Introduction
Understanding organizationsUnderstanding componentsManage organizationsManage componentsManage component Jira integrations
Set up your first organizationUnderstanding users and teamsUnderstanding role-based access controlManage usersManage teamsConfigure role-based access controlRBAC permissions reference
Understanding authentication in CloudBees UnifySet up multifactor authenticationConfigure SAML single sign-onConfigure OIDC authenticationConfigure network security policiesNetwork security reference
Understanding platform configurationUnderstanding environmentsManage properties and secretsManage environmentsTrack environment inventoryConfigure containersSet up preconfigured actionsConfigure notifications
Accessibility policy referenceShared responsibility model referenceSubscription and services agreementSupport policiesSupported browsers and external tools
Introduction
Understanding feature managementUnderstanding Configuration as CodeGet started with feature managementCreate and manage feature flagsConfigure feature flag targetingOrganize feature flagsImplement feature flag governanceConfiguration as Code reference
Understanding flag impressions and activity statusUnderstanding flag healthUnderstanding code referencesReview and clean up feature flagsSet up code references
Understanding Jira integration for feature flagsSet up the Jira integrationLink Jira tickets to feature flags
Understanding multiple SDK keysBuild your first mobile app with feature flagsBuild your first feature-flagged web applicationBuild your first feature-flagged backend serviceInstall client-side SDKsInstall server-side SDKsConfigure multiple SDK keysMobile SDK referenceWeb SDK referenceBackend SDK referenceClient SDK referenceFlag implementation reference
Introduction
Understanding CI workflowsCreate a build workflowCreate and manage workflowsCreate reusable workflowsTest and validate containers in workflowsCheck out source codeTrigger workflows remotelyWorkflow syntax referenceJobs syntax referenceSteps syntax referenceServices syntax reference
Monitor workflow runsView test results in runsView evidence in runsView deployments in runsManage workflow artifactsPublish test resultsPublish evidence itemsGenerate a software bill of materialsManage ServiceNow change requests
Configure workflow credentialsConfigure AWS credentialsConfigure container registry credentialsConfigure Git credentialsIntegrate external secret providers
Understanding GitHub Actions integrationSet up GitHub Actions integrationDisplay GitHub Actions workflows and runsRegister GHA build artifactsPublish GHA deployed artifactsPublish GHA test resultsPublish GHA evidence itemsTrigger CloudBees workflows from GitHub ActionsScan with GitHub Actions
Understanding CloudBees CI and Jenkins® integrationConnect CI and Jenkins controllersMonitor CI and Jenkins buildsRegister CI build artifactsRegister CI deployed artifactsPublish CI test resultsConfigure CI security scanningCI and Jenkins integration reference
Build and publish container imagesUnderstanding external CI/CD integrationsRun external CI/CD jobsExternal CI/CD action reference
Introduction
Understanding release orchestrationManage applicationsCreate deployer workflowsCreate staged workflowsCreate and manage releasesOrchestrate multi-workflow releasesRelease management reference
Understanding artifact managementRegister and track artifactsStore and retrieve artifactsPromote artifactsGenerate a software bill of materialsArtifact management reference
Deploy with HelmDeploy to KubernetesContainer deployment reference
Deploy to AWSAWS deployment reference
Deploy with enterprise platformsExecute remote deployment commandsEnterprise deployment reference
Verify deployments with New RelicDeployment verification reference

Understanding external CI/CD integrations

2 minute read

External CI/CD integrations let you trigger jobs and pipelines on other platforms directly from CloudBees workflows, centralising visibility and governance without requiring full migration of existing tooling.

What external CI/CD integrations are

Each supported platform is exposed as a CloudBees action that follows a consistent pattern: authenticate, trigger, and wait for completion. The following platforms are supported:

  • AWS CodePipeline

  • Bamboo

  • Bitbucket Pipelines

  • CloudBees CI

  • CircleCI

  • GitHub Actions

  • GitLab

  • Harness

  • Jenkins

  • JFrog Pipelines

  • TeamCity

When to use external CI/CD integrations

External integrations are most useful in four situations:

  • Incremental migration. You can run existing tooling in parallel with CloudBees workflows while gradually moving build logic across. Teams can adopt CloudBees incrementally without a hard cutover, reducing risk and allowing validation at each step.

  • Specialist tools that must remain. Some platforms serve specific purposes (performance testing suites, compliance pipelines, or legacy enterprise systems) that are not candidates for migration. Integrations let those tools continue to do their job while CloudBees orchestrates the wider workflow.

  • Organisation-wide visibility. When teams use different CI/CD platforms, results are fragmented across multiple dashboards. Triggering those pipelines from a CloudBees workflow surfaces test results, build status, and evidence in one place.

  • Governance and audit. Triggering approved pipelines on existing systems through a CloudBees workflow creates a central audit trail for compliance-sensitive environments.

How external integrations work

All 11 actions follow the same pattern. You provide the remote system’s URL and credentials (typically stored as secrets) and the action triggers the target job or pipeline, then blocks until it completes.

Optionally, you can surface test results in the CloudBees Unify Test insights dashboard by providing the test-type and test-result-location inputs. Both must be specified together. Omitting either means results are not published.

Some platforms (CloudBees CI and Jenkins) also support passing structured output back to the calling workflow. Output is returned as a JSON string in a named output variable (for example cbci_output or jenkins_output) and downstream steps can extract individual values using fromJSON().

Trade-offs and considerations

External integrations introduce the following dependencies and constraints:

  • Remote system availability. Workflow duration depends on the availability and run time of the remote system. A slow or unavailable external platform stalls the entire workflow at that step.

  • Credentials management. Each external system requires its own credentials, stored as secrets and rotated independently. In heterogeneous environments this overhead compounds across platforms.

  • Test result surfacing. Results only appear in CloudBees Unify when both test-type and test-result-location are specified. If either input is omitted, the workflow completes successfully but no test data is published.

Related pages

Build and publish container images
Run external CI/CD jobs