Stash and unstash for passing data in Jenkins - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is the purpose of stash in Jenkins pipelines?

stash saves files temporarily during a pipeline run so they can be used later in another stage or node.

beginner

How does unstash complement stash in Jenkins?

unstash retrieves the files saved by stash so they can be used in a different stage or node.

intermediate

Can stash and unstash be used to pass data between parallel stages?

Yes, stash and unstash allow sharing files between parallel or sequential stages in Jenkins pipelines.

intermediate

What happens if you try to unstash a name that was never stashed?

Jenkins throws an error because it cannot find the stash with that name.

beginner

Write a simple Jenkins pipeline snippet that stashes a file named output.txt and then unstashes it in the next stage.

stage('Save') {
  steps {
    writeFile file: 'output.txt', text: 'Hello'
    stash name: 'myFiles', includes: 'output.txt'
  }
}
stage('Use') {
  steps {
    unstash 'myFiles'
    sh 'cat output.txt'
  }
}

What does the stash step do in Jenkins pipelines?

A Starts a new pipeline

B Saves files temporarily for later use in the pipeline

C Runs a shell command

D Deletes files from the workspace

stash saves files temporarily so they can be accessed later using unstash.

Which step retrieves files saved by stash?

A stash

B archive

C unstash

D checkout

unstash retrieves files saved by stash.

Can stash and unstash be used across different nodes in a Jenkins pipeline?

A Only for parallel stages

B No, only within the same node

C Only if nodes share the same workspace

D Yes, they allow passing files between nodes

stash and unstash enable passing files between different nodes.

What will happen if you try to unstash a stash name that does not exist?

A Jenkins throws an error and stops the pipeline

B Jenkins ignores it silently

C Jenkins creates an empty stash

D Jenkins retries the stash

Jenkins throws an error because the stash name is not found.

Which of these is a correct way to stash all files in the workspace?

A stash name: 'all', includes: '**/*'

B stash name: 'all', excludes: '**/*'

C unstash name: 'all'

D stash name: 'all', files: '*'

Using includes: '**/*' stashes all files recursively.

Explain how stash and unstash help pass data between stages in Jenkins pipelines.

Think about how you might pack and unpack a suitcase to carry things between places.

Describe a scenario where using stash and unstash is necessary in a Jenkins pipeline.

Imagine you bake cookies in one kitchen and want to eat them in another kitchen.