Jenkins Multi-Branch Project Plugin

This plugin adds additional project types that create sub-projects for each branch using a shared configuration.

Usage

Install the plugin using one of these methods:

• Use the Jenkins plugin update center to download and install the latest version.
• Clone this repo, manually compile the HPI file, and upload it through the Jenkins interface on the "advanced" tab in the plugin update center to get the newest/unreleased code.

The project types will appear in the list on the "New Job" page. When configuring the project, the SCM portion will be different. This section tells the project how to find branches to create sub-projects for. Just about everything else should look like a normal free-style project and will be applied to each sub-project.

Development Instructions

To build the plugin locally:

mvn clean verify

To release the plugin:

mvn release:prepare release:perform

To test in a local Jenkins instance:

mvn hpi:run

Credits

Thanks to Stephen Connolly for his work on the Jenkins Literate Plugin, Branch API Plugin, and SCM API Plugin. These plugins were great reference for creating this plugin's implementation. The SCM API is also what allows this plugin to use different SCM types for obtaining the branch list.

Thanks to Jesse Glick for stablizing a good chunk of boilerplate code from the Branch API Plugin and then abstracting it into the Folders Plugin.

Why not use the Branch API Plugin?

This project was first started from scratch. After discovering the Branch API, the implementation was changed to utilize the API. However, there were some issues with API that caused the switch back to an independent plugin:

• The vision for this plugin is one consolidated configuration for all branches combined with support for the same build wrappers, builders, publishers, etc. that you would see in the "stock" Jenkins project types. There does not seem to be a clear way to do this with the API. This plugin uses an internal template project, whose XML is applied directly to the branch projects, making it possible to use all the same wrappers, builders, and publishers (including configuration from community plugins).
• The API was still experimental at the time. Since then, it had a 1.0 release and the parts that were abstracted to the Folders Plugin are now used by this plugin.
• This plugin favors simplicity in configuration over the complexity seen in the API. Admittedly, the API offers a lot of flexibility and nice-to-haves when it comes to configuring the project's SCM, but it seems like overkill.

Now that the Branch API Plugin is stable, there is a likelihood that this plugin will be deprecated or adopt the API. Here's what's holding that up:

• Writing the migration path will be a huge PITA or impossible.
• A separate Freestyle Multibranch Plugin was started, but there isn't yet feature parity with this plugin (in both directions).
• There is not an equivalent for Maven Projects that uses the API yet. The implementation should ideally belong to the Maven Plugin.