Your First Freestyle Job — mvn clean test

Let us create your first Jenkins job. We will start with a Freestyle job — it is GUI-based, no code needed. Think of it as training wheels. You will switch to Pipeline jobs later, but Freestyle teaches you the core concepts.

Create the Job

Step-by-Step: Create a Freestyle Job

1. From the Jenkins dashboard, click "New Item."
2. Enter name: "Banking-Automation-Tests." Select "Freestyle project." Click OK.
3. Description: "Runs Selenium tests for Banking portal."
4. Source Code Management: Select "Git." Enter your repo URL (HTTPS). Add credentials if private repo.
5. Branch: Change "*/master" to "*/main" if your default branch is main.
6. Build Environment: Check "Delete workspace before build starts" for clean builds.
7. Build Steps: Click "Add build step" > "Invoke top-level Maven targets."
8. Maven Version: Select "Maven-3.9" (the name you configured in global tools).
9. Goals: Enter "clean test -DsuiteXmlFile=testng.xml -Dheadless=true"
10. Post-build Actions: Click "Add post-build action" > "Publish TestNG Results." Set pattern: **/testng-results.xml
11. Click "Save."

Run It

Click "Build Now" on the left sidebar. Jenkins starts the job. Click the build number (#1) and then "Console Output" to watch it live. You will see Maven downloading dependencies, compiling code, and running tests. First build takes 5-10 minutes because of dependency downloads. Later builds are faster.

Understanding the Maven Command

mvn clean test -DsuiteXmlFile=testng.xml -Dheadless=true

# Breakdown:
# clean       — Delete old compiled files (target/ folder)
# test        — Compile code + run tests
# -D          — Pass a system property to Maven/TestNG
# suiteXmlFile — Which testng.xml to use
# headless    — Tell your BaseTest to run Chrome without a window

Build Status Colors