Generally, it is the best practice to use the latest version of a plugin. But there are ways to install custom plugins or outdated versions of a published plugin. Jenkins Plugins are exported using a .hpi file and the same can be installed in multiple ways -
Using the Jenkins CLI
java -jar jenkins-cli.jar -s http://localhost:8080/ install-plugin SOURCE ... [-deploy] [-name VAL] [-restart]
The above command Installs a plugin either from a file, an URL or from the update center.
SOURCE: If this points to a local file, that file will be installed. If this is an URL, Jenkins downloads the URL and installs that as a plugin. Otherwise, the name is assumed to be the short name of the plugin in the existing update center (like "findbugs") and the plugin will be installed from the update center.
-deploy: Deploy plugins right away without postponing them until the reboot.
-name VAL: If specified, the plugin will be installed as this short name (whereas normally the name is inferred from the source name automatically).
-restart: Restart Jenkins upon successful installation.
Advanced Installation - via - Web UI
Assuming a .hpi file has been downloaded, a logged-in Jenkins administrator may upload the file from within the web UI:
Navigate to the Manage Jenkins > Manage Plugins page in the web UI.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Choose the .hpi file under the Upload Plugin section.
Upload the plugin file.
Restart the Jenkins instance
Advanced Installation - via - On the master
Assuming a .hpi file has been explicitly downloaded by a systems administrator, the administrator can manually place the .hpi file in a specific location on the file system.
Copy the downloaded .hpi file into the JENKINS_HOME/plugins directory on the Jenkins controller (for example, on Debian systems JENKINS_HOME is generally /var/lib/jenkins).
The master will need to be restarted before the plugin is loaded and made available in the Jenkins environment.
