## Pipeline Terms 

## Step 

A single task; fundamentally steps tell Jenkins what  to do. For example, to execute the shell command make  use the sh  step: sh 'make' . When a plugin extends the Pipeline DSL, that typically means the plugin has implemented a new step . 

## Node 

Most work  a Pipeline performs is done in the context of one or more declared node  steps. 

Confining the work inside of a node step does two things: 

1. Schedules the steps contained within the block to run by adding an item to the Jenkins queue. As soon as an executor is free on a node, the steps will run. 

2. Creates a workspace (a directory specific to that particular Pipeline) where work can be done on files checked out from source control. 

## CAUTION 

## Stage 

Depending on your Jenkins configuration, some workspaces may not get automatically cleaned up after a period of inactivity. See tickets and discussion linked from JENKINS-2111 for more information. 

stage  is a step for defining a conceptually distinct subset of the entire Pipeline, for example: "Build", "Test", and "Deploy", which is used by many plugins to visualize or present Jenkins Pipeline status/progress. [6: Blue Ocean, Pipeline Stage View plugin] 

