Pipeline of Pipelines

JFrog Pipelines Documentation
Products
JFrog Pipelines
Content Type
User Guide

One of the key features of JFrog Pipelines is the ability to create interconnected pipelines, called a pipeline of pipelines, that can span several different teams, technology platforms, and tools, enabling teams to collaborate on interdependent projects.

Consider the different stages of the SDLC, such as dev, test, deployment to staging, deployment to prod, and so on, with each team creating tens or even hundreds of individual software pipelines. Pipeline of pipelines enables you to easily connect these pipelines to create an end-to-end workflow and exchange information across the pipelines. There is no limit to the number of pipelines that can be interconnected. Pipeline of pipelines can be easily created using global resources, where a pipeline updates a resource, which is used as the input for triggering downstream pipelines.

After a pipeline of pipelines is created, you can view the end-to-end workflow in real-time, interactive Pipelines dashboard, with alerts and notifications, to easily identify and escalate bottlenecks and failures.

Create Pipeline of Pipelines

To create a pipeline of pipelines, you need:

  • At least two pipelines

  • A resource that connects these pipelines

Just like how dependent steps are connected using resources, dependent pipelines are also connected using resources.

In the image below, the first pipeline (app_dev_pipeline) ends with the output resource app_buildinfo. The second pipeline (app_prod_pipeline), which starts with the same resource, uses it as an input resource.

Note

By default, during a run, a dependent pipeline is triggered only when there is a new version of the resource that connects the pipelines.

pipeline_of_pipelines_1b.png
Examples

Here are two examples showing pipeline of pipelines.

Example 1

This example shows a pipeline of pipelines containing eight pipelines, interconnected using the PropertyBag resource.

pop_3a.png

In this example:

  • There are three PropertyBag resources:

  • There are eight interconnected pipelines:

  • The pipeline named TRIGGER generates an output resource named runpopprop.

  • The resource runpopprop is an input resource for these pipelines:

    • TRIGGER_OUT_1_1

    • TRIGGER_OUT_1_2

    • TRIGGER_OUT_1_3

    • TRIGGER_OUT_1_4

  • The TRIGGER pipeline uses write_output utility function to trigger these four pipelines.

  • The resource runpopprop2 connects the pipelines TRIGGER_OUT_1_2 and TRIGGER_OUT_1_4 to the pipeline TRIGGER_OUT_3_2, but does not trigger it.

  • Similarly, the output resource runpopprop3 from the pipeline TRIGGER_OUT_1_4 does not trigger the pipeline TRIGGER_OUT_1_4.

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Example 2

This example shows a pipeline of pipelines containing five pipelines, interconnected using several types of resources.

pop_4a.png

In this example:

  • These resources are used to connected the pipelines: GitRepo, PropertyBag, Image, BuildInfo, ReleaseBundle, DistributionRule.

  • There are five interconnected pipelines:

Control Pipeline Runs

When configuring a pipeline of pipelines, you may want to specify when a pipeline may run relative to other pipelines connected by resources.

The dependencyMode tag, which can be defined in the pipelines.configuration section in the Pipelines YAML, specifies when a pipeline may run relative to other pipelines connected by resources. It has three settings: waitOnParentComplete, waitOnParentSuccess, and waitOnChildComplete. If any of these settings is true, new runs will not be created for resources updated by other pipelines if a run is already waiting with the same resources and steps. So if a pipeline (named Pipeline_A) runs twice consecutively and the following pipeline (named Pipeline_B) has waitOnParentComplete set as true, then Pipeline_B will only run once. When the pipelines do run, they will use the latest resource versions.

These tags can be used when you want to ensure that the input resources of each pipeline step are in a steady state (no runs waiting or in progress) before the step starts executing, to prevent scenarios where the artifacts pointed to by resources change in the middle of step execution. This is particularly useful in situations where a pipeline is creating an artifact that will overwrite itself. For example, a Docker image pushed with the 'latest' tag or a file uploaded each time with the same name. In these cases, some artifacts could change after the step is triggered, resulting in inconsistency in what is downloaded.

The dependencyMode tag has the following optional settings:

Setting

Description

Default

waitOnParentComplete

If true, the pipeline will not start running when a pipeline that outputs a resource that is an input to this pipeline has a waiting or processing run. The pipeline will run only after the parent pipeline's run is complete.

False

waitOnParentSuccess

If true, the pipeline will not start running when a pipeline that outputs a resource that is an input to this pipeline has a processing run or the last complete run was not successful. The pipeline will run only after the parent pipeline's run is successful. However, if the parent pipeline is not triggered, the child pipeline can still be triggered as an independent pipeline.

False

waitOnChildComplete

If true, the pipeline will not start running when a pipeline that has an input resource that is the output of this pipeline has a waiting or processing run unless that child pipeline is waiting for this pipeline to complete. The pipeline will run only after the child pipeline's run is complete.

False

pipelines:
  - name: myPipeline
    configuration:
      chronological: true/false # default false
      dependencyMode:
        waitOnParentComplete: true/false # default false
        waitOnParentSuccess: true/false  # default false
        waitOnChildComplete: true/false  # default false
    steps:
      ...

Note

Though not recommended, if the parent pipeline has either waitOnParentComplete or waitOnParentSuccess and the child pipeline has waitOnChildComplete, the parent pipeline runs first.

Examples

Example 1 - waitOnParentComplete and waitOnParentSuccess

In this example, the first pipeline A_parent creates a Docker image. The child pipeline A_waitOnParent waits until the parent pipeline A_parent's run completes successfully, since both waitOnParentComplete and waitOnParentSuccessare set astrue for A_waitOnParent.

resources:
  - name: dependencyModeImage
    type: Image
    configuration:
      registry: myDocker
      imageName: jfrog/test
      imageTag: "0"

  - name: dependencyModeRepo
    type: GitRepo
    configuration:
      gitProvider: myGithub
      path: jfrog/dependencyMode
      branches:
        include: ^{{gitBranch}}$

pipelines:
  - name: A_parent
    steps:  
      - name: createImage
        type: Bash
        configuration:
          inputResources:
            - name: dependencyModeRepo
          outputResources:
            - name: dependencyModeImage
          integrations:
            - name: myDocker
        execution:
          onExecute:
            - cd ${res_dependencyModeRepo_resourcePath}
            - docker build -t ${res_dependencyModeImage_imageName}:${run_number} .
            - docker push ${res_dependencyModeImage_imageName}:${run_number}
            - write_output dependencyModeImage imageTag=${run_number}

  - name: A_waitOnParent
    configuration:
      dependencyMode:
        waitOnParentComplete: true
        waitOnParentSuccess: true
    steps:  
      - name: pullImage
        type: Bash
        configuration:
          inputResources:
            - name: dependencyModeImage
        execution:
          onExecute:
            - echo ${res_dependencyModeImage_imageName}:${res_dependencyModeImage_imageTag}

Example 2 - waitOnChildComplete

In this example, the parent pipeline B_waitOnChild waits until the child pipeline B_Child's run completes, since waitOnChildCompleteis set astrue for B_waitOnChild.

resources:
  - name: dependencyModePropertyBag
    type: PropertyBag
    configuration:
      runNumber: 0

pipelines:
  - name: B_waitOnChild
    configuration:
      dependencyMode:
        waitOnChildComplete: true
    steps:  
      - name: updateProperties
        type: Bash
        configuration:
          outputResources:
            - name: dependencyModePropertyBag
        execution:
          onExecute:
            - write_output dependencyModePropertyBag runNumber=${run_number}
            
  - name: B_Child
    steps:  
      - name: echoProperty
        type: Bash
        configuration:
          inputResources:
            - name: dependencyModePropertyBag
        execution:
          onExecute:
            - echo ${res_dependencyModePropertyBag_runNumber}
            - sleep 5
      - name: echoComplete
        type: Bash
        configuration:
          inputSteps:
            - name: echoProperty
        execution:
          onExecute:
            - echo "complete"

View Pipeline of Pipelines

Your pipeline of pipelines workflow can be as complex as you want it to be, with several individual pipelines that interconnect across teams. The Pipelines Graph view makes it easy to view and navigate such complex pipelines.

The Graph view:

  • Shows a combined view of all interconnected pipelines

  • Provides visualization of pipelines and steps

  • Shows the pipelines, resources, and interconnecting path that a pipeline is using

  • Provides the ability to drill down into a single pipeline

  • Provides real-time updates for a run

  • Shows project-level multi-pipeline map and list of runs

For more information, see Pipelines Graph view.