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:
-
Trigger Pipeline Run (Container)
Starts a Tekton pipeline run and optionally waits for it to complete. -
Get Pipeline Run (Container)
Retrieves the current status of a specific pipeline run.
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:
- Open Release.
- Click the
on the top right. - Select Manage Plugins.
- Search for
Tekton. - Click Install Now next to the Tekton plugin.
For more information, see Plugin Manager.
Connect Release to Tekton
- Go to the Connections tab in Release.
- Click the + button next to Tekton: Server (Container).
- Provide the connection details:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | A name for this Tekton server connection. |
| URL | Full 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. |
- Click Save.
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
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Server | Select the Tekton connection defined earlier. |
| Namespace | Kubernetes namespace where the Tekton pipeline is defined. |
| Pipeline name | Name of the pipeline to run (e.g., ci-build-pipeline). |
| Pipeline run name (Optional) | Custom name for this run (useful for traceability). |
| Wait for completion | If 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.
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 Pipelinetask - Displaying pipeline states in a release dashboard
Configuration Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Server | Tekton server connection to use. |
| Namespace | Kubernetes namespace where the pipeline was run. |
| Pipeline name | Name 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. |
Example Use Case: CI/CD Pipeline with Tekton
You can integrate Tekton into a multi-step enterprise pipeline like this:
- Initialize Infrastructure: Use a shell task or Terraform plugin.
- Trigger Tekton Build: Use Trigger Pipeline Run to start the image build pipeline.
- Wait for Completion: Enable
Wait for completion. - Get Pipeline Status: Optionally use Get Pipeline Run to confirm final status or display result in UI.
- Deploy Artifacts: Proceed with deployment tasks in Release or use plugins like Argo CD or Kubernetes.