JUnit test report publishing in Jenkins - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Publishing JUnit Test Reports in Jenkins Pipeline

📖 Scenario: Your team runs Java unit tests using Maven. The tests generate JUnit XML reports, but developers have to SSH into the build server to check results. You want to configure the Jenkins pipeline to automatically publish test reports so the team can view results directly in the Jenkins UI.

🎯 Goal: Build a Jenkins pipeline that runs Maven tests and publishes JUnit XML reports using the junit step, with proper error handling so reports are published even when tests fail.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Jenkins pipeline with a pipeline block and agent any

Add a Test stage that runs mvn test

Add a post section with always to publish JUnit reports

Use the junit step with the correct report path pattern

Print a confirmation message after report publishing

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Publishing JUnit reports in Jenkins gives teams instant visibility into test health without SSH access, enabling faster feedback loops.

💼 Career

DevOps engineers configure test report publishing as a standard part of CI/CD pipelines for every Java project.

1

Create the pipeline with a Test stage

Create a Jenkins declarative pipeline with agent any and a stages section containing one stage named Test. Inside the Test stage, add a steps block with a shell command mvn test to run the unit tests.

Jenkins

pipeline {
    agent any
    // Add stages with a Test stage here
}

Need a hint?

Start with pipeline { agent any stages { stage('Test') { steps { sh 'mvn test' } } } }.

2

Add environment variable for report path

Add an environment block inside the pipeline block to define a variable REPORT_PATH set to 'target/surefire-reports/*.xml'. This keeps the report path configurable.

Jenkins

pipeline {
    agent any
    // Add environment block here
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'mvn test'
            }
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use environment { REPORT_PATH = 'target/surefire-reports/*.xml' } inside the pipeline block.

3

Add post section to publish JUnit reports

Add a post section inside the pipeline block with an always block. Inside always, use the junit step with "${REPORT_PATH}" to publish the test reports regardless of whether tests pass or fail.

Jenkins

pipeline {
    agent any
    environment {
        REPORT_PATH = 'target/surefire-reports/*.xml'
    }
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'mvn test'
            }
        }
    }
    // Add post section with junit step here
}

Need a hint?

Use post { always { junit "${REPORT_PATH}" } } after the stages block.

4

Add confirmation echo after report publishing

Inside the always block, after the junit step, add echo 'Test reports published' to confirm reports were processed.

Jenkins

pipeline {
    agent any
    environment {
        REPORT_PATH = 'target/surefire-reports/*.xml'
    }
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'mvn test'
            }
        }
    }
    post {
        always {
            junit "${REPORT_PATH}"
            // Add echo confirmation here
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Add echo 'Test reports published' after the junit step inside always.