Initializes the [`commonPipelineEnvironment`](commonPipelineEnvironment.md), which is used throughout the complete pipeline.
!!! tip
This step needs to run at the beginning of a pipeline right after the SCM checkout.
Then subsequent pipeline steps consume the information from `commonPipelineEnvironment`; it does not need to be passed to pipeline steps explicitly.
## Prerequisites
* A **configuration file** with properties (default location: `.pipeline/config.properties`). The property values are used as default values in many pipeline steps.
## Parameters
| parameter | mandatory | default | possible values |