Our main project is hosted and managed on VSTS online. We are managing the work using Features, User Stories and tasks. In addition, the code is managed and stored in Repos. We are working with pipelines and such for CICD. Last, we installed some extensions downloaded from the marketplace.
Currently, we are running on the build-in Agile process. We would like to create an inherit process and move the project to it. I’ve done that in the past but without the project using CICD.
The question is, can we do that safely without harming or endangering our code and CICD operations?
Thanks
The CI/CD processes not related to the Work Item process. you can move to inherited process template without harming or endangering your code and your CI/CD pipelines.
Unless you touch the work items during the build (with custom scripts/API) and change fields etc. so you need to update the scripts (e.g. you change a field called "A" and in the new template is "B").
Related
I am trying to create a release pipeline in Azure DevOps. We already have a functioning build pipeline that works well, it is able to package the build with VSBuild and publish it as an artifact. Then in the release pipeline I am using an IIS Deployment job (which includes IIS Manage and IIS Deploy tasks) and it gets that artifact to deploy.
The problem is that we already have a publish profile (.pubxml) that should take care of pretty much everything the IIS Deployment is doing (at least as far I as I understand it). So to me it seems I have two options that don't require me to refactor the project configuration itself.
I can try to mimic the settings on the IIS Deployment job to match our .pubxml as closely as possible and manually applying any changes that aren't doable through the task settings. Obviously this is not ideal as that would require us to update both when ever we make changes and it introduces a large chance of the pipeline breaking down over time.
I can scrap the idea of using IIS Deployment and just use a VSBuild task that uses arguments /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=Staging. This doesn't seem like best practices because it means my release pipeline isn't passing a build package to deploy, it is just creating a new one at each stage.
So is there a better option that would allow me to utilize the package I created with VSBuild and the .pubxml configuration together in a deploy? If that isn't possible then are either of my options the "correct" way to handle my situation or am I just missing another method of deployment I could use?
Thank you for any help or insight you can provide. Please let me know if there is any more information I can give that would be useful.
You can try using publish settings file (*.publishsettings) for your IIS deployment.
A publish settings file (.publishsettings) is different than a publishing profile (.pubxml) created in Visual Studio. A publish settings file is created by IIS or Azure App Service, or it can be manually created, and then it can be imported into Visual Studio.
To view more details, you can see:
Publish an application to IIS by importing publish settings in Visual Studio
Deploy your app to a folder, IIS, Azure, or another destination
So unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way I can achieve everything I wanted in this. The publish profiles are required for when we build the project so without making changes to how we configure those I need to build the project whenever I want to deploy. Ultimately I went with option #2. I essentially just copied most of the build tasks used in the testing pipeline and placed those in the release pipeline with a few modified commands to actually deploy the build once finished. It all seems to work just fine but still doesn't feel like best practices. If I am missing something please let me know and I will make updates as appropriate.
I inherited a project a while back that uses Azure DevOps Pipelines for deployment and when I want to edit the pipeline I have access to a wizard to walk through the tasks, triggers, variables, options, etc.. I then set up a completely separate project for a different organization and when I go to create a new pipelines it's only allowing me to use a YAML script. I don't see a way to run through the wizard.
Also, in the previous project under Pipelines I have sub menus for Pipelines and Environments. In the project I just set up I don't have these choices, only Builds. So it seems like I may be using an older version in the original project, I'm not sure and I can't seem to find a way to change the version.
Is this wizard no longer available for new projects? Is there a setting somewhere or something I am missing to gain access to it or do I have to use YAML only from this point on? If that is the case, is there a way to upgrade the old project to this version (I want to stay consistent)?
Is this wizard no longer available for new projects?
No, you just facing the different design of azure devops.
You can only create the YAML.
The page you can see the tasks, triggers or other tabs is the design of Classic editor pipeline.
Please choose Use the classic editor after you new pipeline.
Click Continue after select the source (the repository and the branch) for your project.
At the next step, you can choose Empty job, also you can add some tasks.
Note: do not select Configure as code. It is YAML.
Now, you can see the tabs like tasks, variables, triggers and etc.
Could not seen Pipelines and Environments.
These two tabs are the new UI design which published in recent sprints. And we provide it by enable Multi-stage pipelines in
Preview features panel.
I assume you did not enable this feature and just saw Builds there.
Click your head account which located in right corner, then choose Preview features:
Then enable Multi-stage pipelines.
After enable it and close the panel, this page will be re-load automatically. Then you will see Pipelines and Environments in the left wizard panel.
I have a PowerShell script that I want to re-use across multiple build pipelines. My question is, is there a way I can "store" or "save" my PowerShell script at the project or organization scope so that I can use it in my other build pipelines? If so, how? I can't seem to find a way to do this. It would be super handy though.
It is now possible to check out multiple repositories in one YAML pipeline. You could place your script in one repository and check it out in a pipeline of any other repository. You could then reference the script directly on the pipeline workspace.
More info here.
Depending on how big theese scripts are you can create Taskgroups that contain powershell-tasks with the script as inline-powershell. But this only works on project-scope..
Another attempt i'd try would be to create a repo containing your powershell-scripts, add this repo as submodule in the repository you are trying to build and then call the scripts from the submodule-folder. But this only works when using git-repos.
Or you could create a custom build-task that contains your script.
From what I have seen, no.
A few different options I have explored are:
If using a non-hosted agent, saving the file onto the build server. Admittedly this doesn't scale well, but it is better than copy/pasting the script all over. I was able to put these scripts into version control and deploy them via their own pipeline so that might be an solution for scaling (if necessary)
Cloning another repository that has these shared scripts during the process.
I've been asking for this feature for a bit, but it seems the Azure DevOps team has higher priorities.
How about putting the powershell in a nuget package and install that in depending projects?
I just discovered YAML templates (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/process/templates?view=azdevops#step-re-use).
I think it may help you in this case (depending how large it is your file), you can put an inline powershell script in that template yaml, and reuse it on your main yaml.
Documentation is pretty straightforward.
We are using Visual Studio Team Services.
We have a Prod-Branch which is builded by our Prod-Build-Definition and deployed by our Prod-Release-Definition to our Test / Integration and Production Environments.
With each Prod-Release deployed to the customer, we create a Prod-Rel-Version-x.x.x Branch from the Prod-Branch (in Case we need that for a Hotfix).
During the Sprint we are developping on a Dev-Branch which is builded by our Dev-Build-Definition and deployed by our Dev-Release-Definition to our DEV Environment for Developer Tests.
After the Sprint (or from time to time) the Dev-Branch is merged to the Main-Branch and then to the Prod-Branch. From there it is deployed to the different Stages for Testing by the customer.
When there is a Hotfix-Case, we fix the bug on the Prod-Rel-Version-x.x.x Branch and would like to reuse our existing Prod-Build-Definition to build this Hotfix-Version and deploy to the different stages by the existing Prod-Release-Definition for testing and going live with this version.
How can we reuse our Prod-Build-Definition with this different Branch (Prod-Rel-Version-x.x.x Branch instead of the Prod-Branch)?
When I look at the build definition, I think i would be possible, just be editing the Server Path (Repository > Mappings) from $/NameOfOurApp/Prod to $/NameOfOurApp/Prod-Rel-Version-x.x.x)...that should do the trick or not? But from what I read, it's not possible to use Build-Variables in Server Mappings, so I cannot change this variable for example in the Queue new Build Dialog...
What's the best way to accomplish my scenario?
The only way to do this is to create a single build definition which downloads all the branches. Then use variables in the tasks to select the version to build. This will become very messy (and slow) very fast.
Instead it's much easier to clone the build definition. Alternatively you can create a Build Definition Template from an existing build definition and use that to create a new Build Definition.
A much, much better solution however, is not to rely on so many branches.You only need the branch when you really need to make a hotfix, and you only need the stages branches when you have a lot of findings in higher stages. By improving teh way you work, you'll be able to get rid of the branches, simplifying the work for all.
Update
VSTS and TFS 2018 now support the use of variables in the workspace definition.
I'm using Visual Studio Team Services and I'm trying to set up Release Management to allow automated deployments for our Azure Web App to multiple environments. I would like the same source to be deployed to each environment, but with modified configuration settings.
I was hoping that I could create a single Build for my application, and then modify the configuration at deployment time for each environment. I'm aware that this can be done for appSettings and connectionStrings (either through Tokenization, or even managing those settings via the Azure portal), but I'd like to be able to make more general changes to the web.config file. For example, I want to be able to:
Update 'simple' settings such as appSettings/connectionStrings
Update multiple attributes on elements (like httpErrors)
Insert or rewrite sections of the config file itself (for example to add IIS rewrite rules, or to remove unwanted HTTP handlers for production)
Currently we achieve this by using config file transformations and separate publish profiles for each environment (manual deployment). I can't see a way to re-use this if I want a single release pipeline.
I'm hoping someone can help point me in the right direction. I'm also happy to accept alternative solutions - ultimately I just want to be able to deploy the same source (e.g. from the same commit in source control) to multiple environments, with different configuration, while keeping some kind of flow from dev, to test, to eventually production.
You can use Tokenization Task to update the files base on the environment variables.
More similar extensions: Replace Tokens and Colin's ALM Corner Build & Release Tools.