How to pass build artifact into another job in Jenkins

Question

Setup

I have two jobs in Jenkins:

• build master - this builds the code and creates an artifact
• deploy master - this deploys the artifact

Currently, deploy master has "Copy artifacts from another project" build step using "latest successful build".

My Goal

I want to change this step from "latest successful build" to "specified by a build parameter" so that I can select a specific build when deploying without modifying the configuration of deploy master job each time.

What I've tried

First, I changed to "specified by a build parameter".

Then I checked the box next to "This project is parameterized" and added a string parameter for BUILD_SELECTOR.

Then I selected build and enter the input 47 which is a build number from the build master job.

Additionally I tried the api call

$.ajax({
  type: 'POST',
  url: 'https://jenkins/job/deploy%20master/build?token=abc7f5abc0c45abcea0646ed858abcde&BUILD_SELECTOR=47'
});

Result

Both times it failed with the following output:

Started by user styfle
[EnvInject] - Loading node environment variables.
Building in workspace C:\Jenkins\jobs\deploy master\workspace
ERROR: Unable to find a build for artifact copy from: build master
Started calculate disk usage of build
Finished Calculation of disk usage of build in 0 seconds
Started calculate disk usage of workspace
Finished Calculation of disk usage of workspace in 0 seconds
Finished: FAILURE

Question

How do I configure this properly so I can specify a build number (or some other identifier) when deploying?

Update with solution

My solution thanks to Gerold's answer was to add a "Build selector for Copy Artifact" parameter and use a new environment variable to link to my string parameter I already added.

Cryptocrystalline

Answer 1

There is just one workspace per project/job in Jenkins. The directories of builds contain just information about the builds and their results.

The root directories of both are specified in Manage Jenkins → Configure System → Advanced....

To deploy an artifact of a previous build you have to copy it to somewhere else in build master and access it there from deploy master later.

UPDATE:

See the inline help for Which build → Parameter Name:

A parameter with this name should be added in the build parameters section above. There is a special parameter type for choosing the build selector.

Use this Build selector for Copy Artifact instead of a String Parameter.

Senate

The build master job has a "Post-build Action" of "Archive the artifacts". And I have been able to specify a build by number by editing the config. So I know this part works. – Cryptocrystalline

@Cryptocrystalline The Archive the artifacts post-build action stores the specified files in <mentioned system configuration>/<build no.>/archive/... accessible via http://<Jenkins>/job/<job name>/<build no.>/artifact/.... – Senate

That url works. Should I try using the full URL as a parameter in the deployment? – Cryptocrystalline

@Cryptocrystalline If the artifact name doesn't change the build no. should be sufficient. It's the only variable in the URL. – Senate

I tried the build number 47 as a parameter and it doesn't work (see my original post). Yet, visiting the URL jenkins/job/build%20master/47/artifact does work. – Cryptocrystalline

@Cryptocrystalline See the inline help for Which build → Parameter Name: "There is a special parameter type for choosing the build selector.". Use this instead of a String Parameter. – Senate

Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Cryptocrystalline

is there a way to copy the archived artifact in the deploy job? I am using the Copy artifacts from another project but that copies the unarchived artifact from the build workspace. – Tweeze

@Tweeze See File/Folder Copy of the File Operations Plugin. – Senate

how can I get the buildNumber from BUILD_SELECTOR? – Tweeze

Answer 2

Add following in downstream project. "Build selector for Copy Artifact" instead of a "String Parameter"

Copy artifacts from another project

Thats it. Click "Build with Parameters" and pass build number

Zodiac

Any idea why it's necessary to specify the upstream project name in the copy step, when the upstream job / build should already have been fully identified by the build selector? – Habitable