Copying artifacts between jobs in Jenkins - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Copying artifacts between jobs

Job A builds and archives artifact

↓

Artifact stored in Jenkins

↓

Job B triggers or waits

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Job B copies artifact from Job A

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Job B uses artifact for its build

This flow shows how one Jenkins job creates and stores an artifact, and another job copies that artifact to use it.

Execution Sample

Jenkins

pipeline {
  agent any
  stages {
    stage('Copy Artifact') {
      steps {
        copyArtifacts(projectName: 'JobA', filter: 'output/*.jar')
      }
    }
  }
}

This Jenkins pipeline (Job B) copies artifacts from Job A. Job A archives them using `archiveArtifacts artifacts: 'output/*.jar'`.

Process Table

Step	Action	Job	Artifact State	Result
1	Build completes and archives artifact	Job A	Artifact 'app.jar' saved	Artifact stored in Jenkins
2	Job B starts and calls copyArtifacts	Job B	No artifact yet	Starts copying
3	copyArtifacts fetches 'app.jar' from Job A	Job B	Artifact copied locally	Artifact ready for use
4	Job B uses artifact in build	Job B	Artifact present	Build proceeds with artifact
5	Job B finishes	Job B	Artifact used	Job B completes successfully

💡 Job B finishes after copying and using artifact from Job A

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 3	Final
artifact_location	none	stored in Jenkins archive	copied to Job B workspace	present in Job B workspace

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does Job B need to specify the projectName in copyArtifacts?

Because copyArtifacts needs to know which job's artifacts to copy. This is shown in execution_table step 3 where Job B fetches artifacts from Job A.

What happens if Job A has not archived any artifacts?

copyArtifacts will fail to find artifacts to copy, so Job B cannot proceed with the artifact-dependent build. This is implied by the artifact state in step 2 and 3.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, at which step does Job B have the artifact copied locally?

A Step 1

B Step 2

C Step 3

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Check the 'Artifact State' column in execution_table row for Step 3.

According to variable_tracker, what is the state of artifact_location after Step 1?

A none

B stored in Jenkins archive

C copied to Job B workspace

D present in Job B workspace

💡 Hint

Look at the 'After Step 1' column for artifact_location in variable_tracker.

If Job A does not archive artifacts, what will happen in Job B's copyArtifacts step?

A copyArtifacts will fail to find artifacts

B copyArtifacts will succeed with empty files

C Job B will skip copying and continue

D Job B will archive artifacts instead

💡 Hint

Refer to key_moments explanation about missing artifacts and execution_table steps 2 and 3.

Concept Snapshot

Jenkins jobs can share files by archiving artifacts in one job and copying them in another.
Use archiveArtifacts in the producing job.
Use copyArtifacts with projectName and filter in the consuming job.
Artifacts are stored centrally and copied on demand.
This enables multi-job pipelines sharing build outputs.

Full Transcript

In Jenkins, one job can save files called artifacts using archiveArtifacts. Another job can copy these files using copyArtifacts by specifying the job name and file pattern. The flow starts with Job A building and archiving the artifact. Then Job B runs and copies the artifact from Job A's archive. This allows Job B to use the artifact in its build. If Job A does not archive artifacts, Job B's copyArtifacts step will fail. Tracking the artifact location shows it moves from Jenkins storage to Job B's workspace. This method helps share build outputs between jobs in Jenkins pipelines.