Jenkins Remote access API Example
Jenkins provides machine-consumable remote access API to its functionalities. Currently it comes in three flavors:
XML
JSON with JSONP support
Python
Remote access API is offered in a REST-like style. That is, there is no single entry point for all features, and instead they are available under the “…/api/” URL where “…” portion is the data that it acts on.
For example, if your Jenkins installation sits at http://ci.jruby.org/, visiting http://ci.jruby.org/api/ will show just the top-level API features available – primarily a listing of the configured jobs for this Jenkins instance.
Or if you want to access information about a particular build, e.g. http://ci.jruby.org/job/jruby-base/lastSuccessfulBuild/, then go to http://ci.jruby.org/job/jruby-base/lastSuccessfulBuild/api/ and you’ll see the list of functionalities for that build.
Remote API can be used to do things like these:
Retrieve information from Jenkins for programmatic consumption.
trigger a new build
create/copy jobs
Jobs with parameters, Also see Parameterized Build.
Simple example – sending “String Parameters”:
curl -X POST JENKINS_URL/job/JOB_NAME/build \
–data token=TOKEN \
–data-urlencode json='{“parameter”: [{“name”:”id”, “value”:”123″}, {“name”:”verbosity”, “value”:”high”}]}’
Check Jenkins Job Status via REST API
job_status=`curl https://jenkins/view/job/other-job/lastBuild/api/json | grep “\”result\”:\”SUCCESS\””`
if [ -n "$job_status" ] then # Run your script commands here else echo "BUILD FAILURE: Other build is unsuccessful or status could not be obtained." exit 1 fi
How to restart Jenkins manually?
To restart Jenkins manually, you can use either of the following commands:
(jenkins_url)/safeRestart – Allows all running jobs to complete. New jobs will remain in the queue to run after the restart is complete.
(jenkins_url)/restart – Forces a restart without waiting for builds to complete.
Reference
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This blog is a helpful guide for anyone who wants to automate Jenkins from outside the UI, because remote access via the Jenkins REST API is the foundation for triggering builds, passing parameters, checking queue/build status, and pulling console logs in a repeatable way. The most important point for readers is to treat the API as production access: use an API token (not a password), prefer least-privilege service accounts, and enable CSRF protection (crumb) where required so your calls work reliably and securely. It’s also smart to standardize requests with simple scripts (curl) or a small wrapper so teams can trigger jobs consistently across environments, and to log request IDs/build numbers for traceability. When paired with proper authentication, audit logs, and network restrictions, Jenkins API access becomes a clean, scalable way to integrate CI/CD with other tools and workflows.