Artifacts and Build Outputs

Learn the concepts, preservation step methods, wildcards matching syntax, and post-build workflows required to securely capture and archive your pipeline's compiled output binaries.

What are Artifacts and Build Outputs?

In continuous integration, a successful compilation stage produces physical assets like `.jar`, `.war`, `.zip` files, or test diagnostic reports. These compiled deliverables are known as Artifacts. Because Jenkins agent node workspaces are transient and often wiped between jobs to save room, key outputs must be safely exported to the controller node for permanent preservation.

Core Archival Rules

Managing build outputs effectively relies on three specific execution and structural patterns:

• The `archiveArtifacts` Step: The dedicated post-build instruction directive used to pull targeted file formats out of the isolated workspace directory structure before the agent node spins down.
• Ant-Style Wildcard Matching (`**/*`): The file matching syntax structure used to filter out noise and isolate target file paths (e.g., targeting `target/*.jar` to capture compiled Java binaries while ignoring intermediate `.class` files).
• Long-Term Retention: Saved files are bound directly to the historic metadata profile page of that specific individual build number, making them accessible via the web interface dashboard or API calls.

Key Concepts

Practical Jenkins Example

The following declarative blueprint demonstrates how to compile a mock software binary package and configure an automated asset fallback archive operation inside the `post` completion block:

pipeline {
    agent any











    stages {
        stage('Compile and Package Application') {
            steps {
                echo 'Initializing application build script targets...'
                // Creating a mock directory structure and population file
                sh 'mkdir -p dist/'
                sh 'echo "Build Executable Payload v1.0.0" > dist/app-payload.jar'
                sh 'echo "System Metrics Log" > dist/test-report.html'
                sh 'ls -la dist/'
            }
        }
    }

    // Archiving build deliverables securely once execution stages terminate
    post {
        success {
            echo 'Active build stages passed successfully. Migrating output files to controller storage...'
            // Archiving all HTML files and JAR packages inside the dist folder
            archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'dist/*.jar, dist/*.html', fingerprint: true, onlyIfSuccessful: true
        }
        failure {
            echo 'Pipeline abnormalities detected. Bypassing asset packaging workflows.'
        }
    }
}

Practice Exercise: Package and Archive a Build Deliverable