Integrating cppcheck Static Analysis into Jenkins with Git Polling

Step 1: Install Jenkins from the official site (http://jenkins-ci.org/).

Step 2: In Jenkins, go to System Management → Manage Plugins and install the cppcheck plugin.

Step 3: Install the Git plugin and Git client plugin.

Step 4: Install the cppcheck tool on the Jenkins server so it can be invoked from the command line.

Step 5: Create a new job (e.g., test ).

Step 6: In the job configuration, under Source Code Management , select Git and provide the repository URL and credentials (create an SSH credential with the Git username and private key; the key must belong to the jenkins user, not root).

Step 7: Add a Poll SCM trigger with the cron expression */1 * * * * to poll the repository every minute; if changes are detected, Jenkins updates the local branch and starts a build.

Step 8: Add an Execute shell build step with the cppcheck command:

cppcheck -j 4 --enable=all --inconclusive --xml --xml-version=2.2 > cppcheck.xml

This runs cppcheck with four parallel jobs, enables all checks, treats inconclusive results as warnings, and writes the output in XML format to cppcheck.xml .

Step 9: Add another Execute shell step to analyse the XML result:

php analysis_xml.php

This script parses cppcheck.xml and extracts key information.

Step 10: Configure email notifications in Jenkins to send the summary of cppcheck findings to the relevant stakeholders.

Common issues and tips:

Git authentication failures often occur because Jenkins runs as the jenkins user; ensure the SSH key is placed in the jenkins home directory with correct ownership.

Remote builds can be triggered by constructing a URL such as JENKINS_URL/job/projectname/build?token=TOKEN_NAME (or /buildWithParameters?token=TOKEN_NAME ) after creating a token in the user settings.

Periodic builds can also be scheduled via the “Build periodically” option.

The resulting cppcheck report is displayed in Jenkins as shown in the attached image.