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In this lesson, you’ll learn how to leverage the options directive to fine-tune your Jenkins Declarative Pipeline. You can apply options globally (pipeline level) or locally (per stage), enabling features like timestamps, retries, and build concurrency control.

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Inspecting Available Options

Before configuring your pipeline, explore all supported options in the official Jenkins Pipeline Syntax documentation.
Refer to the Pipeline Syntax documentation for an up-to-date list of directives you can use.
The image shows a webpage from the Jenkins documentation, specifically detailing pipeline syntax options. It includes a navigation menu on the left and descriptions of various pipeline options on the right.

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Adding Timestamps to a Stage

Including timestamps in your console log helps you measure step durations and troubleshoot performance issues. To enable timestamps for a specific stage: 
pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Install Dependencies') {
            options {
                timestamps()
            }
            steps {
                sh 'npm install --no-audit'
            }
        }
    }
}

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Retrying a Stage on Failure

When interacting with external systems (e.g., databases or APIs), transient failures can occur. Use retry(count) to automatically rerun the stage upon failure: 
pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage('Unit Testing') {
            options {
                retry(2)
            }
            steps {
                withCredentials([usernamePassword(
                    credentialsId: 'mongo-db-credentials',
                    passwordVariable: 'MONGO'
                )]) {
                    sh 'npm test'
                }
            }
            post {
                always {
                    junit allowEmptyResults: true,
                          testResults: 'test-results.xml'
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
If your MONGO_URI is missing, Jenkins reports: 
MongooseError: The `uri` parameter to `openUri()` must be a string, got `undefined`.
With retry(2), Jenkins will attempt the stage up to two additional times before failing.
The image shows a Jenkins build pipeline for "Build #14" with various stages, including "Checkout SCM," "Tool Install," and "Unit Testing," where the build has failed at the "Unit Testing" stage.
You can track retry attempts in the console output.

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Disabling Resume and Concurrent Builds

At the pipeline level, you can:
  • Prevent resume after a restart using disableResume().
  • Abort previous builds when a new one starts using disableConcurrentBuilds(abortPrevious: true).
The image shows a Jenkins interface for generating declarative pipeline directives, with options to prevent pipeline resumption and concurrent builds.
pipeline {
    agent any

    environment {
        MONGO_URI = "mongodb+srv://supercluster.d83jj.mongodb.net/superData"
    }

    options {
        disableResume()
        disableConcurrentBuilds(abortPrevious: true)
    }

    stages {
        stage('Install Dependencies') {
            options { timestamps() }
            steps {
                sh 'sleep 100s'
                sh 'npm install --no-audit'
            }
        }
        stage('Dependency Scanning') {
            steps {
                // Security and license checks go here
            }
        }
        stage('Unit Testing') {
            options { retry(2) }
            steps {
                withCredentials([usernamePassword(
                    credentialsId: 'mongo-db-credentials',
                    usernameVariable: 'MONGO_USERNAME',
                    passwordVariable: 'MONGO_PASSWORD'
                )]) {
                    sh 'npm test'
                }
            }
            post {
                always {
                    junit allowEmptyResults: true,
                          testResults: 'test-results.xml'
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
When a new build is triggered during the sleep 100s step, the previous build is aborted:
The image shows a Jenkins pipeline interface for a project named "solar-system," displaying the progress of a build process with steps like "Installing Dependencies" and "Dependency Scanning." The current step is "Installing Dependencies," with several completed tasks and one ongoing task labeled "sleep 100s."
16:06:57 + sleep 100s
16:07:25 Sending interrupt signal to process
Superseded by #16
16:07:29 Terminated: script returned exit code 143
Using disableResume() will remove the ability to resume pipeline execution after a Jenkins restart. Use it only if you have idempotent stages or external state management.

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Summary of Pipeline Options

OptionScopeDescriptionExample
timestamps()StagePrefixes each log line with a timestamp.options { timestamps() }
retry(count)StageRetries a failing stage up to count times.options { retry(2) }
disableResume()PipelineDisables pipeline continuation after a Jenkins restart.options { disableResume() }
disableConcurrentBuilds(...)PipelinePrevents concurrent runs; can abort previous builds when triggered.options { disableConcurrentBuilds(abortPrevious: true) }
Explore these resources to discover more ways to customize your Jenkins pipelines and streamline your CI/CD workflows.

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