How can I use Jenkins' ExportParametersBuilder in a Pipeline? - jenkins

Question

I'm migrating a Free Style job to a Pipeline on Jenkins. The Freestyle Job uses the ExportParametersBuilder (Export Parameters to File) plug-in. This is important for our workflow because the application expects the parameters as a JSON file.
I have tried with a Basic Step, as documented in Pipeline: Basic Steps - Jenkins documentation (search for ExportParametersBuilder):
step([
$class: 'ExportParametersBuilder',
filePath: 'config/parameters',
fileFormat: 'json',
keyPattern: '',
useRegexp: 'false'
])
But when I try to run the Pipeline I get the following error:
No known implementation of interface jenkins.tasks.SimpleBuildStep is named ExportParametersBuilder
The Pipeline Job is running on the same Jenkins instance as the Freestyle Job (which is currently working). So, the Plug-in is installed and working. I'm not sure why this is happening.
Does anyone knows if this plug-in can be used in Pipeline Jobs? And if so, how? What am I missing?
If it cannot be used, my apologies, Jenkins' documentation is often misleading.

Answer 1

I couldn't find a way to use the plug-in but I found an alternative. I'm leaving it here in case it results useful for someone else.
// Import the JsonOutput class at the top of your Jenkinsfile
import groovy.json.JsonOutput
...
stage('Environment Setup') {
steps {
writeFile(file: 'config/parameters.json', text: JsonOutput.toJson(params))
}
}
This is probably not the cleanest, or the most elegant way to do it but it works. The params are all written to the JSON file and the JsonOutput class takes care of all the escaping magic and so on.
Do keep in mind that the format of the JSON file is a little different from the one ExportParametersBuilder created, so you'll need to adapt for it:
ExportParametersBuilder format:
[
...
{
"key": "target_node",
"value": "c3po"
}
...
]
JsonOutput format:
{
...
"target_node": "c3po"
...
}