types include permanent agents (always connected machines), cloud agents (dynamically provisioned on demand in AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes), and Docker agents (ephemeral containers for isolated builds). Agents require Java runtime, can run on various OS (Linux, Windows, macOS), and connect to master via SSH, JNLP, or as controller-initiated connections. Communication between master and agents uses TCP/IP with authentication and optional encryption. Master sends build jobs to agents with workspace and environment details. Agents execute builds, stream console output back to master, and report results. Agents can have labels (tags like 'linux', 'docker', 'python3') allowing pipelines to target specific agent types: agent { label 'docker' } runs on agents with 'docker' label. Scaling strategies include horizontal scaling by adding more agents for parallel builds, vertical scaling by increasing agent resources (CPU, RAM), using cloud-based dynamic agents that scale automatically based on build queue depth, Kubernetes plugin for auto-scaling agent pods, and Docker plugin for on-demand container agents. Master should not execute builds in production to remain responsive and avoid resource contention. Best practices: separate master and agents (never run builds on master in production), use labels for agent targeting, implement master high availability with active-passive setup or clustering plugins, backup JENKINS_HOME regularly, use Configuration as Code plugin for master configuration, monitor agent connectivity and health, set executor count on master to 0, use cloud agents for scaling, implement resource limits on agents, and secure communication with SSL/TLS. Understanding architecture enables building robust, scalable Jenkins deployments.

53. Explain advanced parallel execution patterns in Jenkins Pipeline. Include nested parallel stages, failFast, matrix builds, and resource management considerations.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Parallelism & Matrix Builds

Basic parallel execution runs independent stages concurrently reducing total pipeline time. Example: ```groovy stage('Tests') { parallel { stage('Unit Tests') { steps { sh 'npm test' } } stage('Integration Tests') { steps { sh 'npm run test:integration' } } stage('Lint') { steps { sh 'npm run lint' } } } } ``` FailFast option aborts all parallel stages if any fails, useful when one failure makes others irrelevant: ```groovy stage('Tests') { failFast true parallel { stage('Unit Tests') { steps { sh 'npm test' } } stage('Integration Tests') { steps { sh 'npm run test:integration' } } } } ``` Without failFast, all parallel stages run to completion even if some fail. Nested parallel stages enable complex concurrency patterns: ```groovy stage('Build and Test') { parallel { stage('Backend') { stages { stage('Backend Build') { steps { sh 'mvn package' } } stage('Backend Test') { steps { sh 'mvn test' } } } } stage('Frontend') { stages { stage('Frontend Build') { steps { sh 'npm run build' } } stage('Frontend Test') { steps { sh 'npm test' } } } } } } ``` Backend and Frontend run in parallel, each with sequential internal stages. Matrix builds (Jenkins 2.22+) run same stage with different parameter combinations: ```groovy stage('Test') { matrix { axes { axis { name 'PLATFORM' values 'linux', 'windows', 'mac' } axis { name 'BROWSER' values 'chrome', 'firefox', 'safari' } } stages { stage('Test') { steps { sh "./test.sh ${PLATFORM} ${BROWSER}" } } } } } ``` Creates 9 parallel executions testing all platform-browser combinations. Resource management considerations: each parallel stage requires agent/executor, so parallel stages = required executors. If insufficient executors available, stages queue. Use agent labels for specific requirements: ```groovy parallel { stage('Linux Build') { agent { label 'linux' } steps { sh 'make' } } stage('Windows Build') { agent { label 'windows' } steps { bat 'build.bat' } } } ``` Shared resources (databases, external services) may have concurrency limits. Use lock step to synchronize access: ```groovy parallel { stage('Test Suite 1') { steps { lock(resource: 'test-db', quantity: 1) { sh 'npm run test:suite1' } } } stage('Test Suite 2') { steps { lock(resource: 'test-db', quantity: 1) { sh 'npm run test:suite2' } } } } ``` Ensures only one stage accesses test-db at a time. Best practices: use parallel for independent tasks only (no shared state), set timeouts to prevent hanging, use failFast when appropriate, monitor executor utilization (avoid over-parallelization), consider cost (cloud agents charge per executor), implement resource locks for shared resources, use matrix for combinatorial testing. Understanding advanced parallel patterns optimizes pipeline performance while managing resources effectively.

76. Explain Declarative Pipeline syntax in detail. Include agent, stages, steps, post actions, and environment variables with examples.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Pipeline as Code

Declarative Pipeline uses structured syntax starting with pipeline block as the root. Agent directive specifies where pipeline or stage executes: agent any runs on any available agent, agent { label 'linux' } runs on agents with 'linux' label, agent none means no global agent (define per stage), agent { docker 'maven:3.8.1' } runs in Docker container. Agent can be defined globally for entire pipeline or per stage for flexibility. Stages and steps structure the pipeline. Stages block contains multiple stage blocks representing phases of the pipeline (Build, Test, Deploy). Each stage contains steps block with actual commands: sh for shell commands (Unix), bat for Windows batch commands, script for embedded Groovy code. Example: ```groovy pipeline { agent any stages { stage('Build') { steps { sh 'mvn clean package' } } stage('Test') { steps { sh 'mvn test' } } } } ``` Environment variables defined at pipeline level (global) or stage level (local to stage). Use environment block: environment { JAVA_HOME = '/usr/lib/jvm/java-11' }. Access with ${env.VARIABLE} or $VARIABLE. Credentials injected as environment variables using credentials() function: environment { API_KEY = credentials('api-key-id') }. Post section defines actions after stage or pipeline completes based on status. Conditions include always (always run), success (only if successful), failure (only if failed), unstable (tests failed but build passed), changed (status changed from previous run). Example: ```groovy post { success { echo 'Pipeline succeeded!' slackSend message: 'Build successful' } failure { echo 'Pipeline failed!' mail to: 'team@example.com', subject: 'Build Failed' } always { junit '**/target/test-results/*.xml' cleanWs() } } ``` Other directives include options (pipeline-level settings like timestamps, timeout), parameters (build parameters for parameterized builds), triggers (build triggers like cron, pollSCM), tools (automatic tool installation like Maven, JDK), when (conditional stage execution). Understanding Declarative syntax enables writing maintainable, readable pipelines.

83. What are essential Jenkins plugins for modern CI/CD pipelines? Explain their purposes and how they work together.

Difficulty: MediumType: SubjectiveTopic: Jenkins Plugins & Extensions

Pipeline plugins are fundamental: Pipeline plugin provides pipeline functionality, Pipeline: Stage View visualizes pipeline stages, Blue Ocean offers modern UI for pipelines with visual editor, and Pipeline: Multibranch provides automatic pipeline creation for branches. These plugins enable Pipeline as Code and modern pipeline experiences. Source Control Management plugins include Git plugin (Git integration), GitHub plugin (GitHub-specific features like webhook, status reporting), GitLab plugin, and Bitbucket plugin. These integrate Jenkins with code repositories, enabling automatic triggers on commits, pull request builds, and status reporting back to SCM. Build and testing plugins: Maven Integration, Gradle Plugin, NodeJS Plugin provide build tool support. JUnit Plugin publishes test results, Cobertura or JaCoCo plugins show code coverage, HTML Publisher displays reports. These plugins integrate build tools and present results in Jenkins UI. Artifact and container plugins: Artifactory Plugin or Nexus Artifact Uploader manage artifact publication, Docker Plugin and Docker Pipeline enable Docker in pipelines, Kubernetes Plugin provisions dynamic agents in Kubernetes. These plugins handle artifact management and containerized builds. Notification and reporting plugins: Email Extension sends detailed email notifications, Slack Notification sends messages to Slack, Jira Plugin integrates with Jira for issue tracking, Prometheus Plugin exposes metrics. These plugins provide feedback loops and monitoring. Security and credentials plugins: Credentials Plugin (usually pre-installed) manages secrets, Role-based Authorization Strategy controls access, LDAP or Active Directory integrates with enterprise auth, Hashicorp Vault stores secrets in Vault. These plugins secure Jenkins and manage access control. Configuration and management: Configuration as Code (JCasC) manages Jenkins configuration as YAML, Job DSL creates jobs programmatically, Folders Plugin organizes jobs in folders, Build Timeout aborts hanging builds. These plugins enable Infrastructure as Code and maintainability. Plugins work together: Git plugin clones code, Pipeline executes Jenkinsfile from repo, Maven plugin builds, JUnit publishes test results, Docker plugin builds image, Slack plugin sends notification. Understanding plugin ecosystem and integration enables building comprehensive CI/CD pipelines.

85. Explain Maven project structure, lifecycle, dependency management, and plugins. Include pom.xml configuration, repository management, and CI/CD integration best practices.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Build Tools

Maven project structure follows convention over configuration. Standard directory layout: ``` project/ ├── pom.xml ├── src/ │ ├── main/ │ │ ├── java/ # Source code │ │ ├── resources/ # Config files │ │ └── webapp/ # Web resources (for WAR) │ └── test/ │ ├── java/ # Test code │ └── resources/ # Test resources └── target/ # Build output ``` pom.xml (Project Object Model) defines project configuration: ```xml <project> <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion> <groupId>com.example</groupId> <artifactId>myapp</artifactId> <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version> <packaging>jar</packaging> <properties> <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source> <maven.compiler.target>11</maven.compiler.target> <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding> </properties> <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId> <version>2.7.0</version> </dependency> <dependency> <groupId>junit</groupId> <artifactId>junit</artifactId> <version>4.13.2</version> <scope>test</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> </project> ``` Maven lifecycle phases: validate (validate project correctness), compile (compile source code), test (run unit tests), package (create JAR/WAR), verify (run integration tests), install (install to local repository), deploy (deploy to remote repository). Each phase executes all previous phases. Dependency management uses transitive dependencies (automatically includes dependencies of dependencies). Dependency scopes: compile (default, available everywhere), provided (available at compile but not included in package), runtime (needed at runtime but not compile), test (only for tests), system (like provided but specified via systemPath). Example: ```xml <dependency> <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId> <artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId> <version>4.0.1</version> <scope>provided</scope> # Servlet container provides this </dependency> ``` Dependency exclusions prevent transitive dependency issues: ```xml <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId> <exclusions> <exclusion> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-logging</artifactId> </exclusion> </exclusions> </dependency> ``` Dependency management section defines versions centrally: ```xml <dependencyManagement> <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-dependencies</artifactId> <version>2.7.0</version> <type>pom</type> <scope>import</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> </dependencyManagement> ``` Plugins extend Maven functionality: ```xml <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId> <version>3.10.1</version> <configuration> <source>11</source> <target>11</target> </configuration> </plugin> <plugin> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId> </plugin> </plugins> </build> ``` Repository configuration: ```xml <repositories> <repository> <id>central</id> <url>https://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url> </repository> <repository> <id>company-repo</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-public/</url> </repository> </repositories> <distributionManagement> <repository> <id>releases</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-releases/</url> </repository> <snapshotRepository> <id>snapshots</id> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-snapshots/</url> </snapshotRepository> </distributionManagement> ``` CI/CD integration: ```yaml # GitLab CI build: image: maven:3.8-jdk-11 script: - mvn clean package artifacts: paths: - target/*.jar cache: key: ${CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG} paths: - .m2/repository ``` Settings.xml for credentials (~/.m2/settings.xml): ```xml <settings> <servers> <server> <id>releases</id> <username>${env.NEXUS_USER}</username> <password>${env.NEXUS_PASSWORD}</password> </server> </servers> <mirrors> <mirror> <id>company-mirror</id> <mirrorOf>*</mirrorOf> <url>https://nexus.company.com/repository/maven-public/</url> </mirror> </mirrors> </settings> ``` Best practices: use dependency management for version consistency, leverage Bill of Materials (BOM) for related dependencies, cache .m2/repository in CI/CD, use Maven wrapper for version consistency, skip tests during package if already run (mvn package -DskipTests), parallel builds (mvn -T 4 package), offline mode for faster builds with cached dependencies (mvn -o package). Understanding Maven enables efficient Java project automation.

94. Explain Blue-Green deployment implementation including infrastructure setup, traffic switching, database considerations, rollback procedures, and CI/CD integration.

Difficulty: HardType: SubjectiveTopic: Deployment Strategies

Blue-Green deployment maintains two identical production environments enabling instant traffic switching. Infrastructure setup requires: two complete environments (compute, networking, databases), load balancer or DNS for traffic routing, monitoring for both environments, automation for deployment and switching. Infrastructure patterns: 1. Load Balancer switching (AWS ELB): ```yaml # Terraform example resource "aws_lb_target_group" "blue" { name = "app-blue" port = 80 protocol = "HTTP" vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id health_check { path = "/health" healthy_threshold = 2 unhealthy_threshold = 2 timeout = 5 } } resource "aws_lb_target_group" "green" { name = "app-green" port = 80 protocol = "HTTP" vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id health_check { path = "/health" healthy_threshold = 2 unhealthy_threshold = 2 } } resource "aws_lb_listener" "main" { load_balancer_arn = aws_lb.main.arn port = 80 protocol = "HTTP" default_action { type = "forward" target_group_arn = var.active_environment == "blue" ? aws_lb_target_group.blue.arn : aws_lb_target_group.green.arn } } ``` 2. Kubernetes Service switching: ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Service metadata: name: myapp spec: selector: app: myapp version: blue # Switch to 'green' for deployment ports: - port: 80 targetPort: 8080 --- apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: myapp-blue spec: replicas: 3 selector: matchLabels: app: myapp version: blue template: metadata: labels: app: myapp version: blue spec: containers: - name: myapp image: myapp:v1 --- apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: myapp-green spec: replicas: 3 selector: matchLabels: app: myapp version: green template: metadata: labels: app: myapp version: green spec: containers: - name: myapp image: myapp:v2 ``` Deployment process: 1. Deploy to inactive environment (Green) 2. Run smoke tests on Green 3. Run full test suite on Green 4. Switch small percentage for canary testing (optional) 5. Monitor Green environment metrics 6. Switch all traffic to Green 7. Monitor for issues 8. Keep Blue running as backup Database considerations (biggest challenge): Backward compatible migrations: ```sql -- Phase 1: Add new column (nullable) ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN email_verified BOOLEAN DEFAULT NULL; -- Deploy Green with code using new column -- Both Blue and Green work -- Phase 2: Backfill data UPDATE users SET email_verified = FALSE WHERE email_verified IS NULL; -- Phase 3: Make non-nullable (after Blue retired) ALTER TABLE users ALTER COLUMN email_verified SET NOT NULL; ``` Database patterns: 1. Shared database (both Blue and Green use same DB): - Simple but requires backward compatible migrations - Blue and Green must handle old and new schema 2. Database per environment: - Complete isolation - Complex data synchronization - Expensive (duplicate data) 3. Read replicas: - Blue uses primary, Green uses replica for testing - Promote replica during switch Traffic switching automation: ```bash #!/bin/bash # blue-green-switch.sh CURRENT_ENV=$1 NEW_ENV=$2 echo "Current: $CURRENT_ENV, Switching to: $NEW_ENV" # Deploy to new environment kubectl apply -f k8s/$NEW_ENV/ # Wait for pods ready kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l version=$NEW_ENV --timeout=300s # Run smoke tests ./smoke-tests.sh https://$NEW_ENV.internal.example.com if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "Smoke tests failed, aborting" exit 1 fi # Switch traffic kubectl patch service myapp -p '{"spec":{"selector":{"version":"'$NEW_ENV'"}}}' echo "Switched to $NEW_ENV" # Monitor for 5 minutes sleep 300 # Check error rate ERROR_RATE=$(curl -s "https://metrics.example.com/error-rate?env=$NEW_ENV") if [ "$ERROR_RATE" -gt 5 ]; then echo "High error rate: $ERROR_RATE%, rolling back" kubectl patch service myapp -p '{"spec":{"selector":{"version":"'$CURRENT_ENV'"}}}' exit 1 fi echo "Deployment successful" ``` CI/CD integration: ```yaml stages: - build - deploy-green - test-green - switch-traffic - cleanup build: stage: build script: - docker build -t myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHA . - docker push myapp:$CI_COMMIT_SHA deploy-green: stage: deploy-green script: - export NEW_ENV="green" - export OLD_ENV="blue" - ./deploy.sh $NEW_ENV $CI_COMMIT_SHA environment: name: green url: https://green.internal.example.com test-green: stage: test-green script: - ./smoke-tests.sh https://green.internal.example.com - ./integration-tests.sh https://green.internal.example.com switch-traffic: stage: switch-traffic script: - ./blue-green-switch.sh blue green when: manual environment: name: production only: - main cleanup-blue: stage: cleanup script: - kubectl scale deployment myapp-blue --replicas=1 when: manual ``` Rollback procedure: ```bash #!/bin/bash # Quick rollback kubectl patch service myapp -p '{"spec":{"selector":{"version":"blue"}}}' echo "Rolled back to blue" ``` Monitoring during switch: ```python import requests import time def monitor_switch(environment, duration=300): metrics = ['error_rate', 'latency_p95', 'throughput'] start = time.time() while time.time() - start < duration: for metric in metrics: value = get_metric(environment, metric) if is_anomaly(metric, value): print(f"Anomaly detected: {metric}={value}") rollback() return False time.sleep(10) return True ``` Best practices: test rollback procedures regularly, automate everything, implement health checks, monitor business metrics not just technical, use gradual switch (weighted routing) for additional safety, maintain backward compatible migrations, document database migration strategy, implement automated rollback on anomalies, keep Blue running for configured time after switch, use feature flags for additional safety layer. Understanding Blue-Green enables zero-downtime deployments with instant rollback capability.

Amazon CI/CD Pipelines Interview Questions | Preplance | Preplance

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Quick overview

1. Which metric directly measures the time from commit to a production deployment?

2. What are comprehensive best practices for Jenkins Pipeline development? Include code organization, testing, security, documentation, and maintenance.

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3. Why is version control the backbone of CI/CD?

4. A new release breaks users. Describe a safe rollback approach using CI/CD.

5. In a pipeline, when should you use a cache instead of artifacts?

6. You have 20 services that share similar pipeline logic. How would you avoid duplication?

7. What keeps main stable before a merge?

8. What strategies optimize build performance in CI/CD? Discuss caching, parallelization, incremental builds, and distributed compilation.

9. Explain semantic versioning, automated versioning in CI/CD, and release management strategies including tags, changelogs, and release notes.

10. What are common Jenkins issues and how do you troubleshoot them? Discuss build failures, agent connection issues, performance problems, and plugin conflicts.

11. What file defines GitLab CI/CD pipelines?

12. What is the purpose of Jenkins plugins?

13. Where are npm build scripts defined?

14. Compare different Jenkins build trigger mechanisms. Discuss webhooks vs polling, manual triggers, scheduled builds, and upstream/downstream triggers with pros and cons.

15. Explain Jenkins security best practices including authentication, authorization, credential management, and securing master-agent communication.

16. How do you optimize Jenkins performance? Discuss master tuning, agent scaling, pipeline optimization, and resource management.

17. Explain Jenkins backup and disaster recovery strategies. What should be backed up, how often, and how to restore?

18. What is Jenkins Blue Ocean? Explain its features, benefits, and when to use it compared to classic Jenkins UI.

19. Where are GitHub Actions workflows stored?

20. Explain Gradle build system including build.gradle syntax, dependency management, tasks, multi-project builds, and performance optimization techniques.

21. Explain npm package management, scripts, versioning, and CI/CD integration. Include npm vs yarn, lock files, and security practices.

22. Explain artifact repository management using Nexus or Artifactory. Include repository types, proxy caching, artifact publishing, promotion workflows, and CI/CD integration.

23. Explain Docker multi-stage builds for optimizing images. Include build strategies, layer caching, security considerations, and CI/CD integration.

24. Compare Declarative and Scripted Pipeline syntax in detail. When should you use each? Provide examples showing differences in structure, flexibility, and use cases.

25. Compare Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, and GitHub Actions. Discuss architecture, configuration, features, scalability, pricing, and use cases for each.

26. Explain advanced CI/CD patterns including multi-stage pipelines, pipeline orchestration, trunk-based development workflows, and deployment strategies integration.

27. Explain security best practices for CI/CD pipelines. Include secrets management, artifact security, vulnerability scanning, and supply chain security.

28. Explain Jenkins Shared Libraries in detail including directory structure, global variables, classes, versioning, and best practices for building reusable pipeline code.

29. Explain error handling strategies in Jenkins Pipeline. Include try-catch, error step, catchError, post conditions, and retry mechanisms.

30. Explain pipeline parameters in Jenkins. Include different parameter types, usage, and building flexible, reusable pipelines with parameters.

31. What are strategies for optimizing Jenkins Pipeline performance? Discuss caching, parallelization, agent selection, and resource management.

32. What is the default Maven build lifecycle phase that compiles and packages the application?

33. What are self-hosted runners in GitHub Actions?

34. Explain GitLab CI/CD architecture and .gitlab-ci.yml syntax in detail. Include stages, jobs, artifacts, cache, dependencies, and advanced features.

35. Explain GitHub Actions workflow syntax comprehensively. Include events, jobs, steps, actions, contexts, and advanced patterns.

36. Explain GitLab Runner architecture, executor types, registration, and configuration. Include Docker, Kubernetes, and autoscaling setups.

37. How do you create custom GitHub Actions? Explain action types (JavaScript, Docker, Composite), inputs, outputs, and publishing to marketplace.

38. What is semantic versioning (semver)?

39. Explain test parallelization strategies to reduce CI/CD pipeline execution time. Include parallel execution approaches, test splitting, and handling shared resources.

40. What does code coverage measure?

41. Design a comprehensive continuous testing strategy for CI/CD. Include test types, execution frequency, quality gates, and feedback mechanisms.

42. Compare different test automation frameworks for unit, integration, and E2E testing. Include JUnit/TestNG, Jest/Mocha, pytest, Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright with examples.

43. Explain TDD and BDD practices in CI/CD. Include Red-Green-Refactor cycle, Gherkin syntax, automation strategies, and integration with pipelines.

44. Explain performance and load testing in CI/CD including tools like JMeter, K6, Gatling, and strategies for baseline performance, regression detection, and scalability testing.

45. Explain test data management strategies including data generation, test fixtures, database seeding, and data privacy considerations in CI/CD.

46. Design comprehensive environment management strategy including environment types, configuration management, secrets handling, and environment parity.

47. What best describes “Pipeline as Code” for CI/CD?

48. Which config pattern runs a job only on a tagged release?

49. What is Jenkins?

50. What is the main difference between Freestyle projects and Pipeline in Jenkins?

51. How does Jenkins manage sensitive credentials securely?

52. Explain Jenkins master-agent architecture in detail. Discuss components, communication, scaling strategies, and best practices for production deployments.

53. Explain advanced parallel execution patterns in Jenkins Pipeline. Include nested parallel stages, failFast, matrix builds, and resource management considerations.

54. What are GitLab Runners?

55. What is GitHub Actions Marketplace?

56. What is the recommended approach for building Docker images in CI/CD?

57. What is incremental compilation and how does it improve build performance?

58. What is the primary purpose of unit tests in CI/CD?

59. What is static code analysis in CI/CD?

60. What are key challenges with E2E testing in CI/CD?

61. What is Blue-Green deployment?

62. What is a Rolling update deployment?

63. What is typical environment progression in CI/CD?

64. What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in CD context?

65. What is the purpose of stages in a Jenkins Pipeline?

66. Choose the common order of stages in a basic pipeline.

67. What does fail fast mean in a pipeline?

68. Your deploy job fails after artifacts are published. How do you design for safe retries?

69. What does the 'input' step do in Jenkins Pipeline?

70. What are post conditions in Jenkins Pipeline?

71. What does the 'when' directive do in Declarative Pipeline?

72. Which trigger is valid in GitLab CI/CD?

73. What usually triggers a CI run in modern platforms?

74. Which of these is a valid Jenkins build trigger?

75. You only want deployments to run on the main branch. What should your pipeline config do?

76. Explain Declarative Pipeline syntax in detail. Include agent, stages, steps, post actions, and environment variables with examples.

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