Q: Jenkins agents keep running out of disk space. What do you do?
1. Workspace cleanup — add cleanWs() at the end of every pipeline. Removes workspace files after the build.
#CI/CD #Jenkins & Pipeline Configuration #L2 #DevOps #Automation #Pipelines
🎙️ Candidate Opening & Architectural Context
""When developers encounter this build or release bottleneck, my first goal is unblocking velocity safely. When addressing this question, I walk the interviewer through our production incident runbook: isolating the blast radius, checking diagnostic logs and metrics, and applying a safe fix.""
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🛠️ Production Runbook & Step-by-Step Resolution
1️⃣
Initial Diagnostics & Root Cause Analysis
- Workspace cleanup — add
cleanWs()at the end of every pipeline. Removes workspace files after the build. - Docker image cleanup — old Docker images accumulate. Add
docker system prune -fas a periodic maintenance job. - Build log rotation — set
discard old buildspolicy: keep only last 10 builds, max 30 days. - Artifact cleanup — don't archive large artifacts in Jenkins. Push to Nexus/Artifactory/S3 instead.
2️⃣
Remediation & Permanent Safeguards
Execute the resolution runbook and verify workload health:
- Larger/separate disk — mount a dedicated large volume for Jenkins workspaces.
- Kubernetes agents — use ephemeral K8s pods as agents. Each build gets a fresh pod, then it's deleted. No disk accumulation.
💡 The Senior SRE Gold Nugget (Key Architectural Takeaway)
"Pro-Tip: Workspace cleanup — add cleanWs() at the end of every pipeline. Removes workspace files after the build.."
⚡ 60-Second Elevator Pitch Talking Points
- Workspace cleanup — add cleanWs() at the end of every pipeline. Removes workspace files after the...
- Docker image cleanup — old Docker images accumulate. Add docker system prune -f as a periodic mai...
- Build log rotation — set discard old builds policy: keep only last 10 builds, max 30 days.
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