Manage Jenkins Plugins from CLI: Commands and Examples

You can manage Jenkins plugins from the command line using the jenkins-cli.jar tool with commands like install-plugin, list-plugins, and uninstall-plugin. First, download the CLI jar from your Jenkins server, then run commands to install, update, or remove plugins remotely.

Syntax

The Jenkins CLI uses the jenkins-cli.jar file to run commands. The basic syntax to manage plugins is:

• java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url command [options]
• Common commands for plugins include install-plugin, list-plugins, and uninstall-plugin.
• Use -s to specify your Jenkins server URL.
• You may need to provide authentication with --username and --password or API token.

bash

java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url install-plugin plugin-name
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url list-plugins
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url uninstall-plugin plugin-name

Example

This example shows how to install the git plugin, list all installed plugins, and then uninstall the git plugin using Jenkins CLI.

bash

wget http://your-jenkins-url/jnlpJars/jenkins-cli.jar
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url install-plugin git
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url list-plugins
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url uninstall-plugin git

Output

Installing git plugin...
Plugin git installed successfully.

Installed plugins:
git 4.11.3
workflow-aggregator 2.6
...

Uninstalling git plugin...
Plugin git uninstalled successfully.

Common Pitfalls

• Not downloading the jenkins-cli.jar from your Jenkins server URL causes connection errors.
• For secured Jenkins, missing authentication flags (--username and --password or API token) will fail commands.
• Trying to install plugins without restarting Jenkins may cause plugins not to load properly.
• Uninstalling plugins that are dependencies for others can break Jenkins.

bash

java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url install-plugin git
# Wrong: No authentication on secured Jenkins

java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://your-jenkins-url --username admin --password yourtoken install-plugin git
# Right: Provide authentication

Quick Reference

Command	Description	Example
install-plugin	Installs a plugin by name	java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s URL install-plugin git
list-plugins	Lists all installed plugins	java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s URL list-plugins
uninstall-plugin	Removes a plugin by name	java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s URL uninstall-plugin git
safe-restart	Restarts Jenkins safely to apply plugin changes	java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s URL safe-restart

Key Takeaways

Use the jenkins-cli.jar tool with commands like install-plugin and list-plugins to manage plugins from CLI.

Always download jenkins-cli.jar from your Jenkins server URL to ensure compatibility.

Provide authentication when Jenkins security is enabled to avoid command failures.

Restart Jenkins after installing or uninstalling plugins to apply changes.

Avoid uninstalling plugins that other plugins depend on to prevent system issues.