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  1. Jenkins
  2. JENKINS-60479

Building a matrix with exclusions in a declarative pipeline using a pipeline library finds no branches to run

      I have run into an issue when attempting to build a matrix in a declarative pipeline using a pipeline library through p4.

      If the excludes section is used, the pipeline is run successfully, but it reports that there are no branches to run. Without the excludes section, all targets in the matrix are run.

       

      To reproduce, I created a Perforce instance with Jenkins in a docker network and installed the p4-plugin 1.10.7. I then created a multibranch pipeline with a source of //testDepot/... from perforce.

      I created two streams and a library stream.

       

      In the first stream, I created a Jenkinsfile:

      @Library('test-pipeline') _
      lib()
      

      Where the test-pipeline is a pipeline library at //testDepot/libstream/... with the pipeline code in //testDepot/libstream/vars/lib.groovy

      def call()
      {
        pipeline
        {
          agent any
          stages
          {
            stage('Build')
            {
              matrix
              {
                axes
                {
                  axis
                  {
                    name 'PLATFORM'
                    values 'Linux', 'Windows', 'OSX'
                  }
                  axis
                  {
                    name 'CONFIGURATION'
                    values 'Debug', 'DebugMT', 'DebugNoPCH', 'Release', 'ReleaseMT', 'Retail', 'RetailMT'
                  }
                }
                excludes
                {
                  exclude
                  {
                    axis
                    {
                      name 'PLATFORM'
                      notValues 'Windows'
                    }
                    axis
                    {
                      name 'CONFIGURATION'
                      values 'DebugMT', 'DebugNoPCH', 'ReleaseMT', 'RetailMT'
                    }
                  }
                }
                stages
                {
                  stage('Build')
                  {
                    steps
                    {
                      echo "Building ${PLATFORM} ${CONFIGURATION}"
                    }
                  }
                  stage('Test')
                  {
                    steps
                    {
                      echo "Testing ${PLATFORM} ${CONFIGURATION}"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }

      When run, this pipeline is successful, but nothing runs.

      [Pipeline] withEnv
      [Pipeline] {
      [Pipeline] stage
      [Pipeline] { (Build)
      [Pipeline] parallel
      No branches to run
      [Pipeline] // parallel
      [Pipeline] }
      [Pipeline] // stage
      [Pipeline] }
      [Pipeline] // withEnv
      [Pipeline] }
      [Pipeline] // node
      [Pipeline] End of Pipeline
      Finished: SUCCESS

      If the excludes section is commented out, all targets in the matrix are run.

       

      In the second stream, I simply put the pipeline from the groovy into a Jenkinsfile. It runs correctly both with and without the excludes section.

       

      Our declarative pipeline is rather large and complex, and we have run into the "Method code too large" issue. We were hoping that we could get around it by building with a matrix in the declarative pipeline, but have run into this issue instead.

       

          [JENKINS-60479] Building a matrix with exclusions in a declarative pipeline using a pipeline library finds no branches to run

          Karl Wirth added a comment - - edited

          Hi abayer,

          Thanks for reporting this. Before we start, from a pure Perforce streams point of view I'd recommend against having a library stream in the same stream path as code.

          The code expects that streams are divergent forms of the same basic code. For example a stream may contain: 

          //Project1Stream/Rel1/...
          //Project1Stream/Rel2/...
          //Project1Stream/Main/...
          
          //Project1Stream/Dev/...
          

           which could import

          //LibraryStream/main/...

          Alternatively if you have a deeper stream depth set you could have the two stream trees in the same depot:

          //StreamDepot/Project1/Rel1/...
          //StreamDepot/Project1/Rel2/...
          //StreamDepot/Project1/Main/...
          //StreamDepot/Project1/Dev/...
          
          //StreamDepot/Library/Main/...
          //StreamDepot/Library/Dev/...
          

          If you don't have this structure then there will always be outstanding changes that need to be branched between the library stream and it's parents.

          Now back to the problem. I tried setting this up and keep getting compilation errors:

           

          org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.cps.CpsCompilationErrorsException: startup failed:
          /var/lib/jenkins/jobs/JENKINS-60479_Exclusions_MultiBranch/branches/main/builds/2/libs/test-pipeline/vars/lib.groovy: 8: Unknown stage section "matrix". Starting with version 0.5, steps in a stage must be in a ‘steps’ block. @ line 8, column 7.
                   stage('Build')
          

          I am on 2.176.1 so this may be a version problem. Just in case can you please send me the screenshots of the job definition to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

           

           

          Karl Wirth added a comment - - edited Hi abayer , Thanks for reporting this. Before we start, from a pure Perforce streams point of view I'd recommend against having a library stream in the same stream path as code. The code expects that streams are divergent forms of the same basic code. For example a stream may contain:  //Project1Stream/Rel1/... //Project1Stream/Rel2/... //Project1Stream/Main/... //Project1Stream/Dev/...  which could import //LibraryStream/main/... Alternatively if you have a deeper stream depth set you could have the two stream trees in the same depot: //StreamDepot/Project1/Rel1/... //StreamDepot/Project1/Rel2/... //StreamDepot/Project1/Main/... //StreamDepot/Project1/Dev/... //StreamDepot/Library/Main/... //StreamDepot/Library/Dev/... If you don't have this structure then there will always be outstanding changes that need to be branched between the library stream and it's parents. Now back to the problem. I tried setting this up and keep getting compilation errors:   org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.cps.CpsCompilationErrorsException: startup failed: / var /lib/jenkins/jobs/JENKINS-60479_Exclusions_MultiBranch/branches/main/builds/2/libs/test-pipeline/vars/lib.groovy: 8: Unknown stage section "matrix" . Starting with version 0.5, steps in a stage must be in a ‘steps’ block. @ line 8, column 7. stage( 'Build' ) I am on 2.176.1 so this may be a version problem. Just in case can you please send me the screenshots of the job definition to make sure I'm doing this correctly.    

          Thanks for responding. I'll supply screenshots of the setup I'm using to reproduce. I'm also using the Pipeline: Declarative plugin 1.5, which was recently released to add matrix support to declarative pipelines.

          Matthew Brunton added a comment - Thanks for responding. I'll supply screenshots of the setup I'm using to reproduce. I'm also using the Pipeline: Declarative plugin 1.5, which was recently released to add matrix support to declarative pipelines.

          Karl Wirth added a comment -

          Hi mbrunton27 - Thanks. I'll try again and let you know how it goes.

          Karl Wirth added a comment - Hi mbrunton27 - Thanks. I'll try again and let you know how it goes.

          Karl Wirth added a comment -

          Hi mbrunton27 - The problem was that I needed the latest version of the declarative pipeline plugin.

          I'm easily able to reproduce the behavior and have attached the complete console outputs for with and without excludes.

          I'll check where the message 'No branches to run' comes from and discuss with the developers to see if that cab tell us if the is a p4-plugin or something else problem.

          PerforceTestingConsoleOutput_WithExcludes.txt

          PerforceTestingConsoleOutput_WithOUT_Excludes.txt

          Karl Wirth added a comment - Hi mbrunton27 - The problem was that I needed the latest version of the declarative pipeline plugin. I'm easily able to reproduce the behavior and have attached the complete console outputs for with and without excludes. I'll check where the message 'No branches to run' comes from and discuss with the developers to see if that cab tell us if the is a p4-plugin or something else problem. PerforceTestingConsoleOutput_WithExcludes.txt PerforceTestingConsoleOutput_WithOUT_Excludes.txt

          Thanks for looking into this. I wasn't sure which plugin was causing the issue, it's possible that it's either the p4-plugin or something overlooked when pipeline-model-definition-plugin was updated.

          Matthew Brunton added a comment - Thanks for looking into this. I wasn't sure which plugin was causing the issue, it's possible that it's either the p4-plugin or something overlooked when pipeline-model-definition-plugin was updated.

          Karl Wirth added a comment -

          Hi mbrunton27 - Here's the line of code:

          https://github.com/jenkinsci/workflow-cps-plugin/blob/master/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/steps/ParallelStepExecution.java#L42

          I have worked through this with the developers and we don't think this is a problem with our code in p4-plugin.

          There is a slight chance that maybe we need to be inheriting a new  version of one of our dependencies but as it works when in a 'Jenkinsfile' or without the 'excludes' there's more chance it's problem in a library higher up such as the general SCM module.

          If this does turn out to be a bug on our side please let us know.

          Karl Wirth added a comment - Hi mbrunton27 - Here's the line of code: https://github.com/jenkinsci/workflow-cps-plugin/blob/master/src/main/java/org/jenkinsci/plugins/workflow/cps/steps/ParallelStepExecution.java#L42 I have worked through this with the developers and we don't think this is a problem with our code in p4-plugin. There is a slight chance that maybe we need to be inheriting a new  version of one of our dependencies but as it works when in a 'Jenkinsfile' or without the 'excludes' there's more chance it's problem in a library higher up such as the general SCM module. If this does turn out to be a bug on our side please let us know.

          Miquel Tubau added a comment -

          Hi, we have the same problem.

          We created a simple pipeline to reproduce the error. When we use the pipeline directly into the pipeline script it works. When it runs inside a shared library it founds no branches to run.

          We are not using the p4-plugin.

          Here is our test pipeline:

          pipeline {
              agent none
          
              stages {
                  stage('Start') {
                      steps {
                          echo "start"
                      }
                  }
                  stage("matrix") {
                      matrix {
                          axes {
                              axis {
                                  name 'PLATFORM'
                                  values 'amazon', 'ios', 'android', 'osx', 'win', 'emscripten', 'linux', 'uwp'
                              }
                              axis {
                                  name 'ENV'
                                  values 'qa', 'live'
                              }
                          }
                          excludes {
                              exclude {
                                  axis {
                                      name 'PLATFORM'
                                      values 'amazon', 'ios', 'android', 'win', 'emscripten', 'linux', 'uwp'
                                  }
                                  axis {
                                      name 'ENV'
                                      values 'live'
                                  }
                              }
                          }
                          
                          stages {
                              stage("build") {
                                  steps {
                                      echo "${PLATFORM} - ${ENV}"
                                  }
                              }
                          }
                      }
                  }
                  stage('Push') {
                      steps {
                          echo "push"
                      }
                  }
              }
          }
          

          Miquel Tubau added a comment - Hi, we have the same problem. We created a simple pipeline to reproduce the error. When we use the pipeline directly into the pipeline script it works. When it runs inside a shared library it founds no branches to run. We are not using the p4-plugin. Here is our test pipeline: pipeline { agent none stages { stage( 'Start' ) { steps { echo "start" } } stage( "matrix" ) { matrix { axes { axis { name 'PLATFORM' values 'amazon' , 'ios' , 'android' , 'osx' , 'win' , 'emscripten' , 'linux' , 'uwp' } axis { name 'ENV' values 'qa' , 'live' } } excludes { exclude { axis { name 'PLATFORM' values 'amazon' , 'ios' , 'android' , 'win' , 'emscripten' , 'linux' , 'uwp' } axis { name 'ENV' values 'live' } } } stages { stage( "build" ) { steps { echo "${PLATFORM} - ${ENV}" } } } } } stage( 'Push' ) { steps { echo "push" } } } }

          gary added a comment -

          I have the same problem. I can confirm that this issue seems to be caused by using the exclude directive in matrix in a declarative pipeline inside of a shared library. I can provide some evidence if needed, but it's very similar to what has been already presented.

          gary added a comment - I have the same problem. I can confirm that this issue seems to be caused by using the exclude directive in matrix in a declarative pipeline inside of a shared library. I can provide some evidence if needed, but it's very similar to what has been already presented.

          Hi,

          This still happens in 2023 Same issue as above, with a pipeline loaded from a shared library.

          Romain Geissler added a comment - Hi, This still happens in 2023 Same issue as above, with a pipeline loaded from a shared library.

          It's still happening in December 2024. I just ran into this problem as well and I thought I was taking crazy pills until I found this thread.

          Henry Borchers added a comment - It's still happening in December 2024. I just ran into this problem as well and I thought I was taking crazy pills until I found this thread.

            Unassigned Unassigned
            mbrunton27 Matthew Brunton
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            11 Vote for this issue
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            14 Start watching this issue

              Created:
              Updated: