Today I wanted to share some fun I've been having with customizing the emails sent from my Jenkins builds. This was inspired by Narendra's
comment on a previous post.
So, getting to it, I took a quick look after reading the comment and found the
Email-ext plugin that enables customization of the emails that are sent to administrators and code committers (offenders?) for failing or unstable builds.
Out of the box, this plugin sends an email that lists the failing tests that were encountered. While this is nice, it doesn't pass muster in my book. Why?
- It is very much catered to JUnit test results by default. These aren't JUnit results #forgoodnesssakes! We are talking MATLAB code here! I want the CI system configuration to be production grade just like the code it is integrating, which means we don't accept calling MATLAB test results JUnit test results!
- Showing the failed tests is nice but I also want to see the diagnostics. If we have a chance to know immediately what the problem is then I don't want to have to click through to have to figure this out. Having the diagnostics in the email might mean I know exactly why the build fails when I get the email on my phone while riding the T on my way home. The remaining ride then has the benefit of valuable brain cycles already figuring out the solution. If I have to click through? No dice.
...
read more >>