Chains overview

A chain consists of a sequence of steps, and each step can run one plugin.

Chains of plugins enable you to:

Perform builds.
Capture build artifacts.
Create and build Docker containers.
Deploy assets.
Fetch code from a repository.
Examine source code and artifacts for security vulnerabilities, report findings, and provide an opinion.
Perform static analysis.
Perform other activities such as fetch sources and send email notifications.

For details about available chain plugins, see Plugins.

Note: To work with chains, you need maintainer, owner, or administrator permissions. For details, see Manage members and teams.

Example chain

In this example, the chain has three steps:

Step 1: Maven builds the stream.

Step 2: Capture to Dimensions CM captures the targets to the stream.

Step 3: DA Deployment deploys the application to an environment.

Chains are owned by streams or branches. You can create multiple, independent chains to run on the same stream, for example:

The first chain runs on every delivery and performs brief static analysis.
A second chain runs at midnight every day, performs more thorough analysis, and deploys software.

Note: Chains are run by agents. By default, an agent can run one chain at a time. To run multiple chains in parallel, make sure you have enough available agents. For details about agents, see Manage agents.