Azure DevOps Pipeline forever stuck in Pending - azure-devops

Question

We've got an Azure DevOps Pipeline running on a self-hosted against without parallelism that is not running it's Deployment Job or Step.
The version I'm posting below will have two stages, but note that I have tried this by removing the second stage and converting the entire stage to a job, and still the same result. I should also note that I've got multiple pipelines with multiple jobs that run just fine, it seems to be an issue with the specific deployment job.
The second stage is forever stuck in Pending ("Job is Pending"). It will never proceed to start running.
The stage can also not be cancelled, and per the image above, it's been stuck for 2 months.
I should also note that I have submitted this to the Azure Developer Community at developercommunity.visualstudio.com, but I think they've abandoned my ticket.
I'm sure that there are many successful CI/CD deployments in Azure DevOps, I just can't tell what I'm doing wrong here. I am utilizing a working method in our separate Release Pipelines that we are running manually.
Below is the affected pipeline, any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
trigger: none
variables:
ArtifactPackageName: 'app.zip'
DeploySite.IISDeploymentType: 'IISWebsite'
DeploySite.ActionIISWebsite: 'CreateOrUpdateWebsite'
DeploySite.WebsiteName: 'REDACTED'
DeploySite.WebsitePhysicalPath: '%SystemDrive%\inetpub\wwwroot\REDACTED'
DeploySite.AddBinding: false
DeploySite.VirtualPathForApplication: '/REDACTED'
DeploySite.AppPoolName: 'REDACTED'
DeploySite.VirtualApplication: 'REDACTED'
DeploySite.Package: $(Pipeline.Workspace)/drop/$(ArtifactPackageName)
DeploySite.RemoveAdditionalFilesFlag: true
DeploySite.TakeAppOfflineFlag: true
DeploySite.XmlTransformation: false
DeploySite.XmlVariableSubstitution: true
DeploySite.SetParametersFile: $(Pipeline.Workspace)/drop/REDACTED.SetParameters.xml
DeploySite.JSONSettingsFiles: '**/appsettings.json'
stages:
- stage: 'Build'
displayName: 'Build'
jobs:
- job: 'Build'
displayName: 'Build'
pool:
name: REDACTED
variables:
Solution: '**/*.sln'
BuildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
BuildConfiguration: 'Release'
steps:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller#1
displayName: 'Install NuGet Tools'
- task: NuGetCommand#2
displayName: 'Restore NuGet Packages'
inputs:
restoreSolution: '$(Solution)'
- task: VSBuild#1
displayName: 'MSBuild'
inputs:
solution: '$(Solution)'
msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=false /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:DesktopBuildPackageLocation="$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\$(ArtifactPackageName)"'
platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts#1
displayName: 'Publish Build Artifacts'
inputs:
PathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
ArtifactName: drop
publishLocation: 'Container'
- stage: 'Deploy'
displayName: 'Deploy'
dependsOn: 'Build'
jobs:
- deployment: 'Deploy'
displayName: 'Deploy'
continueOnError: false
timeoutInMinutes: 10
workspace:
clean: all
pool:
name: REDACTED
environment:
name: SERVER-DEV
resourceType: VirtualMachine
strategy:
runOnce:
deploy:
steps:
- download: current
displayName: 'Download Artifact'
artifact: drop
- task: IISWebAppManagementOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'Stop IIS App Pool'
continueOnError: false
inputs:
IISDeploymentType: IISApplicationPool
ActionIISApplicationPool: StopAppPool
StartStopRecycleAppPoolName: '$(Parameters.WebsiteName)'
- task: IISWebAppDeploymentOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'IIS Web App Deploy'
continueOnError: false
inputs:
WebSiteName: '$(DeploySite.WebsiteName)'
VirtualApplication: '$(DeploySite.VirtualApplication)'
Package: '$(DeploySite.Package)'
RemoveAdditionalFilesFlag: $(DeploySite.RemoveAdditionalFilesFlag)
SetParametersFile: $(DeploySite.SetParametersFile)
TakeAppOfflineFlag: $(DeploySite.TakeAppOfflineFlag)
XmlTransformation: $(DeploySite.XmlTransformation)
XmlVariableSubstitution: $(DeploySite.XmlVariableSubstitution)
JSONFiles: $(DeploySite.JSONSettingsFiles)
- task: IISWebAppManagementOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'Start IIS App Pool'
continueOnError: true
inputs:
IISDeploymentType: IISApplicationPool
ActionIISApplicationPool: StartAppPool
StartStopRecycleAppPoolName: '$(Parameters.WebsiteName)'

Answer 1

I had the same error.
I renamed - deployment: Deploy to - deployment: Deployment
...and it started to work.

Answer 2

Changed
from - deployment: Deploy To - deployment: Deployment

Answer 3

I was facing the same error on a stage with only a Deployment job.
A successful workaround is to replace the Deployment job with a regular Job. However, this approach won't keep your deployment history or allow a deployment strategy.
In your case, the Deploy would be:
- stage: 'Deploy'
displayName: 'Deploy'
dependsOn: 'Build'
jobs:
- job: 'Deploy'
displayName: 'Deploy'
continueOnError: false
timeoutInMinutes: 10
workspace:
clean: all
pool:
name: REDACTED
steps:
- download: current
displayName: 'Download Artifact'
artifact: drop
- task: IISWebAppManagementOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'Stop IIS App Pool'
continueOnError: false
inputs:
IISDeploymentType: IISApplicationPool
ActionIISApplicationPool: StopAppPool
StartStopRecycleAppPoolName: '$(Parameters.WebsiteName)'
- task: IISWebAppDeploymentOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'IIS Web App Deploy'
continueOnError: false
inputs:
WebSiteName: '$(DeploySite.WebsiteName)'
VirtualApplication: '$(DeploySite.VirtualApplication)'
Package: '$(DeploySite.Package)'
RemoveAdditionalFilesFlag: $(DeploySite.RemoveAdditionalFilesFlag)
SetParametersFile: $(DeploySite.SetParametersFile)
TakeAppOfflineFlag: $(DeploySite.TakeAppOfflineFlag)
XmlTransformation: $(DeploySite.XmlTransformation)
XmlVariableSubstitution: $(DeploySite.XmlVariableSubstitution)
JSONFiles: $(DeploySite.JSONSettingsFiles)
- task: IISWebAppManagementOnMachineGroup#0
displayName: 'Start IIS App Pool'
continueOnError: true
inputs:
IISDeploymentType: IISApplicationPool
ActionIISApplicationPool: StartAppPool
StartStopRecycleAppPoolName: '$(Parameters.WebsiteName)'