pipline options

Common Jenkins Pipeline Options with Use Cases

Option	Description	Example	Real-Time Use Case
buildDiscarder()	Controls how many builds to keep.	buildDiscarder(logRotator(numToKeepStr: '10'))	Keep last 10 builds to save disk space.
disableConcurrentBuilds()	Prevents concurrent builds.	disableConcurrentBuilds()	Avoid conflicts when deploying to same environment.
timeout()	Sets a timeout for the pipeline or stage.	timeout(time: 10, unit: 'MINUTES')	Fail the build if it hangs beyond 10 minutes.
timestamps()	Adds timestamps to console output.	timestamps()	Helpful in debugging when tracking time.
ansiColor()	Enables ANSI color in logs.	ansiColor('xterm')	Use colorized output from shell scripts.
retry()	Retry block of code if it fails.	retry(3) { sh 'curl http://unstable-api' }	Retry flaky HTTP call.
preserveStashes()	Preserves stashes after the build.	preserveStashes()	Use if you stash in one stage and use in post actions.
skipDefaultCheckout()	Skip automatic SCM checkout.	skipDefaultCheckout()	Use when checkout is manually handled.
overrideIndexTriggers()	Override the default triggers from SCM.	overrideIndexTriggers(true)	Needed in multibranch pipelines sometimes.
quietPeriod()	Wait time before starting a build.	quietPeriod(30)	Useful to batch rapid SCM changes.
parallelsAlwaysFailFast()	Stop all parallel stages if one fails.	parallelsAlwaysFailFast()	Optimize parallel build efficiency.
checkoutToSubdirectory()	Clone repo to custom subdirectory.	checkoutToSubdirectory('source')	Useful for mono-repos or special folder structures.

---

🧪 Sample Declarative Pipeline with Options

Jenkinsfile

pipeline {
    agent any

    options {
        buildDiscarder(logRotator(numToKeepStr: '5'))
        disableConcurrentBuilds()
        timestamps()
        timeout(time: 15, unit: 'MINUTES')
        ansiColor('xterm')
    }

    stages {
        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                echo "Starting Build..."
                sh 'make build'
            }
        }

        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                echo "Running Tests..."
                sh 'make test'
            }
        }
    }

    post {
        always {
            echo "Cleaning up..."
        }
    }
}

Full Jenkins Pipeline with All Options

Full Jenkinsfile (with all options)

groovyCopyEditpipeline {
    agent any

    options {
        // Discard old builds (keep last 5 builds only)
        buildDiscarder(logRotator(numToKeepStr: '5', artifactNumToKeepStr: '2'))

        // Prevent concurrent builds of the same pipeline
        disableConcurrentBuilds()

        // Add timestamps to console output
        timestamps()

        // ANSI color support for readable output
        ansiColor('xterm')

        // Timeout entire pipeline if it takes longer than 15 minutes
        timeout(time: 15, unit: 'MINUTES')

        // Allow retry logic for unstable tasks (used inside script block, not here directly)
        // Demonstrated below in the script

        // Skip default Git/SCM checkout (we'll do manual checkout)
        skipDefaultCheckout()

        // Set a quiet period of 10 seconds before the build starts
        quietPeriod(10)

        // Preserve stashes after the build
        preserveStashes()

        // If any parallel stage fails, stop all
        parallelsAlwaysFailFast()

        // Check out to a custom subdirectory
        checkoutToSubdirectory('source-code')

        // Override default index triggers (useful for multibranch)
        overrideIndexTriggers(true)
    }

    environment {
        COLOR = "\u001B[32m"
    }

    stages {
        stage('Manual Checkout') {
            steps {
                dir('source-code') {
                    checkout scm
                }
            }
        }

        stage('Build') {
            steps {
                echo "${env.COLOR}Running Build"
                sh 'echo "Compiling code..."'
                stash includes: '**/*.jar', name: 'build-artifacts'
            }
        }

        stage('Test with Retry') {
            steps {
                retry(3) {
                    echo "${env.COLOR}Running flaky test..."
                    sh 'if [ $((RANDOM % 2)) -eq 0 ]; then exit 1; fi'
                }
            }
        }

        stage('Parallel Jobs') {
            parallel {
                stage('Static Analysis') {
                    steps {
                        echo "${env.COLOR}Running static code analysis"
                        sh 'sleep 3'
                    }
                }

                stage('Unit Tests') {
                    steps {
                        echo "${env.COLOR}Running unit tests"
                        sh 'sleep 2'
                        error("Simulated failure") // Will fail fast all parallel
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    post {
        always {
            echo "Cleaning up..."
            deleteDir()
        }
    }
}