I have windows 7_x64 Virtual Machine on Server machine running on Windows Server 2008 R2. I want to run this VM from jenkins (CI tool which executes batch file, running on same server).
I am using vmrun utility to do so.
When i run
vmrun -T ws -gu *** -gp *** start "vmx file path.vmx"
this executes fine on server command prompt (locally). but when i try to exceute the same from any of the client machine (by visiting jenkins site) I get
Error: There was an error in communication
After some troubleshooting, I can say vmrun command is not responding whenever it is evoked remotely. but it is confusing me, because I have jenkins which is running those commands is installed on same server. i am just running job from thin client. how does that make any difference?
Could anyone help me troubleshooting this issue?
Thanks!
For reference:
*Server machine(host): Windows Server 2008 R2
*Virtual machine(guest): Windows 7 x64
*Jenkins : Installed on same server (host)
*client : remote windows machine, accesses the jenkins instance from browser and triggers the job
*problem/error : vmrun commands dont execute.
Jenkins does not execute anything on "client" (i.e. the machine with the browser from which you accessed Jenkins instance). Jenkins will only execute anything on Master (what you called "server machine") or Slave nodes.
Now, there can be several differences between running the command from your local command prompt (on server) and through Jenkins. The primary difference is that Jenkins runs under a separate session, usually under a separate user, which may have different permissions, however that depends on how you have installed and configured the Jenkins session.
To identify if there are any Environment variable differences, type set on your local command prompt, and then execute Jenkins with just set in the build step. Compare the two. Other than Jenkins specific variables, everything else should be same.
Also, verify that your Jenkins user (the one running the service) has permissions to do whatever your are doing.
Related
I'm trying to reset-and-launch a Windows VM (in vsphere) during a Jenkins job. I successfully installed the vSphere Cloud Plugin. I've followed instructions to setup the Windows machine as a jenkins-mvn-slave, and have it setup to run as a service.
If I click on the button in Jenkins for Launch Slave Agent, I can see (in vsphere) that the VM does a revert snapshot, and then it does a power on virtual machine. If I attach to the machine, I can see that the Jenkins service starts automatically. However, back in Jenkins, it tells me that the Slave did not come online in allowed time.
Some key settings for my slave:
Force VM launch: Checked
Wait for VMTools: Not checked
Delay between launch and boot complete: 120
Secondary launch method: Launch slave agents view Java Web Start
Versions:
Jenkins: 1.596.2
vSphere: 5.5.0
Windows: Server 2012 R2 Standard, Build 9600
vSphere plugin: 2.7
What am I missing?
I've done a lot of messing around since I posted, but I think the following is what I was doing wrong. I first got the VM working as a normal slave agent. Once I had that working, then I tried to setup the same as a vsphere-cloud-slave-agent. I wasn't realizing that setting up a host as a slave agent is "agent-name specific".
So, I uninstalled the Jenkins service, launched the "vsphere cloud slave agent", logged into the machine, and ran javaws (as specified in the previously mentioned instructions.
A couple of other gotchas that I encountered (not relevant to the initial post, but maybe relevant to someone who reads this):
I originally installed git with a password manager. Unfortunately, since jenkins jobs aren't interactive, it was hanging on the git clone command. I tried uninstalling and re-installing git, but it didn't fix the problem for whatever user the jenkins slave was running as. I ended up having to revert to a previous slave image and install git from there. (I probably could have also figured out what user was running the jenkins slave, and entered the desired password there.)
I wanted to run a clean VM for each job. I never figured out this one. If I set Availability to Take this slave on-line when in demand and off-line when idle, that was a good start. However, if I set the times to 0 and 0, then the machine was constantly rebooting. If I set the times to 1 and 1, then the machine does mostly what I want, unless there are back-to-back jobs queued to run.
I am trying to get Jenkins to start a virtual machine on a Jenkins slave. The VM itself will then act as a Jenkins slave.
In order to do so I need to boot the VM and keep it running, even after the Jenkins job terminates. I have tried to create a freestyle project which runs a batch script on the slave and checks if the VM is running:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -T ws start "D:\VM\MyVM.vmx"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" list
The second command shows me that the VM is actually up and running, but apparently it directly shuts down again since I can't see the node that corresponds to the VM as online.
The Jenkins Slave agent is installed as a Windows service on the VM's host and logs in as a domain user.
If I switch the first command to
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware.exe" -x "D:\VM\MyVM.vmx"
the VM powers on, the node gets connected to Jenkins. This is because somehow the batch script gets stuck after this command and does not terminate, so the VM remains powered on. However, if I log on the host with the same user the Jenkins service uses, I cannot see the VM running.
Ironically, I can in fact power OFF any virtual machine that I have started locally on the host from Jenkins by creating a project with the batch command
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -T ws stop "D:\VM\MyVM.vmx" soft
So, to summarize:
I want to create a Jenkins job that powers on a VM so I can use it as a slave agent. The VM has to remain powered on even after the job is done, I will shut it down with a different job as needed.
But only the shutdown job is working as intended.
try to start your VM with START command:
START "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -T ws start "D:\VM\MyVM.vmx"
After playing around with VMs and Jenkins today I learned that vmrun works perfectly if the Jenkins slave does not run as a Windows service but is launched via the Java Webstart application.
Besides, one can prevent processes from getting killed by altering the BUILD_ID env. variable since Jenkins is using this variable to track the processes the build launched. So by changing the value of BUILD_ID before spawning processes they won't get killed after the Job finishes.
I have a Jenkins server running happily on a Windows server. I need to connect 2 other windows servers as slaves.
One connects in fine (start using JNLP, then installed as a Windows service).
The other fails to connect using JNLP. Whether I use the Launch button or the javaws command line it fails with 'Unexpected Error - Unable to launch Slave Agent for {node}'. If I start the slave using the headless command line it works, so I suspect it's not networking/firewall related.
I'd like to get the JNLP launch working so I can install it as a Windows service.
Other notes:
the Jenkins URL is set OK
we're using Matrix security, but anonymous has Slave/Connect
Any help gratefully received.
The job that I was trying to create in Jenkins would require launching a webpage on the user’s browser once the build is successful (Jenkins is installed on a remote server). For doing this I put the following line in the " Build - Execute Windows batch command" section of the job’s Configure page:
START http://google.com
While the build was successful, it did not launch the page. I have a hunch, this line will try to launch the webpage in the remote Jenkins server (it did not launch anything in the slave node though). My question is, how do I force the Jenkins job to launch the webpage in the user’s default browser?
I tried launching client's cmd.exe - this did not work either.
Jenkins master, slave, user's client - everything is on Windows. Jenkins version 1.46.
Thanks!
By "launch in client's machine" you mean the user that is accessing the web interface of Jenkins? No, this won't happen. It can be quite a security risk too.
You can do what you are asking either on the master or the slave. Jenkins does not directly execute anything that is not on master/slave. It is possible to spawn a slave on user's machine, and when the job is run, it will execute the command on the slave.
Or if the user provides his/her computer IP address as a parameter to the job, you could use PsExec to connect to user's computer to execute a command.
I've got a continuous integration server (Jenkins ) which builds my code (checks for compilation errors) and runs tests and then deploys the files to a remote server (not a war file, but the actual file structure) I do this with a Jenkins plugin which allows me to transfer files via samba, it does this nightly.
Now, what I need to do is run an ant command on the remote server. And after that I need to start the application server on the remote server, the application server is started by running a .bat file from the command line.
I'm pretty clueless how to accomplish this, I know Jenkins is capable of running batch commands, but how do I make them run in the context of the server and not the context of the build server?
If Jenkins on Windows, remote on *nix, use plink.exe (which is essentially command line PuTTy)
If Jenkins on Windows, remote on Window, use psexec.exe
If Jenkins on *nix, remote on *nix, use ssh
If Jenkins on *nix, remote on Windows, (update 2015-01) Ansible http://docs.ansible.com/intro_windows.html has support for calling Windows commands, eg powershell, from a unix/linux machine, https://github.com/ansible/ansible-examples/blob/master/windows/run-powershell.yml
Tell me what OSes are involved (both on Jenkins and remote), and I will flash this out further.
Edit:
The download page for psexec.exe lists all command line options. You will want something along the lines of:
psexec \\remotecomputername -u remoteusername -p remotepassword cmd /c <your commands here>
Replace <your commands here> with actual commands as you would execute them from command prompt.
Note that psexec first needs to install a service, and required elevated command prompt/admin remote credentials to do so.
Also, you need to run psexec -accepteula once to accept the EULA prompt.
Following Slav's answer above, here is a simpler solution for Jenkins (*nix) to remote (windows):
Install an SSH server on your remote windows (MobaSSH home edition worked well for me)
Make sure your Jenkins user, on your Jenkins machine, has the required certification to open an SSH connection with your remote (you can simply open a terminal and ssh to your remote once, then accept the certification. Make sure it is saved for the Jenkins user).
You can now add an execute shell build phase in your Jenkins job which can SSH to your remote windows machine.
Notes :
The established connection might require some additional work - you might have to set windows environment variables or map network drivers in order for your executed commands or batch files to work properly on your windows machines.
If you wish to run GUI related operations this solution might not be relevant (Following my work on running automation tests which require GUI manipulation).
Using Jenkins SSH plugin is an issue, as seen here.
1、i install (MobaSSH home ) on my remote windows server .
2、and install jenkins ssh plugin
3、edit shell eg: go build project
4、it seems something wrong ,
" go: creating work dir: CreateFile C:\WINDOWS\system32\bsh\tmp: The system cannot find the path specified."
I ended up going with a different approach after trying out psexec.exe for a while.
Psexec.exe and copying files over the network was a bit slow and unstable, especially since the domain I work on has a policy of changing password every months (which broke the build).
In the end I went with the master/slave approach, which is faster and more stable. Since I don't have to use psexec.exe and don't have to copy files over the network.