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Artifacts and Fingerprints

Updated May 13, 2020 ·

Artifacts​

Artifacts are immutable files created during a build or pipeline run.

  • Provide compiled projects to end users
  • Facilitate testing and create classes
  • Prevent unnecessary rebuilding of stable code
  • Serve as versioning for software

Artifacts are stored in a repository, with fingerprinting used to identify the build that produced them.

On the Jenkins master, the default location for the archive repository is:

Jenkins root/jobs/buildname/builds/lastSuccessfulBuild/archive

Fingerprints​

Fingerprints are unique hashes used to track artifacts or entities across pipelines and projects.

  • Stored in the Jenkins home directory under the fingerprints directory
  • Must be enabled on the project configuration screen
  • Specify which artifacts to archive and fingerprint

The fingerprints are organized in a hierarchy based on the checksum's initial characters:

/var/lib/jenkins/fingerprints/98/b3

Sample XML contents of a fingerprint file:

<?xml version='1.1' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<fingerprint>
  <timestamp>2018-09-19 19:20:02.644 UTC</timestamp>
  <original>
    <name>TestProject</name>
    <number>4</number>
  </original>
  <md5sum>98b83a060946bed8952ff73e263a78be</md5sum>
  <fileName>jout.txt</fileName>
  <usages>
    <entry>
      <string>TestProject</string>
      <ranges>4</ranges>
    </entry>
  </usages>
  <facets/>
</fingerprint>