In Jenkins pipeline, how can I convert a String to Date?

Question

I just want to be able to convert 2019-11-05T08:43:43.488-0500 to a Date object? I see Groovy String to Date but that doesn't work in pipeline (I'm aware not all Groovy does work in pipeline).

Please check this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40261710/getting-current-timestamp-in-inline-pipeline-script-using-pipeline-plugin-of-hud/43389597 — Siva Karuppiah, Nov 07 '19 at 16:37
where do you get this value "2019-11-05T08:43:43.488-0500" ? — Siva Karuppiah, Nov 07 '19 at 17:05
You should consider the newer LocalDateTime instead of Date. Less hassle than Date in Jenkins pipelines. LocalDateTime.parse(...) will convert your string. — addmoss, Jun 02 '20 at 19:12

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 07 '19 at 17:24

You can use java.text.SimpleDateFormat to parse String to Date object in a Jenkins Pipipeline. And this is actually what the Date.parse(format,date) does under the hood - https://github.com/apache/groovy/blob/GROOVY_2_4_12/src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/runtime/DefaultGroovyStaticMethods.java#L186

You will need, however, approve using DateFormat.parse(date) method when you run it for the first time in the Jenkins Pipeline.

Scripts not permitted to use method java.text.DateFormat parse java.lang.String. Administrators can decide whether to approve or reject this signature.
[Pipeline] End of Pipeline
org.jenkinsci.plugins.scriptsecurity.sandbox.RejectedAccessException: Scripts not permitted to use method java.text.DateFormat parse java.lang.String
    at org.jenkinsci.plugins.scriptsecurity.sandbox.whitelists.StaticWhitelist.rejectMethod(StaticWhitelist.java:175)

When you approve it, the following code should work for you:

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat

pipeline {
    agent any

    stages {
        stage("Test") {
            steps {
                script {
                    def date = "2019-11-05T08:43:43.488-0500"
                    def format = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ"

                    def parsed = new SimpleDateFormat(format).parse(date)

                    echo "date = ${parsed}"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

The output:

Running on Jenkins in /home/wololock/.jenkins/workspace/pipeline-sandbox
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] stage
[Pipeline] { (Test)
[Pipeline] script
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] echo
date = Tue Nov 05 14:43:43 CET 2019
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // script
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // stage
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] End of Pipeline
Finished: SUCCESS

In Jenkins pipeline, how can I convert a String to Date?

1 Answers1