Implementing DevSecOps with Jenkins Template Engine (JTE): Setup, Configuration, and Pipeline Testing

Implementing DevSecOps across an enterprise is challenging because different teams use various programming languages, test frameworks, and security tools, making it difficult to build and maintain pipelines for each team.

The Jenkins Template Engine (JTE) plugin, originally created by Booz Allen Hamilton, introduces a template‑method design pattern to Jenkins pipelines, allowing tool‑agnostic, reusable pipeline templates stored in a single source repository.

Preparing JTE code

Set up a Library Resources repository where the root contains separate libraries such as gradle and maven. Under each library, a steps directory holds the custom functions.

Configure the pipeline template and associated configuration files, for example:

// Loaded libraries
libraries{
  sonarqube
  gradle
}

// Environment variables
application_environments{
  dev{
    short_name = "t"
  }
  test
}

pipeline{
    agent{
        label "master"
    }

    stages{
        stage("build"){
            steps{
                build(dev.short_name)
                build_test()
            }
        }
    }
}

Installing the JTE plugin

Install the “Templating Engine” plugin in Jenkins, then navigate to System Configuration to configure the plugin as shown in the screenshots.

Pipeline testing

Create a pipeline job and run it. The console output demonstrates JTE loading libraries, applying the template, and executing the defined steps, ending with a SUCCESS status.

Started by user unknown or anonymous
[JTE] Obtained Pipeline Configuration File (show)
[JTE] Pipeline Configuration Modifications (show)
[JTE] Obtained Template (show)
[JTE] Loading Library sonarqube (show)
[JTE] Loading Library gradle (show)
[JTE] Template Primitives are overwriting Jenkins steps with the following names: (show)
[Pipeline] Start of Pipeline
[Pipeline] node
Running on Jenkins in /var/jenkins_home/workspace/demo-jte-pipeline
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] stage
[Pipeline] {
  (build)
[JTE][Step - gradle/build.call(String)]
[Pipeline] echo
gradle build
[Pipeline] echo
t
[JTE][Step - gradle/build_test.call()]
[Pipeline] readJSON
[Pipeline] echo
{"name":"jenkins","id":"devopsvip"}
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // stage
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] End of Pipeline
Finished: SUCCESS

For further details, refer to the official Jenkins templating engine documentation and the example code repositories linked at the end of the article.