Azure DevOps: How do I expand variables in a template in the YML file referring to that template for use in a conditional? - azure-devops

Question

I have two Azure DevOps .yml-based templates, one referring to another. I'm finding that variables specified in the one being referred to do not expand when I need them to in a conditional in the template referring to that template. Here is how they look:
Parent template:
jobs:
- deployment:
displayName: Release
variables:
- template: variables.yml
environment:
name: QA
resourceType: VirtualMachine
strategy:
runOnce:
deploy:
...
#this copies to xxMaster
- task: CopyFiles#2
#condition: eq('${{ parameters.appName }}', 'all')
condition: and(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'master'), eq('${{ configuration }}', '$(productionConfiguration)'))
inputs:
SourceFolder: 'C:\DevOps\$(Build.BuildNumber)\Content\D_C\a\1\s\xxTexas\obj\Release\Package\PackageTmp'
Contents: '**\*.*'
OverWrite: true
TargetFolder: 'C:\Production\Web Sites\xxMaster'
Child Template:
variables:
- name: solution
value: '**/*.sln'
- name: buildPlatform
value: 'Any CPU'
- name: buildConfiguration
value: "${{ parameters.configuration }}"
- name: productionConfiguration
value: 'Horsie'
In this case, when the conditional should work and ${{ configuration }} equals 'Horsie', the YAML is evaluated and comes up with
and(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'master'), eq('Horsie', '$(productionConfiguration)'))
That is, $(productionConfiguration), the variable specified in the referred-to template, is never expanded into 'Horsie.' What should I do to make it so the variable from that sub-template is expanded and my conditional works?

Answer 1

From your YAML sample, the cause of this issue is the format of the variable:$(productionConfiguration) in condition.
You need to use the format: variables['productionConfiguration'] to call the pipeline variable.
Here is an example:
stages:
- stage: deploy
jobs:
- deployment: DeployWeb
displayName: deploy Web App
variables:
- template: template.yml
pool:
vmImage: 'Ubuntu-latest'
# creates an environment if it doesn't exist
environment: 'smarthotel-dev'
strategy:
runOnce:
deploy:
steps:
- script: echo Hello world
condition: and(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranchName'], 'main'), eq('${{ configuration }}', variables['productionConfiguration']))