Plugin Usage Analyzer

Version:Starting with 2.263.1.2

Who needs it?

CloudBees CI administrators who need better visibility into their inventory of plugins.

The problem

As software organizations grow, so do the number of plugins that are required to support Jenkins pipelines and application development teams. A DevOps team can end up with hundreds of plugins to manage. Without visibility into which plugins are being used and not used, unused plugins are oftentimes left installed to prevent disruption to the entire system. Over time, this leads to plugin bloat, which can negatively impact system stability and whether or not upgrades are performed.

CloudBees can help

We know that lack of visibility into plugin usage can make it impossible for a CloudBees CI administrator to assess the impact of a plugin. Understanding the impact of a plugin is invaluable to a CloudBees CI administrator, who may also need to ensure plugins are in compliance with information security guidelines. Having an accurate view into which plugins are used and not used can help a CloudBees CI administrator proactively work with App Dev teams to minimize business disruptions caused by plugins being out of compliance. This feature gives the CloudBees CI administrator the added benefit of knowing how plugins impact all areas of the organization.

The solution

Our Plugin Usage Analyzer enables CloudBees CI administrators to track and monitor the usage of their plugins across their Freestyle and Pipeline jobs. Now CloudBees CI administrators can periodically audit and review their unused plugins, and maintain and upgrade their used plugins. Having an actionable bird’s-eye view can help CloudBees CI administrators ensure their systems are healthy, running smoothly, and in compliance.

How we do it better

This solution addresses the enterprise-specific need of managing hundreds of plugins across multiple controllers, and gives enterprise customers a way to create a more federated compliant CI infrastructure.

Use cases

Controller and plugin upgrades are no longer a time-consuming activity because this analyzer enables CloudBees CI administrators to prioritize most used plugins for all upgrade activity and review all unused plugins.