Checkout failed: Another git process seems to be running in this repository

Issue

During a checkout operation, the checkout process fails with the following error:

ERROR: Checkout failed
hudson.plugins.git.GitException: Command "git checkout -f ..." returned status code 128:
stdout:
stderr: fatal: Unable to create /var/jenkins_home/workspace/.../.../.git/index.lock': File exists.

Environment

Resolution

This typically happens if a controller or agent goes offline while the job is running and the failing controller/agent is not able to complete the process of removing the index.lock file. Removing this file manually from the workspace mentioned (/var/jenkins_home/workspace/…/…/.git/index.lock) should unblock this build.

Please remove this file manually and try running the checkout step again.

Tested product/plugin versions

CloudBees CI on modern cloud platforms - managed controller 2.426.3.3
git 5.2.1

This article is part of our Knowledge Base and is provided for guidance-based purposes only. The solutions or workarounds described here are not officially supported by CloudBees and may not be applicable in all environments. Use at your own discretion, and test changes in a safe environment before applying them to production systems.