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In this hands-on guide, we’ll uninstall and clean up the Copy Artifact plugin in a simple chained-job workflow: ascii-build-job → ascii-test-job → ascii-deploy-job. By the end, you’ll know how to verify artifact handling, remove a plugin, and ensure no orphaned configuration remains.

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Table of Contents

  1. Job Workflow
  2. Step 1: Verify Build Job Generates Artifact
  3. Step 2: Configure Test Job to Copy Artifacts
  4. Step 3: Trigger Builds and Observe Workflow
  5. Step 4: Confirm Plugin Installation
  6. Step 5: Locate Plugin on Filesystem
  7. Step 6: Uninstall Copy Artifact Plugin
  8. Step 7: Re-run Jobs After Uninstallation
  9. Step 8: Inspect Job Configuration
  10. Conclusion

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Job Workflow

Job NamePurpose
ascii-build-jobFetches advice from API, archives advice.json
ascii-test-jobCopies advice.json with Copy Artifact Plugin and validates word count
ascii-deploy-job(Optional) Deploys validated advice to target system

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Step 1: Verify Build Job Generates Artifact

On the ascii-build-job dashboard, confirm the build archives advice.json successfully.
The image shows a Jenkins dashboard for a project named "ascii-build-job," displaying build flow and downstream projects with links to build history and artifacts.

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Step 2: Configure Test Job to Copy Artifacts

In ascii-test-job, add a Build Step → Copy artifacts from another project. Select:
  • Project name: ascii-build-job
  • Which build: Latest successful build
  • Artifacts to copy: advice.json
The image shows a Jenkins configuration screen for a job named "ascii-test-job," focusing on the "Build Steps" section where artifacts are being copied from another project. The interface includes options for selecting the project name, build type, and specific artifacts to copy.

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Step 3: Trigger Builds and Observe Workflow

  1. Click Build Now on ascii-build-job.
  2. Review console output to ensure advice.json was archived:
$ ls advice.json
advice.json
$ cat advice.json
{"slip":{"advice":"Don't promise what you can't deliver."}}
$ jq -r .slip.advice
Don't promise what you can't deliver.
$ wc -w advice.json
6 advice.json
  1. Both ascii-build-job and ascii-test-job should pass:
The image shows a Jenkins dashboard for a job named "ascii-build-job," displaying its build flow, downstream projects, and build history. The job appears to have been successfully built recently.

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Step 4: Confirm Plugin Installation

Navigate to Manage Jenkins → Manage Plugins → Installed. Verify Copy Artifact is listed: 
$ cd $JENKINS_HOME/plugins
$ ls | grep -i copy
copyartifact.jpi
The image shows the Jenkins plugin management interface, specifically the "Installed plugins" section, with a search for "copy" displaying the "Copy Artifact" plugin.

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Step 5: Locate Plugin on Filesystem

From a terminal (or IDE), inspect the plugin file: 
$ cd $JENKINS_HOME/plugins
$ ls | grep -i copyartifact
copyartifact.jpi
The image shows a terminal window in Visual Studio Code displaying a list of Jenkins plugin files with the ".jpi" extension. The terminal is connected to a remote server, and the files are organized in columns.

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Step 6: Uninstall Copy Artifact Plugin

  1. Go to Manage Plugins → Installed.
  2. Click Uninstall next to Copy Artifact.
  3. Confirm the dialog to remove the plugin binary.
The image shows a Jenkins interface with a confirmation dialog asking if the user wants to uninstall the "Copy Artifact" plugin, with options to cancel or proceed.
Uninstalling removes copyartifact.jpi from $JENKINS_HOME/plugins, but job XMLs still reference the plugin until Jenkins is restarted.

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Step 7: Re-run Jobs After Uninstallation

Trigger ascii-build-job again, then ascii-test-job. You’ll see the copy step succeed (artifact already on disk), but Jenkins still internally uses the missing plugin reference: 
[ascii-test-job] $ /bin/sh -xe /tmp/jenkinsXXXX.sh
+ ls advice.json
advice.json
+ cat advice.json
{"slip":{"advice":"Don't try and bump start a motorcycle on an icy road."}}
+ jq -r .slip.advice
Don't try and bump start a motorcycle on an icy road.
+ wc -w advice.json
11 advice.json
The image shows a Jenkins dashboard for a job named "ascii-test-job," displaying build flow details, upstream and downstream projects, and build history.

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Step 8: Inspect Job Configuration

Open ascii-test-job/config.xml and locate the plugin reference: 
<project>
  <builders>
    <hudson.plugins.copyartifact.CopyArtifact plugin="[email protected]_dca_a_9b_6549">
      <project>ascii-build-job</project>
      <filter>advice.json</filter>
      <selector class="hudson.plugins.copyartifact.StatusSelector">
        <stable>true</stable>
      </selector>
    </hudson.plugins.copyartifact.CopyArtifact>
    <!-- ... other builders ... -->
  </builders>
</project>
Without the plugin binary, this builder will error after a Jenkins restart. A full restart is required to purge these orphaned entries.
After uninstalling a plugin, always restart Jenkins to remove its XML elements from job configurations.

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Conclusion

To fully remove a plugin and its configuration:
  1. Uninstall the plugin via Manage Plugins.
  2. Restart Jenkins to clean up any residual <plugin> elements in job config.xml files.
For more information, see the Jenkins Plugin Management documentation.

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