Since the change of default working directory from /home/jenkins to home/jenkins/agent (see JENKINS-58705), it is possible to change the working directory back to /home/jenkins but this does not survive a restart.

This behavior is quite confusing.

Reproduce

• Create a pod template and set the working Directory to /home/jenkins
• Restart Jenkins
• Check the pod template configuration

*Expected*

• The pod template configuration hasn't changed. The working directory is /home/jenkins

*Actual*

• The pod template configuration has changed. The working directory is /home/jenkins/agent.

Source

The descriptor migrates the value: https://github.com/jenkinsci/kubernetes-plugin/blob/kubernetes-1.21.1/src/main/java/org/csanchez/jenkins/plugins/kubernetes/ContainerTemplate.java#L435-L441

Workaround

A reliable way to use /home/jenkins as a working directory use YAML definition to define container templates