I am trying the access the values set on a job's configuration page from within my pipeline. These values are not made available as params, nor are they injected as envvars.
Setup
Jenkins, v2.263.1
GitLab Branch Source plugin, v1.5.3 (link)
Multibranch pipeline job which is pointed to a Gitlab repo
Remote Jenkinsfile Provider, v1.13 (link)
Problem
Ordinarily, one would have a Jenkinsfile in the root of the repo and therefore the scm would be associated with the repo we want to checkout and build. However, in my case the code I want to build is in a different repo to the Jenkinsfile (hence the Remote Jenkinsfile Provider plugin).
This means that I need to checkout the code I wish to build as an explicit step in the pipeline, and to do that I need to know the repo. This repo is, however, already defined in the job config.
The Branch Source plugin does export things like the branch name or merge request number/branch/target into appropriate envvars, but NOT the actual repo.
As this is a multibranch pipeline, I cannot use something like envInject either (multibranch jobs do not provide the option to 'Prepare an environment for the run' as with other jobs)
Goal
I would like to be able to access the server, owner and project fields set in the job config page. Ultimately I could manage with just the project's ssh/http address even.
Is there some clever way of accessing a job's config from within the pipeline?
Thanks for any suggestions!
Reference images
Within the gitlab branch source plugin (and the documentation) you have a lot more information, than just with the normal branch source plugin. there are environment variables for the project like GITLAB_PROJECT_GIT_SSH_URL/GITLAB_PROJECT_GIT_HTTPS_URL for the git source and many more. So far i did not see one for the server, but that would be parse-able our of the URLs.
Within this information, it should be fairly easy to checkout the repository and build it.
As through the process it came clear, that it is needed to also trigger the pipeline manually, and this is normally also possible with variables (not sure about the Remote File plugin). I assume your Jenkinsfile is a groovy script, which opens up a lot of possibilities. You can define variables and use some logic to determine if the env variable or the parameter is used.
pipeline {
parameters {
string(name: 'projectUrl', defaultValue: "")
}
stages {
stage('Prepare') {
steps {
def projectUrl = env.GITLAB_PROJECT_GIT_SSH_URL ?: params.projectUrl
// DO Checkout with projectUrl
}
}
}
}
The only critical thing you have to take into account, is that the multibranch pipeline, has to run once, for each branch or mr - so they detect the variables. Afterwards you can easily trigger it, manually by providing your values.
This allows you, to utilize webhooks for automatic actions, and also allows you to trigger the build manually when ever you like.
Sidenote: if you use the centralized jenkinsfile, for reducing duplication, you might also want to checkout Shared libraries for jenkins.
For completeness, here is a list of all current environment variables added by the jenkins gitlab branch source plugin version 1.5.3 (and only for Push Events - but they are pretty similar in the other event types too)
GITLAB_OBJECT_KIND
GITLAB_AFTER
GITLAB_BEFORE
GITLAB_REF
GITLAB_CHECKOUT_SHA
GITLAB_USER_ID
GITLAB_USER_NAME
GITLAB_USER_EMAIL
GITLAB_PROJECT_ID
GITLAB_PROJECT_ID_2
GITLAB_PROJECT_NAME
GITLAB_PROJECT_DESCRIPTION
GITLAB_PROJECT_WEB_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_AVATAR_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_GIT_SSH_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_GIT_HTTP_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_NAMESPACE
GITLAB_PROJECT_VISIBILITY_LEVEL
GITLAB_PROJECT_PATH_NAMESPACE
GITLAB_PROJECT_CI_CONFIG_PATH
GITLAB_PROJECT_DEFAULT_BRANCH
GITLAB_PROJECT_HOMEPAGE
GITLAB_PROJECT_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_SSH_URL
GITLAB_PROJECT_HTTP_URL
GITLAB_REPO_NAME
GITLAB_REPO_URL
GITLAB_REPO_DESCRIPTION
GITLAB_REPO_HOMEPAGE
GITLAB_REPO_GIT_SSH_URL
GITLAB_REPO_GIT_HTTP_URL
GITLAB_REPO_VISIBILITY_LEVEL
GITLAB_COMMIT_COUNT
GITLAB_COMMIT_ID_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_MESSAGE_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_TIMESTAMP_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_URL_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_AVATAR_URL_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_CREATED_AT_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_ID_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_NAME_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_STATE_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_USERNAME_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_AUTHOR_WEB_URL_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_ADDED_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_MODIFIED_#
GITLAB_COMMIT_REMOVED_#
GITLAB_REQUEST_URL
GITLAB_REQUEST_STRING
GITLAB_REQUEST_TOKEN
GITLAB_REFS_HEAD
I have a multibranch pipeline in Jenkins. I want to include my script file (jenkinsfile) as svn file external into my development branches to organize the script centralized for all branches. Unfortunately the scan of the multibranch pipeline isn't able to find the script file as it is only looking inside the declared branch and not in the included svn external locations.
Has anyone an idea how can I fix this?
Below is an example of my svn structure, job config and further information.
SVN:
root/
scripts/
jenkinsfile
code/
version1/
branchX/
...
version11/
branchY/
...
SVN external property for branchX, branchY, etc.
Local path: jenkinsfile
URL: ^/scripts/jenkinsfile
Revision Peg: 12345
Multibranch job configuration:
Subversion
Project Repository Base: http://.../root/code/
Include branches: version1/branchX, version11/branchY
Build configuration
Mode: by Jenkinsfile
Script path: jenkinsfile
Log message of scan in multibranch pipeline:
...
Checking candidate branch /code/version1/branchX#HEAD
‘jenkinsfile’ not found
Does not meet criteria
...
I already tried to disable the lightweight checkout of the subversion scm plugin according to this advice:
Multibranch pipeline with jenkinsfile in svn:external
(I've added -Djenkins.scm.impl.subversion.SubversionSCMFileSystem.disable=true under <service><arguments>... in jenkins.xml)
But jenkins is still not able to find the script. And in fact if I put my script directly in e.g. branchX the disabled lightweight checkout leads to a double checkout into my workspace (first one to read the script file and second one as it's my first stage in the script itself).
Maybe my whole setup is wrong too or not the ideal way of doing?
I would be pleased about your help and tips. Thanks and Greetings!
If you are working on a linux or bsd(osx) system, you could create a hard-link from root/scripts/jenkinsfile to root/code/version#/branchX/jenkinsfile for each active branch
That way, each branch will have its own jenkinsfile available locally, enabling you to use the lightweight checkout, and any change you introduce to the jenkinsfile in any location will be available to all other branches (the file system will keep a single copy of the file, regardless of being accessible form many different locations).
The bash command to create such link will be
ln root/scripts/jenkinsfile root/code/version#/branchX/jenkinsfile
You will need to remember to create a new link each time a branch is created, or automate that using hooks
In my jenkins instance, I create a item with type "Github Organization" and configure this jenkins item with Projects > Github Organization > Behaviors > "Check out to matching local branch" as below screenshot
I suppose this setting will help checkout the code from github so I don't include checkout action in the jenkinsfile. However, when the jenkins job is triggred by a github code commit. No source code is checkout.
I have seen another jenkins item created as "Multibranch Pipeline" and configure with "Checkout out to matching local branch." In this case, the code is checked out although the corresponding jenkinsfile doesn't have checkout step.
Please help check why this setting doesn't work in "Github Organization" type jenkins item. Is it a bug? or I make some mistake in the setting.
Thank you in advance.
answer by myself. The checkout code action is not triggered by "Checking out to match local branch". So even this setting is checked, the checkout code doesn't happen.
In github organization or multi-branch jenkins job, "checkout scm" DSL is used to checkout the code.
Don't know how to add the screenshot when posting message so update my jenkins setting here
Jenkins Seeting
When writing jenkins pipelines it seems to be very inconvenient to commit each new change in order to see if it works.
Is there a way to execute these locally without committing the code?
You cannot execute a Pipeline script locally, since its whole purpose is to script Jenkins. (Which is one reason why it is best to keep your Jenkinsfile short and limited to code which actually deals with Jenkins features; your actual build logic should be handled with external processes or build tools which you invoke via a one-line sh or bat step.)
If you want to test a change to Jenkinsfile live but without committing it, use the Replay feature added in 1.14.
JENKINS-33925 tracks the feature request for an automated test framework.
I have a solution that works well for me. It consists of a local jenkins running in docker and a git web hook to trigger the pipeline in the local jenkins on every commit. You no longer need to push to your github or bitbucket repository to test the pipeline.
This has only been tested in a linux environment.
It is fairly simple to make this work although this instruction is a tad long. Most steps are there.
This is what you need
Docker installed and working. This is not part of this instruction.
A Jenkins running in docker locally. Explained how below.
The proper rights (ssh access key) for your local Jenkins docker user to pull from your local git repo. Explained how below.
A Jenkins pipeline project that pulls from your local git repository. Explained below.
A git user in your local Jenkins with minimal rights. Explained below.
A git project with a post-commit web hook that triggers the pipeline project. Explained below.
This is how you do it
Jenkins Docker
Create a file called Dockerfile in place of your choosing. I'm placing it in /opt/docker/jenkins/Dockerfile fill it with this:
FROM jenkins/jenkins:lts
USER root
RUN apt-get -y update && apt-get -y upgrade
# Your needed installations goes here
USER jenkins
Build the local_jenkins image
This you will need to do only once or after you have added something to the Dockerfile.
$ docker build -t local_jenkins /opt/docker/jenkins/
Start and restart local_jenkins
From time to time you want to start and restart jenkins easily. E.g. after a reboot of your machine. For this I made an alias that I put in .bash_aliases in my home folder.
$ echo "alias localjenkinsrestart='docker stop jenkins;docker rm jenkins;docker run --name jenkins -i -d -p 8787:8080 -p 50000:50000 -v /opt/docker/jenkins/jenkins_home:/var/jenkins_home:rw local_jenkins'" >> ~/.bash_aliases
$ source .bash_aliases # To make it work
Make sure the /opt/docker/jenkins/jenkins_home folder exists and that you have user read and write rights to it.
To start or restart your jenkins just type:
$ localjenkinsrestart
Everything you do in your local jenkins will be stored in the folder /opt/docker/jenkins/jenkins_home and preserved between restarts.
Create a ssh access key in your docker jenkins
This is a very important part for this to work. First we start the docker container and create a bash shell to it:
$ localjenkinsrestart
$ docker exec -it jenkins /bin/bash
You have now entered into the docker container, this you can see by something like jenkins#e7b23bad10aa:/$ in your terminal. The hash after the # will for sure differ.
Create the key
jenkins#e7b23bad10aa:/$ ssh-keygen
Press enter on all questions until you get the prompt back
Copy the key to your computer. From within the docker container your computer is 172.17.0.1 should you wonder.
jenkins#e7b23bad10aa:/$ ssh-copy-id user#172.17.0.1
user = your username and 172.17.0.1 is the ip address to your computer from within the docker container.
You will have to type your password at this point.
Now lets try to complete the loop by ssh-ing to your computer from within the docker container.
jenkins#e7b23bad10aa:/$ ssh user#172.17.0.1
This time you should not need to enter you password. If you do, something went wrong and you have to try again.
You will now be in your computers home folder. Try ls and have a look.
Do not stop here since we have a chain of ssh shells that we need to get out of.
$ exit
jenkins#e7b23bad10aa:/$ exit
Right! Now we are back and ready to continue.
Install your Jenkins
You will find your local Jenkins in your browser at http://localhost:8787.
First time you point your browser to your local Jenkins your will be greated with a Installation Wizard.
Defaults are fine, do make sure you install the pipeline plugin during the setup though.
Setup your jenkins
It is very important that you activate matrix based security on http://localhost:8787/configureSecurity and give yourself all rights by adding yourself to the matrix and tick all the boxes. (There is a tick-all-boxes icon on the far right)
Select Jenkins’ own user database as the Security Realm
Select Matrix-based security in the Authorization section
Write your username in the field User/group to add: and click on the [ Add ] button
In the table above your username should pop up with a people icon next to it. If it is crossed over you typed your username incorrectly.
Go to the far right of the table and click on the tick-all-button or manually tick all the boxes in your row.
Please verify that the checkbox Prevent Cross Site Request Forgery exploits is unchecked. (Since this Jenkins is only reachable from your computer this isn't such a big deal)
Click on [ Save ] and log out of Jenkins and in again just to make sure it works.
If it doesn't you have to start over from the beginning and emptying the /opt/docker/jenkins/jenkins_home folder before restarting
Add the git user
We need to allow our git hook to login to our local Jenkins with minimal rights. Just to see and build jobs is sufficient. Therefore we create a user called git with password login.
Direct your browser to http://localhost:8787/securityRealm/addUser and add git as username and login as password.
Click on [ Create User ].
Add the rights to the git user
Go to the http://localhost:8787/configureSecurity page in your browser. Add the git user to the matrix:
Write git in the field User/group to add: and click on [ Add ]
Now it is time to check the boxes for minimal rights to the git user. Only these are needed:
overall:read
job:build
job:discover
job:read
Make sure that the Prevent Cross Site Request Forgery exploits checkbox is unchecked and click on [ Save ]
Create the pipeline project
We assume we have the username user and our git enabled project with the Jenkinsfile in it is called project and is located at /home/user/projects/project
In your http://localhost:8787 Jenkins add a new pipeline project. I named it hookpipeline for reference.
Click on New Item in the Jenkins menu
Name the project hookpipeline
Click on Pipeline
Click [ OK ]
Tick the checkbox Poll SCM in the Build Triggers section. Leave the Schedule empty.
In the Pipeline section:
select Pipeline script from SCM
in the Repository URL field enter user#172.17.0.1:projects/project/.git
in the Script Path field enter Jenkinsfile
Save the hookpipeline project
Build the hookpipeline manually once, this is needed for the Poll SCM to start working.
Create the git hook
Go to the /home/user/projects/project/.git/hooks folder and create a file called post-commit that contains this:
#!/bin/sh
BRANCHNAME=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
MASTERBRANCH='master'
curl -XPOST -u git:login http://localhost:8787/job/hookpipeline/build
echo "Build triggered successfully on branch: $BRANCHNAME"
Make this file executable:
$ chmod +x /home/user/projects/project/.git/hooks/post-commit
Test the post-commit hook:
$ /home/user/projects/project/.git/hooks/post-commit
Check in Jenkins if your hookpipeline project was triggered.
Finally make some arbitrary change to your project, add the changes and do a commit. This will now trigger the pipeline in your local Jenkins.
Happy Days!
TL;DR
Jenkins Pipeline Unit testing framework
Jenkinsfile Runner
Long Version
Jenkins Pipeline testing becomes more and more of a pain. Unlike the classic declarative job configuration approach where the user was limited to what the UI exposed the new Jenkins Pipeline is a full fledged programming language for the build process where you mix the declarative part with your own code. As good developers we want to have some unit tests for this kind of code as well.
There are three steps you should follow when developing Jenkins Pipelines. The step 1. should cover 80% of the uses cases.
Do as much as possible in build scripts (eg. Maven, Gradle, Gulp etc.). Then in your pipeline scripts just calls the build tasks in the right order. The build pipeline just orchestrates and executes the build tasks but does not have any major logic that needs a special testing.
If the previous rule can't be fully applied then move over to Pipeline Shared libraries where you can develop and test custom logic on its own and integrate them into the pipeline.
If all of the above fails you, you can try one of those libraries that came up recently (March-2017). Jenkins Pipeline Unit testing framework or pipelineUnit (examples). Since 2018 there is also Jenkinsfile Runner, a package to execution Jenkins pipelines from a command line tool.
Examples
The pipelineUnit GitHub repo contains some Spock examples on how to use Jenkins Pipeline Unit testing framework
Jenkins has a 'Replay' feature, which enables you to quickly replay a job without updating sources:
At the moment of writing (end of July 2017) with the Blue Ocean plugin you can check the syntax of a declarative pipeline directly in the visual pipeline editor. The editor, works from the Blue Ocean UI when you click "configure" only for github projects (this is a known issue and they are working to make it work also on git etc).
But, as explained in this question you can open the editor browsing to:
[Jenkins URL]/blue/organizations/jenkins/pipeline-editor/
Then click in the middle of the page, and press Ctrl+S, this will open a textarea where you can paste a pipeline declarative script. When you click on Update, if there is a syntax error, the editor will let you know where the syntax error is. Like in this screenshot:
If there is no syntax error, the textarea will close and the page will visualize your pipeline. Don't worry it won't save anything (if it's a github project it would commit the Jenkinsfile change).
I'm new to Jenkins and this is quite helpful, without this I had to commit a Jenkinsfile many times, till it works (very annoying!). Hope this helps. Cheers.
A bit late to the party, but that's why I wrote jenny, a small reimplementation of some core Jenkinsfile steps. (https://github.com/bmustiata/jenny)
In my development setup – missing a proper Groovy editor – a great deal of Jenkinsfile issues originates from simple syntax errors. To tackle this issue, you can validate the Jenkinsfile against your Jenkins instance (running at $JENKINS_HTTP_URL):
curl -X POST -H $(curl '$JENKINS_HTTP_URL/crumbIssuer/api/xml?xpath=concat(//crumbRequestField,":",//crumb)') -F "jenkinsfile=<Jenkinsfile" $JENKINS_HTTP_URL/pipeline-model-converter/validate
The above command is a slightly modified version from
https://github.com/jenkinsci/pipeline-model-definition-plugin/wiki/Validating-(or-linting)-a-Declarative-Jenkinsfile-from-the-command-line
As far as i know this Pipeline Plugin is the "Engine" of the new Jenkinsfile mechanics, so im quite positive you could use this to locally test your scripts.
Im not sure if there is any additional steps needed when you copy it into a Jenkinsfile, however the syntax etc should be exactly the same.
Edit: Found the reference on the "engine", check this feature description, last paragraph, first entry.
For simplicity, you can create a Jenkinsfile at the root of the git repository, similar to the below example 'Jenkinsfile' based on the groovy syntax of the declarative pipeline.
pipeline {
agent any
stages {
stage('Build the Project') {
steps {
git 'https://github.com/jaikrgupta/CarthageAPI-1.0.git'
echo pwd()
sh 'ls -alrt'
sh 'pip install -r requirements.txt'
sh 'python app.py &'
echo "Build stage gets finished here"
}
}
stage('Test') {
steps {
sh 'chmod 777 ./scripts/test-script.sh'
sh './scripts/test-script.sh'
sh 'cat ./test-reports/test_script.log'
echo "Test stage gets finished here"
}
}
}
https://github.com/jaikrgupta/CarthageAPI-1.0.git
You can now set up a new item in Jenkins as a Pipeline job.
Select the Definition as Pipeline script from SCM and Git for the SCM option.
Paste the project's git repo link in the Repository URL and Jenkinsfile in the script name box.
Then click on the lightweight checkout option and save the project.
So whenever you pushed a commit to the git repo, you can always test the changes running the Build Now every time in Jenkins.
Please follow the instructions in the below visuals for easy setup a Jenkins Pipeline's job.
Aside from the Replay feature that others already mentioned (ditto on its usefulness!), I found the following to be useful as well:
Create a test Pipeline job where you can type in Pipeline code or point to your repo/branch of a Jenkinsfile to quickly test out something. For more accurate testing, use a Multibranch Pipeline that points to your own fork where you can quickly make changes and commit without affecting prod. Stuff like BRANCH_NAME env is only available in Multibranch.
Since Jenkinsfile is Groovy code, simply invoke it with "groovy Jenkinsfile" to validate basic syntax.
Put your SSH key into your Jenkins profile, then use the declarative linter as follows:
ssh jenkins.hostname.here declarative-linter < Jenkinsfile
This will do a static analysis on your Jenkinsfile. In the editor of your choice, define a keyboard shortcut that runs that command automatically. In Visual Studio Code, which is what I use, go to Tasks > Configure Tasks, then use the following JSON to create a Validate Jenkinsfile command:
{
"version": "2.0.0",
"tasks": [
{
"label": "Validate Jenkinsfile",
"type": "shell",
"command": "ssh jenkins.hostname declarative-linter < ${file}"
}
]
}
You can just validate your pipeline to find out syntax issues. Jenkins has nice API for Jenkisfile validation - https://jenkins_url/pipeline-model-converter/validate
Using curl and passing your .Jenkinsfile, you will get syntax check instantly
curl --user username:password -X POST -F "jenkinsfile=<jenkinsfile" https://jenkins_url/pipeline-model-converter/validate
You can add this workflow to editors:
VS Code
Sublime Text
Using the VS Code Jenkins Jack extension, you can have a way to test your Jenkinsfiles without use the git push way, from your local files to a local or remote running Jenkins. And you will have the running log of the job inside VS Code, the ability to create jobs in Jenkins and more staff. I hope this help to more people looking for a way to develop Jenkinsfiles.
i am using replay future , to do some update and run quickly .
With some limitations and for scripted pipelines I use this solution:
Pipeline job with an inlined groovy script:
node('master') {
stage('Run!') {
def script = load('...you job file...')
}
}
Jenkinsfile for testing have same structure as for lesfurets:
def execute() {
... main job code here ...
}
execute()
This is a short solution that lets me test Pipeline code very quickly:
pipeline {
agent any
options {
skipDefaultCheckout true
timestamps()
}
parameters {
text(name: 'SCRIPT', defaultValue: params.SCRIPT,
description: 'Groovy script')
}
stages {
stage("main") {
steps {
script {
writeFile file: 'script.groovy',
text: params.SCRIPT
def groovyScript = load 'script.groovy'
echo "Return value: " + groovyScript
}
} // steps
} // stage
} // stages
} // pipeline
skipDefaultCheckout true because we do not need the files in this tool git repository.
defaultValue: params.SCRIPT sets the default to the latest execution. If used by just one user, it allows for a very quick cycle of short tests.
The given script is written to a file, and loaded and with load.
With this setup I can test everything I can do inside my other Jenkinsfiles, including using shared libraries.
I am using Jenkins GitHub pull request builder plugin for running my unit tests when a pull request is made vis a vis a web hook. For the build step, I need to know the name of the branch that is being merged in (e.g. I need develop branch if merging that into master branch). Is there a way to get access to this in the Jenkins execute shell? Thanks,
Your link has the answer:
The plugin makes some very useful environment variables available.
ghprbActualCommit
ghprbActualCommitAuthor
ghprbActualCommitAuthorEmail
ghprbPullDescription
ghprbPullId
ghprbPullLink
ghprbPullTitle
ghprbSourceBranch
ghprbTargetBranch
sha1
You'll want to use $ghprbSourceBranch to get the value of the branch being built somewhere else in your script.
In the "Branch Specifier", enter ${sha1}.