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In this tutorial, we’ll configure the Build Monitor View plugin in Jenkins to create a live dashboard that displays the status, progress, and triggering user for each job. This centralized view refreshes automatically, helping teams spot pipeline health at a glance.

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Prerequisites

Ensure you have administrative access to your Jenkins controller. Install the Build Monitor View Plugin via Manage Plugins and restart Jenkins if prompted.

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1. Creating a Build Monitor View

  1. From the Jenkins dashboard, click New View.
  2. Enter a name (e.g., Dasher CI Build Monitor View), select Build Monitor View, and click OK.
The image shows a Jenkins interface where a new view is being created, with options for different view types like "Build Monitor View" and "Dashboard." The view is named "Dasher CI Build Monitor View."
  1. On the configuration page, optionally add a description and set up your job filters:
    • Select individual jobs
    • Use a regular expression for dynamic inclusion
    • Choose all available jobs
  2. Click Apply and then Save.
The image shows a Jenkins configuration page for editing a view named "Dasher CI Build Monitor View," with options for filtering build queues and executors.

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2. Configuring Display Options

Once saved, the Build Monitor View presents tiles for each job. You can customize the dashboard using these settings:
OptionDescription
Text scaleAdjust the font size of job tiles
Number of columnsDefine how many columns to display
Colorblind modeEnable high-contrast color palette
Reduce motionDisable CSS animations
Show badgesDisplay build badges (e.g., PR #)
Reset to defaultsRestore original settings
Each tile also shows the current pipeline stage and elapsed time. Status colors:
  • Green: Success
  • Red: Failure
  • Orange: Unstable
The image shows a Jenkins build monitor view with various jobs displayed in different colors indicating their status: green for successful, red for failed, and orange for unstable. There is a settings panel on the right side for adjusting display options.

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3. Adding a Test Pipeline

To observe live updates in your monitor view, create a simple Pipeline job:
  1. Click New Item, enter Testing_Build_Monitor_plugin, choose Pipeline, and click OK.
  2. Under Pipeline > Definition, paste the following script:
pipeline {
  agent any
  stages {
    stage('Hello') {
      steps {
        echo 'Hello World'
      }
    }
    stage('Sleep for 60s') {
      steps {
        sh 'sleep 60s'
      }
    }
  }
}
  1. Click Apply and Save.
  2. Trigger a build via Build Now and watch the console:
Started by user siddharth
[Pipeline] Start of Pipeline
[Pipeline] node
Running on Jenkins in /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/Testing_Build_Monitor_plugin
[Pipeline] stage
[Pipeline] { (Hello)
[Pipeline] echo
Hello World
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] stage
[Pipeline] { (Sleep for 60s)
[Pipeline] sh
+ sleep 60s

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4. Adding the Job to the Monitor View

If your new Pipeline doesn’t appear automatically, update the view filters:
  1. Navigate to your Build Monitor View and click Configure.
  2. In Job Filters, select or add a regex matching Testing_Build_Monitor_plugin.
  3. Click Apply and Save.
The image shows a Jenkins configuration page with job filters and a list of jobs, including "Generate ASCII Artwork" and various "Gitea-Organization" jobs. The build executor status indicates one job is sleeping.
After saving, the dashboard will display the pipeline’s current stage and elapsed time. Upon completion, the tile turns green and shows summary details such as the triggering user, branch, and final build status.

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