How to build a job using the REST API and cURL?

Issue

I would like to be able to build a job remotely using the Jenkins REST API and cURL. This also provides a workaround for JENKINS-12543, that doesn’t require SSH Key Authentication.

Environment

Resolution

Example build:

curl --user USER:API_TOKEN -X POST https://localhost:8080/job/test/build

Replace:

USER:API_TOKEN with your username and API token
localhost:8080 with your Jenkins URL
test with your job name

Example build with String parameter:

curl --user USER:API_TOKEN -X POST https://localhost:8080/job/test/build --data-urlencode json='{"parameter": [{"name":"paramA", "value":"123"}]}'

Replace:

USER:API_TOKEN with your username and API token
localhost:8080 with your Jenkins URL
test with your job name
paramA with your parameter name
123 with your parameter value

See Remote Access API for more.

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.