Collecting Jenkins Pipeline Build Data with InfluxDB and Visualizing It in Grafana on Kubernetes

In continuous delivery, measuring and feedback are crucial; a metrics platform can assess delivery status and development efficiency. This guide shows how to collect Jenkins pipeline build data and analyze it.

1. Overall Architecture and Solution Overview – The process involves using a Jenkins Pipeline script to collect build metrics (duration, unit test results, detailed build info), sending the data via HTTP API to InfluxDB, and finally visualizing it with Grafana using a custom dashboard template.

2. Deploying InfluxDB on Kubernetes – A Kubernetes Deployment YAML is created, including a persistent volume and exposing port 8086. The YAML file is available in a GitHub repository (https://github.com/zeyangli/devops-on-k8s/blob/master/devops/influxdb.yml).

3. Jenkins Pipeline Data Collection – The pipeline uses InfluxDB's HTTP API to write metrics such as build time and test results. Screenshots illustrate the HTTP request and the data being sent.

4. Importing Grafana Template for Data Visualization – A Grafana dashboard template (ID 10557) originally designed for GitHub + Jenkins stage plugin is imported. The template’s queries are adapted to match the InfluxDB schema, enabling visualization of the collected metrics. Example screenshots of the original and customized dashboards are provided.

The article concludes with a promise to share the customized Grafana template for others to use.