Controller-Light CI/CD with Jenkins: Remote Container Builds and Automated Artifact Delivery

Abstract: Traditional Jenkins installations often perform resource-intensive builds directly on the controller, which can overload system resources and decrease reliability. This paper presents a controller-light CI/CD framework in which Jenkins runs as a containerized controller with persistent volumes, delegating heavy build and packaging operations to a remote Docker host. The controller container maintains secure SSH connections to remote compute nodes and focuses solely on orchestration and reporting. Atomic deployments with time-stamped backups, containerized build environments, immutable artifact packaging, and automatic notifications are all integrated into the system. Experimental evaluation shows reduced CPU and RAM usage on the controller, faster build throughput, and lower artifact delivery latency. For small and medium-sized DevOps organizations looking for scalable automation without adding orchestration complexity, this method offers a repeatable, low-maintenance CI/CD pipeline.