Part 1: Understanding CI/CD with AWS CodePipeline (A Jenkins Comparison)

When we talk about CI/CD (Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery/Deployment), the first name that usually pops into mind is Jenkins. For years, Jenkins has been the go-to orchestrator for building pipelines, integrating tools, and automating deployments.

But in the AWS ecosystem, we have something equally powerful and fully managed: AWS CodePipeline.
Just like Jenkins plays a central role in traditional CI/CD setups, CodePipeline acts as the orchestrator for AWS-native CI/CD workflows.

So, why wait? Let’s dive in and understand CodePipeline by comparing it with the Jenkins ecosystem.

CI/CD with Jenkins – The Traditional Flow

In a typical Jenkins setup:

1. Source Code → Stored in GitHub (or another VCS).

2. Webhook → A commit triggers Jenkins.

3. Pipeline Execution → Jenkins runs the configured pipeline.

4. CI Phase →

   • Build

   • Test

   • Image Creation

   • Security Scan

   • Push to Registry

👉 These phases vary from one organization to another. Some add more steps like linting, integration tests, or SAST scans.

5. CD Phase → Deployment strategies differ:

   • GitOps (recommended for modern clusters)

   • Ansible / Shell scripts for servers

   • Helm charts for Kubernetes

Here, Jenkins acts as the orchestrator that manages the CI process and then triggers the CD process.

CI/CD with AWS CodePipeline – The Managed Approach

Now, let’s map the Jenkins workflow to AWS services with CodePipeline:

1. Source Stage →

   • CodePipeline connects to a Git-based repo (e.g., GitHub).

   • Note: AWS CodeCommit was an option, but it’s now deprecated, so GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket is commonly used.

2. CI Stage (Continuous Integration) →

   • Orchestrated by CodePipeline, executed by CodeBuild.

   • Build steps (defined in buildspec.yml) can include:

     • Build

     • Test

     • Image Creation

     • Security Scan

     • Push to ECR (Elastic Container Registry)

👉 Just like Jenkins build phases, these steps are configurable and depend on organizational needs.

3. CD Stage (Continuous Delivery/Deployment) →

   • Handled by CodeDeploy or other AWS services.

   • Deployment targets could be:

     • EC2 / Auto Scaling Groups

     • ECS / EKS (Containers)

     • Lambda (Serverless)

   • GitOps-like workflows can also be integrated for Kubernetes clusters.

Jenkins vs CodePipeline Mapping

👉 In simple terms: CodePipeline = Jenkins,
CodeBuild = Jenkins Pipeline,
CodeDeploy = Deployment tools (GitOps/Ansible/etc.)

Why Choose CodePipeline?

• Fully Managed → No need to maintain Jenkins servers.

• Native AWS Integration → Works seamlessly with AWS services.

• Scalable & Secure → IAM-based permissions and auto-scaling builds.

• Pay-as-you-go → Cost-efficient compared to self-hosting Jenkins.’

Key Takeaway:
If Jenkins is the heart of CI/CD in traditional setups, then in AWS, CodePipeline is the heart, with CodeBuild for CI and CodeDeploy for CD.

This forms the foundation of CI/CD on AWS—and in the upcoming parts of this series, we’ll go deeper into each stage with hands-on examples.

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👉 Next in the series: "Part 2 – Setting up Your First Pipeline in AWS CodePipeline"