Migrating from Jenkins to GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions and Jenkins share many similarities but key difference in syntax and structure.

Terminology Mapping

Jenkins	GitHub Actions
Pipelines	Workflows
Agent / Node	Runner
Stage	Job (Note: GitHub jobs run in parallel by default, Jenkins stages are sequential)
Step	Step
Jenkinsfile	.github/workflows/*.yml

Syntax Comparison

Jenkins Declarative Pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                sh 'npm install'
                sh 'npm run build'
            }
        }
    }
}

GitHub Actions Workflow

name: CI
on: [push]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm run build

Key Differences

• Concurrency: Jenkins stages run sequentially by default. GitHub Actions jobs run in parallel by default (use needs to enforce order).
• Environment: GitHub Actions runners are fresh VMs every time (unless self-hosted). Jenkins workspaces persist (often).
• Plugins: Jenkins relies heavily on plugins installed on the controller. GitHub Actions uses "Actions" which are often referenced directly from the Marketplace relative to the repo.

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