Add SSH key to a Jenkins Git step

To access a Git repository Jenkins can use an SSH key.

To add the SSH key to the Jenkins server use the following Chef script

Store the SSH key in an encrypted data bag called “keys”.

{
 "id": "ci_private_keys",
 "ci_github_key": "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----",
}

 

Add the following to the Jenkins Chef recipe

• Install Git

package 'git'

• Install the Git and Credentials Jenkins plugins

jenkins_plugin 'git'
jenkins_plugin 'credentials'

• Copy the SSH key to the Jenkins server

rsa_key = data_bag_item('keys', 'ci_private_keys')
file '/var/lib/jenkins/.ssh/id_rsa' do
  content "#{rsa_key['ci_github_key']}"
  owner 'jenkins'
  group 'jenkins'
  mode '0600'
end

• Add github.com to the known hosts

bash 'provide github.com RSA fingerprint' do
  code <<-EOF
   ssh-keyscan github.com >> /var/lib/jenkins/.ssh/known_hosts
   chown jenkins.jenkins /var/lib/jenkins/.ssh/known_hosts
  EOF
  not_if{system('grep github.com /var/lib/jenkins/.ssh/known_hosts')}
end

 

To specify the SSH key in the Git step

1. When the Jenkins server is operational, navigate to the Web interface
2. Create a new Jenkins project
3. In the Source Code Management section
   1. Select Git
   2. Enter the SSH URL of the repository
   3. When you are adding the first project, click the Add button to create the credential
      
      1. Click Jenkins to select the credentials provider
         
      2. Select SSH Username with private key as the Kind
      3. Enter the username you used when you created the SSH key for the Git repository
      4. Select From the Jenkins master ~/.ssh as the Private Key
         
      5. Click the Add button
   4. In the Credentials drop down select the credential you have created (the Git user name)