[SOLVED] How Can You Show a Jenkins Pipeline Stage as Failed Without Failing the Whole Job? - jenkins

[SOLVED] Techniques to Indicate a Jenkins Pipeline Stage as Failed Without Affecting the Whole Job

In this article, we look at simple ways to show a Jenkins pipeline stage as failed. We want to do this without making the whole job fail. This is important for keeping our CI/CD processes working well. It helps us handle small errors better. It also makes sure our builds can keep going even when some stages have problems. By the end of this chapter, we will understand different ways in Jenkins to handle stage failures smoothly.

Here are the solutions we will talk about:

• Using currentBuild.result to Mark Stage as Unstable
• Using Try-Catch Blocks to Handle Failures
• Making a Custom Failure Condition
• Using catchError to Control Stage Results
• Using unstable to Show Non-Critical Failures
• Seeing Stage Results with Build Status Steps

If you want to learn more about Jenkins, you can check these resources: How Can I Mark Build as Unstable? and How to Fix Jenkins Pipeline Errors.

Stay with us as we explore each of these methods to handle stage failures in our Jenkins pipelines!

Part 1 - Using currentBuild.result to Mark Stage as Unstable

We can mark a stage as unstable in a Jenkins Pipeline without failing the whole job. We do this by using the currentBuild.result property. This helps us show that a stage has problems, but the overall build can still succeed.

Here is how we can do this:

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                echo 'Building...'
                // Simulate a build step
                script {
                    // If there's a condition that shows instability
                    if (someCondition) {
                        currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE' // We mark build as unstable
                        echo 'This stage is marked as unstable.'
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                echo 'Testing...'
                // We perform tests here
            }
        }
    }
    post {
        always {
            echo "Build Result: ${currentBuild.result}" // Print the build result
        }
    }
}

In this example, we need to replace someCondition with the real condition that makes the stage unstable. We can learn more about handling unstable builds by checking the unstable link. This will give us more ideas on how to manage build results better.

Part 2 - Using Try-Catch Blocks to Handle Failures

In Jenkins Pipeline, we can handle failures in a good way by using try-catch blocks. This helps us show a stage as failed without changing the whole job status. Here is how we can do this:

pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Example Stage') {
            steps {
                script {
                    try {
                        // Your command that might fail
                        sh 'exit 1' // This makes a failure
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                        // Set the stage as unstable
                        currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE'
                        echo "Caught exception: ${e.message}"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        stage('Next Stage') {
            steps {
                echo 'This stage runs even if the last one failed.'
            }
        }
    }
}

Explanation:

• The try block has the code that might fail. This can be shell commands.
• The catch block takes any exceptions and sets currentBuild.result to ‘UNSTABLE’. This shows that the build is not totally failing, but there was a problem in the stage.
• The next stages will still run even if the last stage had an error.

For more tips on how to mark builds as unstable, check out how to mark a build as unstable.

By using this way, we can handle errors better and make our Jenkins pipelines stronger.

Part 3 - Implementing a Custom Failure Condition

We can show a Jenkins pipeline stage as failed without failing the whole job. To do this, we use a custom failure condition. We can use the error() function inside a try-catch block. This way, we can manage specific failure situations while keeping the whole pipeline running. Here is how we can do it:

pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Example Stage') {
            steps {
                script {
                    try {
                        // Your logic here
                        if (someCondition) {
                            error("Custom failure message")
                        }
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                        currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE' // Mark the build as unstable
                        echo "Caught an error: ${e.message}"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

In this example:

• We need to replace someCondition with our own condition. This condition tells us if we should mark the stage as failed.
• The error() function causes a failure. We catch this in the catch block.
• We set currentBuild.result to ‘UNSTABLE’. This shows that the build has some issues but does not fail the whole job.

For more details on how to control build status and handle failures, please check this guide on marking builds as unstable.

Part 4 - Using catchError to Control Stage Results

In Jenkins Pipeline, we can use the catchError step to handle stage results without making the whole job fail. This is helpful when we want to mark a stage as failed but still run the next stages. Let’s see how to do this:

pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Example Stage') {
            steps {
                script {
                    catchError(buildResult: 'UNSTABLE', stageResult: 'FAILURE') {
                        // Your command that may fail
                        sh 'exit 1' // This simulates a failure
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        stage('Next Stage') {
            steps {
                echo 'This stage runs no matter what happened in the previous stage.'
            }
        }
    }
}

Explanation:

• The catchError block catches any failure that happens inside it.
• The buildResult parameter sets the overall build result like UNSTABLE.
• The stageResult parameter shows the result for that stage like FAILURE.

This way, we can show a Jenkins Pipeline stage as failed while still letting the job continue. This helps us to manage our build results better. If we want to learn more about marking builds as unstable, we can check this guide.

Part 5 - Using unstable to Indicate Non-Critical Failures

In a Jenkins pipeline, we can mark a stage as unstable. This shows there is a non-critical failure but does not change the overall job status. This is helpful when we want to report a problem but still let the pipeline finish successfully.

To mark a stage as unstable, we can use the unstable step in our pipeline script. Here is how we can do it:

pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Example') {
            steps {
                script {
                    // Simulating a condition that may cause an unstable status
                    def condition = true // Change this to false to see a different outcome
                    if (condition) {
                        echo 'This stage is unstable.'
                        currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE'
                        unstable('The stage has encountered a non-critical issue.')
                    } else {
                        echo 'This stage completed successfully.'
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Key Points

• The unstable step marks the build as unstable. We can see this in the Jenkins UI.
• We should use this method when we want to tell stakeholders about possible issues without failing the whole job.
• For more about marking builds as unstable, check out how can I mark build as unstable.

This method helps to show issues clearly while letting other stages finish. It works well for continuous integration workflows. We want to keep build stability while being aware of small issues.

Part 6 - Visualizing Stage Results with Build Status Steps

We can visualize Jenkins Pipeline stage results using the buildStatus steps. This helps us show the status of each stage in Jenkins UI clearly.

We can use the following syntax to set the build status before and after each stage:

pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Example Stage') {
            steps {
                script {
                    // Set initial status
                    currentBuild.result = 'SUCCESS'
                    // Your build steps here
                    try {
                        // Simulate a step that might fail
                        sh 'exit 1'
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                        // Set the build status to unstable
                        currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE'
                        echo "Caught exception: ${e.message}"
                    } finally {
                        // Visualize stage result
                        buildStatus('UNSTABLE')
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

In the example above, we use currentBuild.result to mark the build as SUCCESS or UNSTABLE. The try-catch block helps us deal with failures in a good way. After we finish the build steps, we call the buildStatus('UNSTABLE') function. This shows the stage result in the Jenkins UI.

If we want more control over the build status, we can add other steps like unstable to show non-critical failures. To learn more about handling build results, we can check the official Jenkins documentation.

Using these techniques can make it much better to visualize Jenkins Pipeline stage results. It helps our teams understand the status of their builds quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can we mark a Jenkins pipeline stage as unstable without failing the entire job?

We can use the currentBuild.result variable. This helps us mark a stage as unstable in our Jenkins pipeline. The job can still run while showing that a specific stage did not pass as we thought. If we want to know more about marking builds as unstable, we can check our guide on how can I mark build as unstable.

2. What is the best way to handle exceptions in Jenkins pipelines?

We can use try-catch blocks in our Jenkins pipeline script. This is a good way to handle exceptions. It lets us catch errors and do specific things without failing the whole job. For more details on capturing output from shell commands, we can look at our resource on how can I capture stdout from sh.

3. Can we create custom failure conditions in Jenkins?

Yes, we can make custom failure conditions in Jenkins. We do this by using Groovy scripting in our pipeline. This way, we can set specific rules for when a stage can be marked as failed or unstable. The whole job will not stop because of this. For more information, we can see our article on how to trigger Jenkins build.

4. How does the catchError function work in Jenkins pipelines?

The catchError function is a strong tool in Jenkins. It helps us catch errors in a specific stage without failing the whole build. When we use this function, we can control what happens in a stage and still let the pipeline continue. For more info on controlling stage results, we can check our article on how to fix Jenkins pipeline.

5. What does it mean to use unstable in Jenkins?

Using unstable in Jenkins means that a build has finished but with some problems. These problems may not be serious enough to fail the whole job. This is useful for tests or stages that are not critical. For more help on handling unstable conditions, we can look at our post on how can you show a Jenkins pipeline stage as failed without failing the whole job.