Install Jenkins on Kubernetes with Helm

This guide walks you through installing Jenkins in a Kubernetes cluster using Helm, with:

• A pre-created PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC)
• TLS certificate issued by cert-manager
• Custom admin credentials
• Traefik Ingress for public access
• Persistent data even after reinstallation

Prerequisites

• A running Kubernetes cluster (self-managed or on AWS EC2)
• helm and kubectl installed
• Traefik as your Ingress controller
• A StorageClass configured (e.g., ebs-sc for AWS)
• DNS record pointing jenkins.maksonlee.com to your cluster’s public IP
• Namespace jenkins not yet used

1. Create a PersistentVolumeClaim

Save this as jenkins-pvc.yaml:

# jenkins-pvc.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: jenkins-pvc
  namespace: jenkins
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 2Gi
  storageClassName: ebs-sc

Apply it:

kubectl create namespace jenkins
kubectl apply -f jenkins-pvc.yaml

2. Create a TLS Certificate using Cert-Manager

Make sure cert-manager is installed in your cluster.

# jenkins-cert.yaml
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Certificate
metadata:
  name: jenkins-cert
  namespace: jenkins
spec:
  secretName: jenkins-tls
  commonName: jenkins.maksonlee.com
  dnsNames:
    - jenkins.maksonlee.com
  issuerRef:
    name: letsencrypt-prod
    kind: ClusterIssuer

Ensure that the ClusterIssuer letsencrypt-prod already exists. If not, you’ll need to create it before applying this certificate.

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f jenkins-cert.yaml

This will create the TLS secret jenkins-tls, which Jenkins will use for HTTPS access.

3. Prepare Helm values.yaml

Save this as jenkins-values.yaml:

controller:
  initializeOnce: true

  additionalPlugins:
    - credentials-binding
    - cloudbees-folder
    - matrix-auth

  ingress:
    enabled: true
    hostName: jenkins.maksonlee.com
    tls:
      - secretName: jenkins-tls
        hosts:
          - jenkins.maksonlee.com

persistence:
  existingClaim: jenkins-pvc

4. Install Jenkins via Helm

Add the Jenkins chart repo:

helm repo add jenkins https://charts.jenkins.io
helm repo update

Install:

helm install jenkins jenkins/jenkins \
  -n jenkins \
  -f jenkins-values.yaml

Get your ‘admin’ user password by running:

kubectl exec --namespace jenkins -it svc/jenkins -c jenkins -- /bin/cat /run/secrets/additional/chart-admin-password && echo

5. Access Jenkins

Once deployed, visit: https://jenkins.maksonlee.com

6. Reinstall Without Data Loss

If you uninstall Jenkins:

helm uninstall jenkins -n jenkins

Your PVC (jenkins-pvc) will still remain. Reinstall using the same steps to retain all your data.