Tools Block in Jenkinsfile

In Manage Jenkins, you use the Tools options to install and configure tools like Git, Maven, Gradle, Java, and Node.js. Jenkins completely manages tools configured in Jenkins.

You can install and manage different versions of Git, maven, Gradle, Java, and NodeJs from Tools

Using the tools block in Jenkinsfile, you can refer to the tools (maven, gradle) configured in Tools

Configure Maven 3.6.3 in Tools

Goto Jenkins dashboard, click on Manage Jenkins

Click on Tools

Scroll down, under Maven installations click on Add Maven
Enter the name maven-3.6.3* and under version choose 3.6.3 and click on *Save

The Jenkins will automatically install Maven 3.6.3 during the first build.

Create Pipeline

Create a Jenkinsfile named 03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools inside the cicd folder

pipeline {
  agent any
  tools {
    maven 'maven-3.6.3' 
  }
  stages {
    stage ('Build') {
      steps {
        sh 'mvn --version'
        sh 'mvn clean package'
      }
    }
  }
}

If you do not have a sample Java code, follow these steps to create one

How to create a GitHub repository and push a sample Java 21 Maven Project

Here you added the tools block and defined maven 'maven-3.6.3' inside it, which refers to the maven configured in Tools

Reference: Jenkins Tools

Make sure the Name configured for Maven in Tools matches the same inside the tools block

The mvn --version and mvn clean package command is added inside the Build stage

Push the *03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools* file to the GitHub repository

Create the Pipeline named 03-hello-world-maven-tools referring to your GitHub repository and enter Script Path as cicd/03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools

Build the pipeline and check the Console Output

In the logs, you can see that Jenkins downloads and configures the Maven 3.6.3 zip in the /var/lib/jenkins/tools folder during the first build.
Then mvn --version command is executed to print the Maven version 3.6.3

You can verify the same in the Jenkins server

cd /var/lib/jenkins/tools/
ll

ubuntu@jenkins-test:~$ cd /var/lib/jenkins/tools/
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools$ ll
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  3 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul  8 14:07 ./
drwxr-xr-x 19 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:27 ../
drwxr-xr-x  4 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:26 hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/

cd hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/
ll

ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools$ cd hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation$ ll
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 4 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:26 ./
drwxr-xr-x 3 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul  8 14:07 ../
drwxr-xr-x 6 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:26 maven-3.6.3/
drwxr-xr-x 6 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul  8 14:07 maven-3.8.8/

cd maven-3.6.3/
ll

ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation$ cd maven-3.6.3/
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.6.3$ ll
total 60
drwxr-xr-x 6 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 ./
drwxr-xr-x 4 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins    99 Jul 17 14:26 .installedFrom*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 17504 Nov  7  2019 LICENSE*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins  5141 Nov  7  2019 NOTICE*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins  2612 Nov  7  2019 README.txt*
drwxr-xr-x 2 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 bin/
drwxr-xr-x 2 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 boot/
drwxr-xr-x 3 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 conf/
drwxr-xr-x 4 jenkins jenkins  4096 Jul 17 14:26 lib/

cd bin/
ll
./mvn --version

ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.6.3$ cd bin/
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.6.3/bin$ ll
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 2 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:26 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:26 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins  228 Nov  7  2019 m2.conf*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 5741 Nov  7  2019 mvn*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 6349 Nov  7  2019 mvn.cmd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 1485 Nov  7  2019 mvnDebug*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 1668 Nov  7  2019 mvnDebug.cmd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 1532 Nov  7  2019 mvnyjp*
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.6.3/bin$ ./mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.6.3 (cecedd343002696d0abb50b32b541b8a6ba2883f)
Maven home: /var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.6.3
Java version: 21.0.3, vendor: Ubuntu, runtime: /usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64
Default locale: en, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "6.8.0-1010-azure", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"

Configure Maven 3.9.8 in Tools

Enter the name maven-3.9.8* and under version choose 3.9.8 and click on *Save

Update maven-3.9.8 in Jenkinsfile 03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools

pipeline {
  agent any
  tools {
    maven 'maven-3.9.8' 
  }
  stages {
    stage ('Build') {
      steps {
        sh 'mvn --version'
        sh 'mvn clean package'
      }
    }
  }
}

Commit and push the *03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools* file changes to the GitHub repository

vignesh ~/code/devopspilot1/hello-world-java/cicd [main] $ git diff                           
diff --git a/cicd/03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools b/cicd/03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools
index 89d75ab..d5506af 100644
--- a/cicd/03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools
+++ b/cicd/03-Jenkinsfile-maven-build-tools
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 pipeline {
   agent any
   tools {
- maven 'maven-3.6.3' 
+    maven 'maven-3.9.8'
   }
   stages {
     stage ('Build') {

Build the pipeline and check the Console Output

Jenkins downloads the Maven 3.9.8 zip in the /var/lib/jenkins/tools folder and then executes the mvn --version command to print the Maven version 3.9.8.

You can verify the same in the Jenkins server

cd /var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.9.8/bin/
ll
./mvn --version

ubuntu@jenkins-test:~$ cd /var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.9.8/bin/
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.9.8/bin$ ll
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 2 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:49 ./
drwxr-xr-x 6 jenkins jenkins 4096 Jul 17 14:49 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins  327 Jun 13 08:21 m2.conf*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 5883 Jun 13 08:21 mvn*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 6324 Jun 13 08:21 mvn.cmd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 1684 Jun 13 08:21 mvnDebug*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 2169 Jun 13 08:21 mvnDebug.cmd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jenkins jenkins 1611 Jun 13 08:21 mvnyjp*
ubuntu@jenkins-test:/var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.9.8/bin$ ./mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.9.8 (36645f6c9b5079805ea5009217e36f2cffd34256)
Maven home: /var/lib/jenkins/tools/hudson.tasks.Maven_MavenInstallation/maven-3.9.8
Java version: 21.0.3, vendor: Ubuntu, runtime: /usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64
Default locale: en, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "6.8.0-1010-azure", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"

Like this, you can configure different versions based on your needs.

---

Important Tips

Tip

Global Config: Before you can refer to a tool like maven-3.6.3 in your Jenkinsfile, an administrator MUST configure it under "Manage Jenkins" -> "Tools" with that exact name.

Important

PATH Updates: When you use the tools block, Jenkins prepends the tool's binary path to the PATH environment variable for the duration of the pipeline.

🧠 Quick Quiz — Tools Block

#

What is the purpose of the tools block in a Jenkinsfile?

To auto-install and configure tools (like Maven, JDK) defined in "Manage Jenkins > Tools".

To download plugins.

To configure the agent's operating system.

To manage Jenkins user permissions.

The tools block tells Jenkins to install the specified tool (if not present) and add it to the PATH for that pipeline run.