Skip to main content
Version: Early Access

Tekton Container Plugin

About the Tekton Plugin

The Tekton Container Plugin for Digital.ai Release enables you to trigger and monitor Tekton pipelines directly from a release flow. Tekton is a powerful, Kubernetes-native CI/CD engine that defines workflows using custom resources like Pipeline, Task, and PipelineRun.

With this plugin, you can seamlessly integrate Kubernetes-native CI/CD automation into your enterprise release orchestration, ensuring traceability, flexibility, and faster delivery pipelines.

Key Benefits

  • Run Tekton pipelines as part of broader enterprise releases
  • Monitor execution status in real-time from within Release
  • Reduce context switching between Tekton dashboards and Release
  • Automate container-based builds, tests, or deployments using Kubernetes-native tools

Available Tasks

The plugin provides the following task types:


Prerequisites

Before using the plugin, ensure the following are available:

  • A Tekton Pipelines installation running in a Kubernetes cluster.
  • Tekton plugin installed in Digital.ai Release.
How to install a plugin in Release?

To install a plugin:

  1. Open Release.
  2. Click the cog icon on the top right.
  3. Select Manage Plugins.
  4. Search for Tekton.
  5. Click Install Now next to the Tekton plugin.

For more information, see Plugin Manager.


Connect Release to Tekton

  1. Go to the Connections tab in Release.
  2. Click the + button next to Tekton: Server (Container).
  3. Provide the connection details:
FieldDescription
TitleA name for this Tekton server connection.
URLFull base URL of the Tekton API server (e.g., https://tekton-api.mycompany.com).
SSL Verification (Optional)Enable to enforce TLS/SSL verification.
Authentication Token (Optional)Provide a bearer token for secured API access.
  1. Click Save.

Connecting to Tekton Server UI


Tekton: Trigger Pipeline Run (Container)

This task starts a new Tekton pipeline run in a given Kubernetes namespace. You can also wait for the pipeline to finish and capture its final status.

When to use this?

  • Start a build process as part of a release
  • Kick off integration test workflows
  • Trigger container packaging pipelines in Kubernetes

Configuration Fields

FieldDescription
ServerSelect the Tekton connection defined earlier.
NamespaceKubernetes namespace where the Tekton pipeline is defined.
Pipeline nameName of the pipeline to run (e.g., ci-build-pipeline).
Pipeline run name (Optional)Custom name for this run (useful for traceability).
Wait for completionIf enabled, the task waits until the pipeline finishes.

If Wait for completion is enabled, the task updates the release task status to Succeeded, Failed, or In Progress, based on Tekton's pipeline result.

Example Scenario

Trigger a pipeline named image-build-and-push in namespace devops and wait for it to complete before moving to deployment.

Trigger Pipeline Run


Tekton: Get Pipeline Run (Container)

This task fetches the current status of a pipeline run. It’s helpful for:

  • Monitoring long-running pipelines
  • Polling for status outside Trigger Pipeline task
  • Displaying pipeline states in a release dashboard

Configuration Fields

FieldDescription
ServerTekton server connection to use.
NamespaceKubernetes namespace where the pipeline was run.
Pipeline nameName of the pipeline associated with the run.
Dashboard base URL (Optional)URL to the Tekton dashboard (e.g., https://tekton-dashboard.mycompany.com). The actual run name will be appended automatically.

Get Pipeline Run


Example Use Case: CI/CD Pipeline with Tekton

You can integrate Tekton into a multi-step enterprise pipeline like this:

  1. Initialize Infrastructure: Use a shell task or Terraform plugin.
  2. Trigger Tekton Build: Use Trigger Pipeline Run to start the image build pipeline.
  3. Wait for Completion: Enable Wait for completion.
  4. Get Pipeline Status: Optionally use Get Pipeline Run to confirm final status or display result in UI.
  5. Deploy Artifacts: Proceed with deployment tasks in Release or use plugins like Argo CD or Kubernetes.