Demo Integration Testing AWS EC2 Instance

In our previous guide, we deployed a Docker image to an AWS EC2 instance. Now, we’ll enhance our Jenkins pipeline with an Integration Testing stage that dynamically discovers the EC2 instance’s public endpoint and performs HTTP checks against our service.

Prerequisites

Docker container running on EC2 (port 3000)
AWS CLI configured with permissions to ec2:DescribeInstances
jq and curl installed on the Jenkins agent
Jenkins credentials (AWS Access Key & Secret) stored (e.g., ID aws-s3-ec2-lambda-creds)

Ensure your EC2 instance is tagged with Name=dev-deploy. This tag is used to filter and locate the instance dynamically.

1. Verify the Running Container

Log into your EC2 instance and confirm the application is up:

ubuntu@ip-172-31-25-250:~$ sudo docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                        COMMAND                  CREATED           STATUS          PORTS                    NAMES
cab88363d990   siddharth67/solar-system:5376ef094c479356f…   "docker-entrypoint.s…"   53 minutes ago    Up 53 minutes   0.0.0.0:3000->3000/tcp   solar-system

2. Create the Integration Test Script

At the root of your Git repo, add integration-testing-ec2.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

echo "Integration test starting..."
aws --version

# Fetch instances and parse JSON
DATA=$(aws ec2 describe-instances)
echo "Raw describe-instances response: $DATA"

# Extract public DNS for tag "dev-deploy"
URL=$(echo "$DATA" \
  | jq -r '.Reservations[].Instances[]
      | select(.Tags[].Value == "dev-deploy")
      | .PublicDnsName')

echo "Discovered URL: $URL"
[[ -z "$URL" ]] && { echo "Failed to fetch URL; check AWS credentials and tags."; exit 1; }

# Define endpoints
declare -A ENDPOINTS=(
  ["/live"]="GET"
  ["/planet"]="POST"
)

# Test /live
HTTP_CODE=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "http://$URL:3000/live")
echo "HTTP status code at /live: $HTTP_CODE"

# Test /planet
PLANET_DATA=$(curl -s -X POST "http://$URL:3000/planet" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"id":"3"}')
echo "Response from /planet: $PLANET_DATA"

PLANET_NAME=$(echo "$PLANET_DATA" | jq -r '.name')
echo "Parsed planet name: $PLANET_NAME"

# Validate responses
if [[ "$HTTP_CODE" -eq 200 && "$PLANET_NAME" == "Earth" ]]; then
  echo "Integration tests passed."
else
  echo "One or more integration tests failed."
  exit 1
fi

Make it executable:

chmod +x integration-testing-ec2.sh

3. AWS CLI: `describe-instances`

We use the AWS CLI’s describe-instances to list EC2 instances and filter by tag.

The image shows a webpage from the AWS CLI Command Reference, specifically the documentation for the "describe-instances" command. It includes a table of contents, a note about AWS CLI versioning, and a description of the command's functionality.

Example JSON snippet:

{
  "Reservations": [
    {
      "Instances": [
        {
          "InstanceId": "i-1234567890abcdef0",
          "PublicDnsName": "ec2-34-253-223-13.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com",
          "PublicIpAddress": "34.253.223.13",
          "Tags": [
            { "Key": "Name", "Value": "dev-deploy" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

We extract .PublicDnsName where .Tags[].Value == "dev-deploy" using jq.

4. Integrating with Jenkins Pipeline

We’ll add a new stage Integration Testing – AWS EC2 in the Jenkinsfile:

Trigger on feature/* branches
Use withAWS (AWS Pipeline Steps plugin) for credentials and region
Execute our shell script

Store your AWS credentials securely in Jenkins Credentials. Never hard-code keys in your Jenkinsfile.

Credentials Setup

The image shows a Jenkins dashboard displaying a list of stored credentials, including IDs and names for various services like MongoDB, Gitea, and AWS.

Generate `withAWS` Snippet

Use Jenkins’ Pipeline Syntax to obtain:

The image shows a Jenkins Pipeline Syntax configuration page, where AWS settings are being set for a nested block, including fields for region, endpoint URL, and credentials.

Jenkinsfile Stage

stage('Integration Testing - AWS EC2') {
  when {
    branch 'feature/*'
  }
  steps {
    sh 'printenv | grep -i branch'

    withAWS(credentials: 'aws-s3-ec2-lambda-creds', region: 'us-east-2') {
      sh 'bash integration-testing-ec2.sh'
    }
  }
}

5. Pipeline Execution & Results

After pushing changes, the new stage runs automatically. Here’s a successful pipeline:

The image shows a Jenkins pipeline interface for a project named "solar-system," displaying various stages of a build process, with most stages completed successfully. The integration testing section provides details on specific tasks and their statuses.

Log excerpt:

$ printenv | grep -i branch
BRANCH_NAME=feature/enabling-cicd

[Integration Testing - AWS EC2] $ bash integration-testing-ec2.sh
Integration test starting...
aws-cli/2.17.56 Python/3.10.6 Linux/...
Raw describe-instances response: { ... }
Discovered URL: ec2-3-140-244-188.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com
HTTP status code at /live: 200
Response from /planet: {"id":3,"name":"Earth"}
Parsed planet name: Earth
Integration tests passed.

6. Summary of Endpoints Tested

Endpoint	Method	Expected Output
/live	GET	200 OK
/planet	POST	`{"id":3,"name":"Earth"}`

With this setup, each commit on a feature branch dynamically locates the EC2 instance, verifies service health, and enforces basic integration tests before completing the pipeline.

Introduction and Basics

Jenkins Setup and Interface

Extending Jenkins and Administration

Jenkins Pipelines

Automation and Security

Setting up CI Pipeline

Code Quality and Testing

Containerization and Deployment

Kubernetes and GitOps

AWS Lambda and Advanced Deployment Techniques

Jenkins Administration and Monitoring - Part 1

Shared Libraries in Jenkins

Agents and Nodes in Jenkins

Pipeline Enhancement and Caching

Pipeline Structure and Scripted vs Declarative

Jenkins Administration and Monitoring - Part 2

Backup and Configuration Management

Demo Integration Testing AWS EC2 Instance

Prerequisites

1. Verify the Running Container

2. Create the Integration Test Script

3. AWS CLI: `describe-instances`

4. Integrating with Jenkins Pipeline

Credentials Setup

Generate `withAWS` Snippet

Jenkinsfile Stage

5. Pipeline Execution & Results

6. Summary of Endpoints Tested

References

Watch Video

​Prerequisites

​1. Verify the Running Container

​2. Create the Integration Test Script

​3. AWS CLI: describe-instances

​4. Integrating with Jenkins Pipeline

​Credentials Setup

​Generate withAWS Snippet

​Jenkinsfile Stage

​5. Pipeline Execution & Results

​6. Summary of Endpoints Tested

​References

Watch Video

Prerequisites

1. Verify the Running Container

2. Create the Integration Test Script

3. AWS CLI: `describe-instances`

4. Integrating with Jenkins Pipeline

Credentials Setup

Generate `withAWS` Snippet

Jenkinsfile Stage

5. Pipeline Execution & Results

6. Summary of Endpoints Tested

References