It empowers administrators (or super users) to control access, ensuring only authorized individuals can create, stop, or delete Jenkins pipelines. By managing user permissions, you minimize risks such as accidental changes that could disrupt production environments or deploy buggy code.

Configuring User Management in Jenkins

The Role-Based Strategy plugin in Jenkins allows administrators to set up and manage users and permissions with greater flexibility.

With this plugin, you can assign specific roles to different users or groups, ensuring that they have the necessary permissions based on their responsibilities within the Jenkins environment.

Let's dive into how you can manage users and permissions in Jenkins.

  1. Step 1: Install the Role-Based Strategy Plugin
  2. Step 2: Configure Jenkins for Role-Based Access Control
  3. Step 3: Access Role Management Page
  4. Step 4: Creating Roles
  5. Step 5: Creating Users
  6. Step 6: Assigning Roles to Users
  7. Step 7: Verify User Permissions

Best Practices for Jenkins User Management with Role-Based Strategy

Step 1: Install the Role-Based Strategy Plugin

Login to Jenkins as Admin:

    • Open your Jenkins instance and log in with an account that has administrative privileges.

Navigate to Plugin Manager:

    • Go to Manage Jenkins from the dashboard.
    • Select Plugins.

Install Role-Based Strategy Plugin:

    • Go to the Available tab.
    • Search for the Role-Based Authorization Strategy plugin.
    • Select the plugin and click Install without restart or Download now and install after restart.

Verify Installation:

    • Once installed, navigate to Manage Jenkins > System and confirm that the Role-Based Strategy option is available under the Authorization section.

Step 2: Configure Jenkins for Role-Based Access Control

  1. Enable Role-Based Strategy:
    • After the plugin installation, go to Manage Jenkins > System (Configure Global Security).
    • Under Authorization, select Role-Based Strategy.
    • Click Save to apply the changes.

Step 3: Access Role Management Page

Once the Role-Based Strategy is enabled, Jenkins provides two main sections for managing users and roles:

  • Manage Roles: Create and define the roles and their associated permissions.
  • Assign Roles: Assign the created roles to users or groups.
  1. Go to Manage Jenkins:
    • Click on Manage Jenkins from the Jenkins dashboard.
    • Select Manage and Assign Roles.
    • You'll see two options:
      • Manage Roles: For creating and editing roles.
      • Assign Roles: For assigning roles to users or groups.

Step 4: Creating Roles

The Role-Based Strategy plugin in Jenkins divides roles into three categories: Global roles, Item roles, and Agent roles.

Each category controls different aspects of Jenkins, such as global system access, job-level permissions, and agent (node) management.

👉 Detailed guide on creating and applying global, item, and agent roles with specific permission patterns

✔️ Additionally, you will gain insights into practical use cases for various roles, enabling them to optimize access control in their Jenkins environment.

Step 5: Creating Users

Before assigning roles, you need to create users in your Jenkins environment. Jenkins provides a simple way to manage users, either through its own user database or by integrating with external user directories such as LDAP. Below are the steps to create users directly within Jenkins.

Method 1: Creating Users in Jenkins (Internal User Database)

Access User Management: Click on Manage Jenkins > Users. This will take you to the user management section where you can view existing users.

Click on Create User.

Fill in the required fields:

      • Username: Choose a unique username for the new user.
      • Password: Set a password for the user.
      • Confirm Password: Re-enter the password to confirm.
      • Full Name: Enter the user’s full name (optional but recommended).
      • Email Address: Provide an email address for notifications (optional but recommended).

Save the User: Once all fields are filled out, click Create User to save the new user.

Verify User Creation:

After creating the user, you should see them listed on the Manage Users page. You can click on their username to modify their details or reset their password if necessary.

Method 2: Integrating with External User Directories (Optional)

If your organization uses LDAP or Active Directory, you can configure Jenkins to use these systems for user management. This method allows for centralized user management, making it easier to manage users and their permissions.

  1. Install the LDAP Plugin (if not already installed):
    • Go to Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins.
    • In the Available tab, search for LDAP Plugin, select it, and install.
  2. Configure LDAP:
    • Go to Manage Jenkins > Configure Global Security.
    • Under Security Realm, select LDAP.
    • Fill in the required LDAP server details, such as:
      • LDAP server: The URL of your LDAP server.
      • Root DN: The base distinguished name for user searches.
      • User search base: The DN from where to search for users.
      • User search filter: The filter to use when searching for users (e.g., (&(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(uid={0}))).
  3. Test the Connection:
    • After filling in the details, use the Test LDAP settings button to verify that Jenkins can connect to your LDAP server and find users.
  4. Save Configuration:
    • Click Save to apply the LDAP settings. Users in the LDAP directory will now be able to log in to Jenkins using their LDAP credentials.

Step 6: Assigning Roles to Users

Now that roles are defined, you can assign them to users.

Go to Assign Roles:

    • Under Manage Jenkins > Manage and Assign Roles, click Assign Roles.

Assign Global Roles:

    • In the Global roles section:
      • Enter the username in the User/group to add field.
      • Click Add.
      • Select the appropriate role(s) for the user from the checkbox list.

Save the Assignments:

Once roles are assigned, click Save to confirm the assignments.

Similarly you can assign item roles and agent roles to the User/group

Step 7: Verify User Permissions

  1. Log Out and Test Roles:
    • To verify the configuration, log out and log in as one of the users to whom you've assigned roles.
    • Ensure that the user has the correct access based on their assigned role (e.g., an admin should have full access, whereas a viewer should only see the jobs and logs).
  2. Modify Roles as Needed:
    • If permissions are too restrictive or too lenient, you can go back to the Manage Roles and Assign Roles pages to modify the roles or reassign users.

Step 8: Additional Role-Based Strategy Plugin Features

  • Group Management:
    • You can assign roles to groups instead of individual users. This is particularly useful when integrated with LDAP or Active Directory.
    • Instead of specifying individual usernames, enter the group name in the Assign Roles section.
  • Fine-Grained Job Control:
    • The Role-Based Strategy plugin supports controlling permissions at a granular level, such as allowing specific users to trigger builds but not configure them, or to read but not write to specific jobs.
  • Pattern Matching:
    • When defining project roles, you can use regular expressions or wildcards to match multiple jobs. For instance, dev-* can apply roles to all jobs whose names start with dev-.

Best Practices for Jenkins User Management with Role-Based Strategy

  1. Least Privilege Principle: Assign the minimum required permissions to each role to enhance security. Avoid giving admin access unless absolutely necessary.
  2. Use Groups for Role Assignment: Managing user permissions through groups is more scalable, especially in larger organizations.
  3. Audit Regularly: Periodically review the roles and user assignments to ensure they are still aligned with your security and operational policies.
  4. Backup Configuration: Backup your Jenkins configuration regularly, including the role-based strategy setup, to avoid losing data during upgrades or incidents.