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How to create a Pipeline in Jenkins using Pipeline Script

Pipeline Script is often the first step toward understanding how Jenkins pipelines actually work under the hood.

In this tutorial, I explain:

  • What a Pipeline Script job is in Jenkins
  • How it differs from Freestyle jobs
  • Where the Groovy-based pipeline script lives
  • How stages and steps are defined
  • How Jenkins executes the pipeline end to end

Pipeline Script helps you:

  • Understand pipeline flow before moving to Jenkinsfile
  • Experiment quickly without committing code
  • Learn core pipeline concepts clearly

What is a Pipeline Script?

Pipeline Script in Jenkins allows you to define your build process using Groovy code directly in the Jenkins web interface.

Unlike Freestyle jobs, which rely on UI checkboxes and dropdowns, Pipeline Script gives you:

  • Code-based configuration: Use logic, loops, and conditionals.
  • Durability: Running pipelines survive Jenkins restarts.
  • Visualized Stages: Clear feedback on which stage (Build, Test, Deploy) failed.

Goto Jenkins dashboard, click on New Item

Enter the Pipeline name hello-world-pipeline, select Pipeline, and then click OK

Select the Pipeline section, under Definition choose Pipeline script, and choose Hello World, sample pipeline script is added, and click on Save

In this, we have the Hello stage, which will execute an echo command to print Hello World to the Console Output.

Understanding the Script Structure

The script follows a specific hierarchy:

  • pipeline: The wrapper for the entire job.
  • agent any: Tells Jenkins to run this on any available node (executor).
  • stages: Blocks that define the sequence of tasks (e.g., Build, Test).
  • steps: The actual commands (like sh, echo, git) inside a stage.

Note: In this method, the Groovy-based pipeline script lives directly in the Jenkins job configuration (specifically in the config.xml file on the Jenkins controller), not in an external Git repository.

Reference: Jenkinsfile Syntax

Click on Build Now

Pipeline Execution Flow

When you trigger the build, Jenkins executes the pipeline end-to-end:

  1. Parses the Script: Jenkins reads the Groovy syntax.
  2. Allocates a Node: Based on agent any, it finds an available executor.
  3. Runs Stages: It executes Hello stage.
  4. Executes Steps: It runs the echo command.
  5. Finalizes: Reports the build status (Success/Failure).

Goto Console Output, Hello World is printed on the logs using the echo command. In this way, you can execute any shell commands from the pipeline script.

This way of writing the pipeline script in Jenkins UI is used mostly for testing purposes only. Since the script changes are not trackable.

The better way is to write the pipeline script in Jenkinsfile and store it in a GitHub repository.

🧠 Quick Quiz — Pipeline Script

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Which language is used to write a Jenkins Pipeline Script?