ykuo I have reviewed and you are right, the help text is not appropriate. I have raised https://github.com/jenkinsci/jenkinsfile-runner/pull/104 to fix it.

Now that we've understood that, if you specify the exploded directory with the 2.164.1 version extracted, which is the behaviour?

If I specify the exploded directory with the -w option, it works.

But if I just specify the -v option (without -w option), I get the same error message.

Running pipeline on jenkins 2.164.1
1.405 [id=50] SEVERE jenkins.InitReactorRunner$1#onTaskFailed: Failed Loading plugin Pipeline: Step API v2.19 (workflow-step-api)
java.io.IOException: Pipeline: Step API v2.19 failed to load.

• You must update Jenkins from v2.89 to v2.121.1 or later to run this plugin.
  at

ykuo could you please check if you can see these messages in the logs?

• "Running pipeline on jenkins 2.164.1"
• "Downloading jenkins 2.164.1"

Thanks!

Yes, I do see the messages when running jenkinsfile-runner with -v option

$ /usr/local/git/jenkinsfile-runner/app/target/appassembler/bin/jenkinsfile-runner -v 2.164.1 -p /var/jenkins_home/plugins -f /var/jenkins_home/foo -a param1=Test -a param2=MyTest

Running pipeline on jenkins 2.164.1
Downloading jenkins 2.164.1...
1.792 [id=32] SEVERE jenkins.InitReactorRunner$1#onTaskFailed: Failed Loading plugin Pipeline: Step API v2.19 (workflow-step-api)
java.io.IOException: Pipeline: Step API v2.19 failed to load.

• You must update Jenkins from v2.89 to v2.121.1 or later to run this plugin.
  at hudson.PluginWrapper.resolvePluginDependencies(PluginWrapper.java:626)
  at hudson.PluginManager$2$1$1.run(PluginManager.java:513)
  at org.jvnet.hudson.reactor.TaskGraphBuilder$TaskImpl.run(TaskGraphBuilder.java:169)
  at org.jvnet.hudson.reactor.Reactor.runTask(Reactor.java:282)
  at jenkins.model.Jenkins$5.runTask(Jenkins.java:1065)
  at org.jvnet.hudson.reactor.Reactor$2.run(Reactor.java:210)
  at org.jvnet.hudson.reactor.Reactor$Node.run(Reactor.java:117)
  at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
  at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
  at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
  1.794 [id=52] SEVERE jenkins.InitReactorRunner$1#onTaskFailed: Failed Loading plugin Pipeline: API v2.33 (workflow-api)
  java.io.IOException: Pipeline: API v2.33 failed to load.
• You must update Jenkins from v2.89 to v2.121.1 or later to run this plugin.
• Pipeline: Step API v2.19 failed to load. Fix this plugin first.

ykuo the issue is that Jenkinsfile Runner expect the WAR to be already extracted (that's why warDir needs to be a directory and not the WAR file) but specifying the version only downloads the WAR, without extracting it.

oleg_nenashev do you have context on why it was made like that?

ykuo if you use -Djenkins.version=2.164.1 in the mvn command, instead of using the -v option, it should work.

$ /usr/local/git/jenkinsfile-runner/app/target/appassembler/bin/jenkinsfile-runner -Djenkins.version=2.164.1 -p /var/jenkins_home/plugins -f /var/jenkins_home/foo
"-Djenkins.version=2.164.1" is not a valid option

No, not at execution time but at building time:

• mvn package -Djenkins.version=2.164.1
•  /usr/local/git/jenkinsfile-runner/app/target/appassembler/bin/jenkinsfile-runner -p /var/jenkins_home/plugins -f /var/jenkins_home/foo

running mvn package -Djenkins.version=2.164.1 failed to build with error messages  below. I have attached the complete output in mvn_build.log.

running mvn package without the -Djenkins.version builds successfully.

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-enforcer-plugin:3.0.0-M1:enforce (display-info) on project setup: Some Enforcer rules have failed. Look above for specific messages explaining why the rule failed. -> [Help 1]
org.apache.maven.lifecycle.LifecycleExecutionException: Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-enforcer-plugin:3.0.0-M1:enforce (display-info) on project setup: Some Enforcer rules have failed. Look above for specific messages explaining why the rule failed.

ykuo I have reproduced and you are right, it's a matter of dependencies. If using the extracted WAR works for you, I'd recommend you to go through such option.

Closing as Not a Defect after the review. Newer versions of Jenkinsfile Runner check core and plugin requirements, so it should not be a UX problem anymore