Day 74: Jenkins Database Backup Job | 100 Days of DevOps

Content

Today I worked on creating an automated Jenkins job to perform periodic database backups. The objective was to automate the backup of a MySQL database hosted on an application server and securely transfer the backup file to a dedicated storage server using Jenkins and SSH-based automation.

🔹 What I Learned

• Creating Jenkins Freestyle Jobs
• Installing and Managing Jenkins Plugins
• Configuring Jenkins Credentials
• Setting Up SSH Remote Hosts in Jenkins
• Generating SSH Key Pairs on Linux Servers
• Configuring Passwordless SSH Authentication
• Using mysqldump for MySQL Database Backups
• Copying Files Securely Using SCP
• Scheduling Jenkins Jobs Using Cron Expressions
• Executing Remote Commands Through Jenkins
• Verifying Backup Files on Remote Servers

🔹 Task Requirement

The DevOps team wanted to automate database backups using Jenkins. The backup should be generated on the application server and copied to the storage server automatically every 10 minutes.

Jenkins Access Details

Server Details

Database Details

Job Requirements

🔹 Steps I Followed

1. Connected to the Application Server

From the jumphost, I connected to the application server:

ssh tony@stapp01

Entered the password:

Ir0nM@n

Successfully logged into the application server.

2. Generated SSH Key Pair

To enable passwordless file transfer between servers, I generated an SSH key pair:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096

Accepted the default location and left the passphrase empty.

SSH keys were generated in:

/home/tony/.ssh/id_rsa
/home/tony/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

3. Configured Passwordless SSH Access

Copied the public key to the storage server:

ssh-copy-id natasha@ststor01

Provided the password:

Bl@kW

After the key was copied successfully, I verified passwordless login:

ssh natasha@ststor01

Login worked without prompting for a password.

4. Verified Backup Directory

Checked the backup directory on the storage server:

ls -l /home/natasha/db_backups

Output:

total 0

This confirmed that no backups existed before running the Jenkins job.

5. Accessed Jenkins

Clicked the Jenkins button from the lab navigation bar.

This opened the Jenkins login page.

6. Logged into Jenkins

Entered the administrator credentials:

Username

admin

Password

Adm!n321

Successfully logged into the Jenkins Dashboard.

7. Installed Required Plugins

Navigated to:

Manage Jenkins
→ Manage Plugins

Installed the following plugins:

• SSH
• SSH Credentials
• SSH Build Agents

After installation completed, Jenkins was restarted.

8. Created Jenkins Credentials

Navigated to:

Manage Jenkins
→ Credentials
→ System
→ Global Credentials (unrestricted)

Created a new credential with the following values:

Clicked Save.

9. Configured SSH Remote Host

Navigated to:

Manage Jenkins
→ Configure System

Scrolled to:

SSH Remote Hosts

Configured:

Clicked:

Check Connection

Received:

Successful connection

Saved the configuration.

10. Created the Jenkins Job

From the Jenkins Dashboard:

New Item

Entered the job name:

database-backup

Selected:

Freestyle Project

Clicked:

OK

The job configuration page opened.

11. Configured Build Schedule

Under:

Build Triggers

Enabled:

Build periodically

Configured the schedule exactly as required:

*/10 * * * *

This ensures the backup job runs every 10 minutes.

12. Added Build Step

Under:

Build

Clicked:

Add Build Step
→ Execute shell script on remote host using ssh

Selected the configured SSH host:

tony@stapp01:22

Added the following commands:

mysqldump -u kodekloud_roy -pasdfgdsd kodekloud_db01 > db_$(date +%F).sql

scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no db_$(date +%F).sql natasha@ststor01:/home/natasha/db_backups

Explanation

Database Backup Command

mysqldump -u kodekloud_roy -pasdfgdsd kodekloud_db01 > db_$(date +%F).sql

This command:

• Connects to MySQL
• Creates a dump of the database
• Saves the backup using the current date

Example:

db_2026-06-08.sql

File Transfer Command

scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no db_$(date +%F).sql natasha@ststor01:/home/natasha/db_backups

This command:

• Securely copies the backup file
• Transfers it to the storage server
• Stores it in the backup directory

13. Saved the Job

Clicked:

Apply

Then:

Save

The Jenkins job was saved successfully.

14. Triggered a Manual Build

Opened:

database-backup
→ Build Now

Jenkins started executing the backup process.

15. Verified Build Success

Opened:

Build History
→ Latest Build
→ Console Output

Observed:

Started by user admin
Running as SYSTEM
Building in workspace /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/database-backup

[SSH] script:

mysqldump -u kodekloud_roy -pasdfgdsd kodekloud_db01 > db_$(date +%F).sql

scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no db_$(date +%F).sql natasha@ststor01:/home/natasha/db_backups

[SSH] executing...

[SSH] completed
[SSH] exit-status: 0

Finished: SUCCESS

This confirmed that Jenkins successfully created and transferred the backup.

16. Verified Backup on Storage Server

Connected to the storage server:

ssh natasha@ststor01

Checked the backup directory:

ls -l /home/natasha/db_backups

Output:

total 4
-rw-r--r-- 1 natasha natasha 1319 Jun  8 19:01 db_2026-06-08.sql

This confirmed that the database backup file was successfully transferred to the storage server.

🔹 Simple Explanation of Jenkins Components Used

Jenkins Credentials

Jenkins Credentials provide a secure way to store usernames, passwords, SSH keys, and secrets.

In this task:

Username: tony
Password: Ir0nM@n

were stored securely and reused for SSH connections.

SSH Remote Hosts

The SSH plugin allows Jenkins to connect and execute commands on remote servers.

In this task:

stapp01

was configured as the remote host.

This allowed Jenkins to run database backup commands directly on the application server.

mysqldump

mysqldump is a MySQL utility used to export database contents into a SQL file.

Example:

mysqldump -u user -ppassword database_name > backup.sql

The generated SQL file can later be used to restore the database if needed.

SCP (Secure Copy)

SCP securely transfers files between Linux servers over SSH.

Example:

scp backup.sql user@server:/backup/location

In this task, SCP was used to move the backup file to the storage server.

Build Periodically Trigger

The Build Periodically trigger allows Jenkins jobs to run automatically based on a cron schedule.

Configured schedule:

*/10 * * * *

Meaning:

Every 10 minutes

This ensures backups are performed automatically without manual intervention.

🔹 My Understanding

This task helped me understand how Jenkins can be used for infrastructure automation beyond application builds and deployments. I learned how to combine SSH connectivity, database utilities, file transfers, and scheduling mechanisms to create a fully automated database backup solution.

🔹 What I Found Interesting

What I found most interesting was how Jenkins can act as a centralized automation platform for server administration tasks. By combining a few plugins, SSH authentication, and simple shell commands, I was able to build a reliable automated backup workflow that periodically creates database dumps and stores them safely on a separate server. This demonstrates how Jenkins can be used not only for CI/CD pipelines but also for routine operational and maintenance activities in real-world DevOps environments.

📌 Full notes: GitHub link