Run regardless of build result - could it be done using try / catch / finally ?

try {
    stage 'build'
} catch {
} finally {
    stage 'post-build'
(I've noticed that final build status is set as SUCCESS even though some stages, ie. 'build', have failed as it set based on last stage. Does that mean final build status need to explicitly set, ie.currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE'? )
                Possible duplicate of How do I assure that a Jenkins pipeline stage is always executed, even if a previous one failed?
– Amedee Van Gasse
                May 27, 2016 at 13:48
  
Handling Failures

  Declarative Pipeline supports robust failure
  handling by default via its post section which allows declaring a
  number of different "post conditions" such as: always, unstable,
  success, failure, and changed. The Pipeline Syntax section provides
  more detail on how to use the various post conditions.
Jenkinsfile (Declarative Pipeline)
pipeline {
    agent any
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'make check'
    post {
        always {
            junit '**/target/*.xml'
        failure {
            mail to: team@example.com, subject: 'The Pipeline failed :('
The documentation is below
https://jenkins.io/doc/book/pipeline/syntax/#post
                @Mohamed, as Subrat said, this doesn't work outside of the jenkins file. Is there another way to do it?
– Jason
                Jul 18, 2017 at 20:11
                It could be due to the jenkins version or plugin version however I am not sure. The other way to do it is put the changes in a try catch and finally block.
– Mohamed Thoufeeque
                Jul 19, 2017 at 9:02
                @MohamedThoufeeque do you know if you can make the posy steps conditional? I would like to only send an email if the build fails for certain branches.
– thecoshman
                Nov 14, 2017 at 17:27
                how do you get the stage where the failure happened in the post directive? is that an environment variable?
– red888
                Jan 18, 2018 at 20:02
FWIW, if you are using scripted pipelines and not declarative, you should use a try/catch/finally block as suggested in the other answers. In the finally block, if you want to mimic what the declarative pipeline does, you can either put the following directly in the block, or make it a function and call that function from your finally block:
def currResult = currentBuild.result ?: 'SUCCESS'
def prevResult = currentBuild.previousBuild?.result ?: 'NOT_BUILT'
// Identify current result
boolean isAborted = (currResult == 'ABORTED')
boolean isFailure = (currResult == 'FAILURE')
boolean isSuccess = (currResult == 'SUCCESS')
boolean isUnstable = (currResult == 'UNSTABLE')
boolean isChanged = (currResult != prevResult)
boolean isFixed = isChanged && isSuccess && (prevResult != 'ABORTED') && (prevResult != 'NOT_BUILT')
boolean isRegression = isChanged && currentBuild.resultIsWorseOrEqualTo(prevResult)
onAlways()
if (isChanged) {
    onChanged()
    if (isFixed) {
        onFixed()
    } else if (isRegression) {
        onRegression()
if (isSuccess) {
    onSuccess()
} else {
    if (isAborted) {
        onAborted()
    onUnsuccessful()
    if (isFailure) {
        onFailure()
    if (isUnstable) {
        onUnstable()
onCleanup()
The various onXYZ() calls are functions that you would define to handle that particular condition instead of using the nicer syntax of the declarative post blocks.
                I just tried this and found cases where some stage errors (error added on purpose to test the post build step) can't be detected... currResult == SUCCESS when the job is clearly failing (Jenkins literally write in the console Finished: FAILURE). in my finally block, both currentBuild.result & currentBuild.currentResult are SUCCESS. Any idea why?
– MoOx
                Apr 8, 2020 at 14:43
                @MoOx sorry I'm just seeing this now ... it has been ages since I looked at this, and perhaps something has changed internally with how the current result of the build is handled. Would have to test it, but you may need to use def currResult = currentBuild.currentResult ?: 'SUCCESS' instead in the first line. I forget which is set by Jenkins and which is set from your Groovy code, but if memory serves, currentResult may be what is required here. It may not have been set, so you can assume SUCCESS in that case. If there was a failure, it would be set to UNSTABLE or FAILURE already.
– Will
                Dec 9, 2021 at 3:45
                @MoOx also, I would have to see specifically how your code is written, where the try/catch/finally is placed, and where the error condition is coming into play. Debugging pipelines, in my experience, is far from fun, but not impossible. Just takes being able to see the code as a whole and being able to run it on my Jenkins instance.
– Will
                Dec 9, 2021 at 3:49
If you are using try/catch and you want a build to be marked as unstable or failed then you must use currentBuild.result = 'UNSTABLE' etc.  I believe some plugins like the JUnit Report plugin will set this for you if it finds failed tests in the junit results.  But in most cases you have to set it your self if you are catching errors.
The second option if you don't want to continue is to rethrow the error.  
stage 'build'
... build
try {
    ... tests
} catch(err) {
    //do something then re-throw error if needed.
    throw(err)
stage 'post-build'
try-catch blocks can be set up to handle errors like in real application code.
For example:
try {
    node {
        sh 'sleep 20' // <<- can abort here
} catch (Exception e) {
    println 'catch'
} finally {
    println 'finally'
node {
    println 'second'
try {
    node {
        sh 'sleep 20' // <<- can abort here again
} catch (Exception e) {
    println 'catch'
} finally {
    println 'finally'
And here is an example output with two aborts.
Started by user me
Replayed #3
[Pipeline] node
Running on my-node in /var/lib/jenkins-slave/workspace/my-job
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] sh
[my-job] Running shell script
+ sleep 20
Aborted by me
Sending interrupt signal to process
/var/lib/jenkins-slave/workspace/my-job@tmp/durable-9e1a15e6/script.sh: line 2: 10411 Terminated              sleep 20
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] echo
catch
[Pipeline] echo
finally
[Pipeline] node
Running on my-node in /var/lib/jenkins-slave/workspace/my-job
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] echo
second
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] node
Running on my-node in /var/lib/jenkins-slave/workspace/my-job
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] sh
[my-job] Running shell script
+ sleep 20
Aborted by me
Sending interrupt signal to process
/var/lib/jenkins-slave/workspace/my-job@tmp/durable-d711100c/script.sh: line 2: 10416 Terminated              sleep 20
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] echo
catch
[Pipeline] echo
finally
[Pipeline] End of Pipeline
Finished: ABORTED
Of course, this works for any exceptions happening during the execution.
        
Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!
Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.