Archiving artifacts in Jenkins - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Jenkins pipeline snippet?

Consider this Jenkins pipeline step for archiving artifacts:

archiveArtifacts artifacts: '**/build/*.jar', fingerprint: true

What does this step do when executed?

Jenkins

archiveArtifacts artifacts: '**/build/*.jar', fingerprint: true

A Deletes all .jar files inside any 'build' folder in the workspace after the build.

B Copies .jar files from the workspace to a remote server without fingerprinting.

C Archives all .jar files inside any 'build' folder in the workspace and records fingerprints for tracking.

D Archives only the first .jar file found in the root workspace directory.

💡 Hint

Think about what 'archiveArtifacts' and 'fingerprint: true' mean in Jenkins.

The 'archiveArtifacts' step saves matching files as build artifacts. The pattern '**/build/*.jar' matches any .jar files inside any 'build' folder recursively. 'fingerprint: true' records file fingerprints for traceability.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Which Jenkinsfile snippet correctly archives all .log files from the 'logs' directory?

You want to archive all .log files located directly inside the 'logs' folder in your workspace. Which snippet achieves this?

A archiveArtifacts artifacts: '**/logs/*.log'

B archiveArtifacts artifacts: '*.log'

C archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'logs/**/*.log'

D archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'logs/*.log'

💡 Hint

Remember how glob patterns match files in directories.

The pattern 'logs/*.log' matches all .log files directly inside the 'logs' folder only. '**/logs/*.log' matches .log files inside any 'logs' folder recursively, which is broader than needed.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Why does the archiveArtifacts step fail with 'No artifacts found'?

You have this Jenkins pipeline step:

archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'target/*.war'

But the build fails with 'No artifacts found' error. What is the most likely cause?

A The Jenkins agent does not have permission to write to the workspace.

B The 'target' directory does not exist or contains no .war files at archive time.

C The 'archiveArtifacts' step requires a full absolute path, not a relative one.

D The pipeline syntax is incorrect; 'artifacts' should be 'artifact'.

💡 Hint

Check if the files exist at the time the step runs.

The error usually means the specified files do not exist in the workspace when the archive step runs. This can happen if the build did not produce them or they are in a different location.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

In which stage should you place the archiveArtifacts step for best practice?

You have a Jenkins pipeline with stages: Build, Test, and Deploy. Where should you place the archiveArtifacts step to archive build outputs?

A Immediately after the Build stage completes successfully.

B At the start of the Test stage before tests run.

C After the Deploy stage to archive deployed files.

D Before the Build stage to archive previous artifacts.

💡 Hint

Think about when build outputs are ready and stable.

Archiving artifacts right after the Build stage ensures you save the build outputs before tests or deployment, preserving the exact files produced.

✅ Best Practice

expert

What is the main benefit of enabling fingerprinting when archiving artifacts in Jenkins?

You enable fingerprinting in the archiveArtifacts step like this:

archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'dist/*.zip', fingerprint: true

What is the primary benefit of this fingerprinting?

A It tracks which builds produced or used the same artifact files for traceability.

B It compresses the artifacts to save storage space on the Jenkins server.

C It automatically uploads artifacts to an external artifact repository.

D It encrypts the artifacts to secure them from unauthorized access.

💡 Hint

Fingerprinting is about tracking, not compression or encryption.

Fingerprinting records a unique hash of each artifact file, allowing Jenkins to track which builds produced or consumed the same files, aiding in auditing and debugging.