I am configuring a release pipeline in Azure DevOps and I want the variables that get generated along the tasks to persist across re-execution of the same release. I wanted to know if that is possible.
The main goal is to create a pipeline that i can redeploy in case of a failure, if for example I have a release pipeline with 30 tasks, I would want handle skipping the tasks that got completed, but once I reach the relevant task, I need the persisted variable values.
I have looked online and I see it isn't possible to persist variables across phases, but does that also mean it cannot be persisted in the same release pipeline if I redeploy it?
From searching stack exchange and google I got to the following GitHub issue on the subject, I just wasn't sure if it also affects my own situation in the same way.
https://github.com/Microsoft/azure-pipelines-tasks/issues/4743
You have that by default unless I interpret you wrong. When redeploying the same release pipeline variables values you define (in the pipeline) do not change.
Calculated values are not persisted
Related
I'm working on an integration between Azure Pipelines and ServiceNow's change management module. To achieve that the ServiceNow Change Management extension has been installed and configured according to this documentation page. In Azure DevOps we are using multistage yaml pipelines, which should create standard preapproved changes in ServiceNow.
The connection itself between the two applications works fine, I managed to put together a pipeline that creates change requests, waits until their status changes and then closes them. However, I'd like to pass some values set in the pipeline runs to the created change requests and I couldn't find a way to do it.
First I added a service connection to our Azure DevOps project, and created the ServiceNow check for it. I experimented a little with adding different expressions to it, like setting the short description to ${{ parameters.shortDescription }}, or defining a variable in the pipeline as ShortDescription: ${{ parameters.shortDescription }} and using that variable in the check as $(ShortDescription) or $[ variables.ShortDescription ]. Unfortunately none of these expressions got resolved. I also realized it is possible to use the predefined variables, but the values I'd like to set are not possible to describe by predefined variables. For example, selecting an assignment group would be pretty straightforward from a parameter defined as a list, but impossible to select from predefined variables.
So as a next idea, I tried to link a variable group to the check and update the variables through logging commands. Even though the variables from the group got resolved, they only showed the values I set them through the UI as a static default value. The dynamic values set via the logging commands were not visible. I played around some time and verified that I can update the definition of the variable groups through Azure CLI or REST API, so I can add new variables or update existing ones. Thus I tried to add a new variable to the linked group during the pipeline run named as ShortDescription_$(Build.BuildId). Even though it got added properly, I could not use it within the check, because it required double variable resolution, like $(ShortDescription_$(Build.BuildId)) and this expression was not resolved, not even partly. It remained $(ShortDescription_$(Build.BuildId)).
Then I started thinking about using only one variable from the group with a static name (e.g. ShortDescription) for all pipeline runs. However, I feel it would create a race condition and could cause some inconsistencies.
So as a last resort, I tried to put together an extension with an Agent and a ServerGate task, which are capable of storing the values I want to pass to change request and reading the stored values in an agentless environment. The problem here is, that the second task is not visible as a check for service connections. It's there as a release pipeline gate and looks good there, but I can't utilize it that way. Based on a question I found, this does not seem to be the problem with my task. To verify it, I copied the content of the same ServiceNow check I used before, and added it to my extension as a contribution with a different task id. And it did not show up as the question stated.
Which means now I can either
create a change request through my custom server task (as the ServerGate task can be used properly in yaml if it is changed to a Server task), but that way I can't wait for the state change of the ServiceNow ticket, or
create the change request in a separate stage where I want to use it, update it first in the same stage where I created it via the first-party check and wait for the state change in the stage where I would normally create it.
The second can work, but it has its own problems, like having misleading values stored in the changed request for the stage id field, or not having multiple change requests created for multiple run attempts of the deployment stage. Also I feel like it's not how the extension's task and check should be used.
Unfortunately, I'm out of ideas how this dynamic value passing can be achieved, if it's possible to do so in the first place. Could you please help me by sharing ideas, or pointing out errors in my attempts?
I have a reasonably complex release pipeline in Azure DevOps that releases a number of Azure apps, a database etc.
Each step is genericised using a library variable for the environment. For example:
But library variables are linked to a release or a selection of stages.
Currently I have to clone the entire pipeline and link a new library variable group in the clone to publish a different environment, but this is heavy on unwanted duplication and maintenance.
How can I run the same release pipeline with different library variables?
If I could do this, it would be possible to have a release for a given branch, for example, but I cannot see a way to do it.
At of this time, it is not supported to select which variable groups to use when you create a release.
If you only have one or several variables, I think you can use pipeline variables instead of variable groups, so that you can update them at release time. Here are the detailed steps:
Go to your pipeline editing page and select "Variables" tab. Click "Add" to add a variable. Then check the option "Settable at release time".
Try re-create your release. You will find the variables defined in #1 and you can edit them before create the release.
If you have many variables, I suggest you try to change the structure of your pipeline to make it more suitable for deployment to multiple environments. As Daniel said, you can use stages for each environment, and then use the variable group in stages scope.
I was looking for documentation on when Azure DevOps 'freezes' the variable values for pipelines. This is mainly important when updating variables, either pipeline variables or within variable groups. As far as I know, DevOps creates a copy of the variable at some point so that if you redeploy a pipeline or change a variable in the meantime, you do not get the updated value for existing releases. But I'm not sure at which point in time that variable values are frozen, nor whether this behavior is equal for variables defined in the pipeline (for the entire release or for a specific stage) and variable groups.
If anyone could either point out the relevant documentation (which I was not able to find myself) or give me some insights into how this works, that would be great!
I have 2 build pipelines in my azure devops project, one for building source code and the other one is for
making the setup.
I want the build number generated by the first pipeline that compiles code to be passed to the next pipeline which creates the setup file because i want the setup file to take the same version, so I added a variable group with a variable called sharedBuildCounter.
But when I set sharedBuildCounter the build number in the first pipeline using logging command like this(used inside PowerShell task):
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=variable_name;]new_value"
The variable indeed takes the new value and I am able to output the new value using another PowerShell task with one line:
Write-Host $(SharedBuildCounter)
And when I run the next pipeline that builds the setup, I find that sharedBuildCounter is being re-set to the default empty value.
Notice: I found threads that suggests using API rest calls to change variable values, but it don't seem to include a specific pipeline name in case of using pipeline variables(not variable groups).
Variable groups will help to share static values across builds and releases pipeline.
What you need is a way to pass variables from one pipeline to another. I'm afraid to say the is no official way to do this.
As a workaround you could update the value of your variables inside your variable group. There are multiple ways to handle this, Rest API, powershell, 3rd-party extension. Detail ways please refer answers in this question: How to Increase/Update Variable Group value using Azure Devops Build Definition?
If you want to get the value of variable in the pipeline. Since you have used logging command to update that variable.
You need to use Rest API to get that particular build log to fetch related info.
You can use Azure Artifacts to pass information between pipelines. In one pipeline, you write the values to a file and publish the file to an artifact. In the other pipeline, you download the artifact and read the file.
There may be other ways to do it. Azure DevOps allows for free and infinite use of Azure Artifacts in this fashion.
See How to get variable values from pipeline resources in azure pipelines.
I would like to update some of the parameters of an ADF pipeline (e.g. concurrency level) of lots of mappings. I am not able to find out any cmdlet to be able to do this through powershell. I know I can drop existing pipeline and create new one, but that will start reprocessing all the Ready slices for that pipelines active period, which I don't want. Because in that case it will involve calculating up to what point existing pipeline has processed slices. And then this is only temporary, at some stage again I am going to revert back settings. I just want pipelines to change one of its properties. Doing this manually through the UI is slow and tedious. I am guessing there is no way around this, but let me know if you know of.
You can still use "New-AzureRmDataFactoryPipeline" for this Update scenario:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt619358.aspx
Use with the -Force parameter to force it to proceed even if the message reads "... may overwrite the existing resource".
Under the hood, it's the same HTTP PUT api call used by Azure UX Portal. You can verify that with Fiddler.
The already executed slices won't be re-run unless you set their status back to PendingExecution.
This rule applies to LinkedService and Dataset as well but NOT the top level DataFactory resource. A New-AzureRmDataFactory will cause the service to delete the existing DF along with all its sub-resources and create a brand new one. So be careful from there.