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What is the jenkins /changes page?


When a Jenkins jobe builds it comes with a changes page located at https://jenkins.server/jenkins/job/job-name/changes.

I know the purpose is to display SCM / git changes but what exactly is it?

Is it a plugin, or part of a plugin? Does it have an 'official' name? Is there documentation for it?

I've seen it called multiple names:

  • /changes page
  • SCM changes page
  • Jenkins changes link
  • git changelog

Googling any of these terms get me no information about what it is or how it works. I've also checked the plugins I have installed on my Jenkins server and there's none that even mention a change log; the ones I have seen on the cloudbees website are not installed on Jenkins either.

I'm currently trying to debug why there are differences in behavior for it between freestyle and multi-branch pipeline jobs and am failing at finding any relevant information/documentation.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!


Solution

  • The changes page itself is part of the Jenkins core.

    All plugins work with the general structure of the Jenkins core and provide their information to various points in the UI and RestAPI as deemed appropriate by the developer in line with Jenkins conventions and patterns.

    Jenkins core historically came with SVN out of the box. This may have changed more recently.

    Installing other SCM plugins (like git) will expose their information to the changes page.

    Other plugins like Last Changes enhance the functionality of the changes page. See this link to see all the plugins related to changes.