Jenkins - Configuration as Code VSCode extension

What does the plugin do

This plugin deals with the authentication and fetching of the JSON schema from a live Jenkins instance. It provides the base for validation of yaml files written to configure a Jenkins instance.

How to use

• Download and install the plugin from the VSCode Marketplace.

• Inside the Settings tab of VSCode find JCasc which will display two input blocks:

  • URL field for the Jenkins instance that you want to to extract the YAML Schema from. eg : localhost:8080/jenkins

  • User Token Field for if the Jenkins instance is protected.

• Once this is set you can use Ctrl + Shift + P to bring up the dialog box and then select the JCasC extension from the list of extensions, this will activate the extension.

• This will download the schema with the filename jcasc-schema.json to the current working directory.

• This schema file can then be used to autosuggest and validate the yaml file written for JCasC.

User Guide

In order to enable validation we need to include it in the workspace settings. In order to do that navigate to File and then Preference and then Settings. Inside settings search for json and inside settings.json include the following configuration.

{
  "yaml.schemas": {
    "jcasc-schema.json": "y[a]?ml"
  }
}

You can specify a glob pattern as the value for schema.json which is the file name for the schema. This would apply the schema to all yaml files. eg: .[y[a]?ml]

The following tasks can be done using VSCode:

a) Auto completion (Ctrl + Space): Auto completes on all commands.

b) Document Outlining (Ctrl + Shift + O): Provides the document outlining of all completed nodes in the file.

Create a new file under the work directory called jenkins.yml. For example consider the following contents for the file:

jenkins:
  systemMessage: “Hello World”
  numExecutors: 2

The above yaml file is valid according to the schema and vscode should provide you with validation and autocompletion for the same.

Feature Overview

• JSON Schema Import
• Seamless connection to Jenkins instance
• Syntax Highlighting while writing yml
• Auto Suggestions

How to Run Locally

1. Clone the repository.

2. Run npm install in the working directory.

3. Hit F5 to run the plugin in the development Host.

Settings

One can edit the settings in this window.

Extension Activation

This is the window to activate the extension.