Using Jenkins Job-DSL Configure block to place custom steps in particular positions

Question

Using the job-dsl-plugin I am attempting to script the configuration of a fair number of Jenkins jobs which have previously been configured manually.

One flavour of these jobs has multiple steps including a couple which use the XShell plugin, this is not directly supported by job-dsl. However I should be able to get around that by using a custom "configure" block.

Using the "Job DSL playground" at http://job-dsl.herokuapp.com/ I've got as far as:

job {
  name 'my-job'
  jdk('JDK-17')

  steps {
    configure { node ->
      node / builders {
        'hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder'(plugin: '[email protected]') {
            commandLine('run-me-as-the-first-build-step')
            executeFromWorkingDir('true')
        }
      }        
    }

    maven {
    mavenInstallation('Default')
    goals('clean')
        goals('verify')
        property('prop1', 'value1')
        property('user.timezone', 'UTC')
        mavenOpts('--batch-mode')
    }

    maven {
    mavenInstallation('Default')
        goals('deploy')
        property('prop2', 'value2')
        property('user.timezone', 'UTC')
        mavenOpts('--batch-mode')
    }

    shell('shell-task')

    configure { node ->
      node / builders {
        'hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder'(plugin: '[email protected]') {
            commandLine('run-me-as-the-last-build-step')
            executeFromWorkingDir('true')
        }
      }        
    }
  }
}

If I just include the first configure block only, I do get the first command at the first step position. But with the second (last) configure block present, the "node / builders" is matching on the first element again and overwriting it, so run-me-as-the-last-step is the first and only XShellBuilder. The output I seek would look something like:

    <project>
    ...
    <builders>
        <hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder plugin='[email protected]'>
            <commandLine>run-me-as-the-first-build-step</commandLine>
            <executeFromWorkingDir>true</executeFromWorkingDir>
        </hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder>
        <hudson.tasks.Maven>
            <targets>clean verify</targets>
            <properties>prop1=value1
user.timezone=UTC</properties>
            <mavenName>Default</mavenName>
            <jvmOptions>--batch-mode</jvmOptions>
            <usePrivateRepository>false</usePrivateRepository>
        </hudson.tasks.Maven>
        <hudson.tasks.Maven>
            <targets>deploy</targets>
            <properties>prop2=value2
user.timezone=UTC</properties>
            <mavenName>Default</mavenName>
            <jvmOptions>--batch-mode</jvmOptions>
            <usePrivateRepository>false</usePrivateRepository>
        </hudson.tasks.Maven>
        <hudson.tasks.Shell>
            <command>shell-task</command>
        </hudson.tasks.Shell>
        <hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder plugin='[email protected]'>
            <commandLine>run-me-as-the-last-build-step</commandLine>
            <executeFromWorkingDir>true</executeFromWorkingDir>
        </hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder>
    </builders>
    ...
    </project>

I can't figure out the Groovy XML / Job-DSL syntax to insert that second block as "last child; can a Job-DSL or Groovy XMLParser expert please give me a pointer on how to match and insert at an arbitrary position in the children of <builders>?

(I appreciate that I could use job(type:Maven) with preBuildSteps and postBuildSteps but actually I need a few other things in there as well which a pure maven job precludes.) Thanks!

Answer 1

You can use the << operator to append nodes, otherwise an existing node with an identical name gets replaced. See the Job DSL wiki for details.

job {
  name('foo')
  steps {
    shell('echo AAA')
  }
  configure {
    it / builders << 'hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder' {
      commandLine('123')
    }
  }
  steps {
    shell('echo BBB')
  }
  configure {
    it / builders << 'hudson.plugins.xshell.XShellBuilder' {
      commandLine('456')
    }
  }
}