How can I include a shared library in the Jenkins script console?

Question

In a Jenkinsfile, if I have a Jenkins shared library installed under the alias my-awesome-lib, I can include it using the syntax:

@Library('my-awesome-lib')
import ...

But how can I refer to the library from the Jenkins script console?

Answer 1

I suggest you to deploy the following Jenkins pipeline to some repo.

Every time you use it, it will show you the last executed code.

If you have libraries that load automatically, you have a great playground to fiddle with them.

pipeline {
  agent any
  options {
      skipDefaultCheckout true  // Access to this file not required
      timestamps()
  }
  parameters {
      // Set as default value the current value, which means that every time you open "Run with parameters", you have the last code you executed.
      text(name: 'SCRIPT', defaultValue: params.SCRIPT,
          description: 'Groovy script')
  }
  stages {
    stage("main") {
      steps {
        script {
          writeFile file: 'script.groovy', text: params.SCRIPT
          def retvalue = load 'script.groovy'
          if (retvalue != null)
              // disable next line or install this cool plugin
                  currentBuild.description = (retvalue as String).split('\n')[0].take(40)
                  echo "Return value: '${retvalue}'"

          }
        } // steps
      } // stage
    } // stages

    post {
      cleanup {
        script {
          deleteDir()
      }
    }
  }  
} // pipeline

Answer 2

You can refer the library object from script console like this:

// get Jenkins instance
Jenkins jenkins = Jenkins.getInstance()

// get Jenkins Global Libraries
def globalLibraries = jenkins.getDescriptor("org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.libs.GlobalLibraries")
globalLibraries.getLibraries()

but using the shared libraries code will not be simple and might be even impossible.

In continue to the code above, let's say you do:

def lib = globalLibraries[0]

get the retriever:

def ret = lib.getRetriever()

then you need to retrieve the source code, but in order to call retrieve(), you need a few object that you don't have in the script console:

/**
     * Obtains library sources.
     * @param name the {@link LibraryConfiguration#getName}
     * @param version the version of the library, such as from {@link LibraryConfiguration#getDefaultVersion} or an override
     * @param target a directory in which to check out sources; should create {@code src/**}{@code /*.groovy} and/or {@code vars/*.groovy}, and optionally also {@code resources/}
     * @param run a build which will use the library
     * @param listener a way to report progress
     * @throws Exception if there is any problem (use {@link AbortException} for user errors)
     */
    public abstract void retrieve(@Nonnull String name, @Nonnull String version, @Nonnull FilePath target, @Nonnull Run<?,?> run, @Nonnull TaskListener listener) throws Exception;

so there might be a hacky way to do so, but IMO it doesn't worth it.