In VSTS it is possible to create variables per build definition as per the Microsoft documentation
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/build/define/variables
Is it possible to define global variables that I can use across multiple build definitions?
Scenario:
I have a variable 'MyPassword' that is used in multiple definitions. If I want to change the value of 'MyPassword' I have to do it in each build definition rather than just in one global variable.
This feature is added to vsts.
Old awnser: This is no possible at this moment. It seems a nice feature. I'll user voice item for this.
uservoice: 14515326-project-level-build-release-variables
Yes, you can using Variable Groups in the Release & Release/Library option
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I am trying to create a simple Runtime Variable in my Release Pipeline that carries the BuildNumber of the Triggering Artifact.
I tried adding a variable called alias and in the value column I wrote $(Release.TriggeringArtifact.Alias) And I set the Settable at Release Time to true.
Then I added another variable called BuildNumber and I wrote this in the value column: $(Release.Artifacts{alias}.BuildNumber} and set the Settable at Release Time to true.
I have a powershell task that Echoes the value of my variable BuildNumber. I was expecting the build number that was assigned to my artifact, but what I see is the git repository's name instead.
How can I have release time variables with pre-defined variables substituted in them?
What you are trying to do is to use nested variable which is not supported:
Thanks for your patience on this. I checked with the product team and there are places where variables will expand when nested, and the behavior will be slightly different if you specify variables with macro syntax (example: $(var)). However, this is not an officially supported feature and their recommendation is to not document macro variables as expanding recursively.
If you would like to reach out the product team directly, please post in the Azure DevOps Developer Community. The product team actively monitors that space.
You can also vote on this on developer community
I'm trying to set up a variable in the Azure Build Pipelines Classic Editor to use conditional functions to determine its value. YAML is not an option (unless there's some way to inject YAML as part of a Classic build...?).
In my current scenario, the idea is that the variable would return one of a few possible string values (or empty string) depending on the branch that triggered the build.
I want something along the lines of this:
I fear this may be a YAML-only thing, but hopefully someone can tell me I'm wrong about that.
Like Matt mentioned in the comment, the best approach for this would be to use a script (powershell or bash) that will have the logic to set the variable.
For more details about how to set a variable, have a look at this documentation.
i have a bitbucket classic build pipeline and i need to have the ability to set the build clean option at queue time. it seems like this used to be possible via the Build.Clean variable but that has since been deprecated.
When editing a build pipeline the Clean option uses an editable drop down but anytime you try and type something, it erases what you just wrote. i would like to set this option to a variable like $(CleanBuild)
Assign build clean option at queue time
Indeed, the variable Build.Clean is already deprecated. But the document Use predefined variables provided another variable Build.Repository.Clean, which will help us to clean the Sources:
Besides, if you want to clean other options fields, like All build directories:
I do not believe there is a way to assign the clean options at queue-time. Even if we use deprecated Build.Clean variable, we still can clear Sources only.
You could check the similar thread for some more details.
Hope this helps.
I'm moving my configuration from using web.config transforms to being based on VSTS variables. I get process variables, you define a variable, pick an environment, and you're good to go. I also see "Variable Groups", these seem great, have KeyVault integration, and overall seem like a much better option.
But...I don't see a way to bind a Variable Group to a specific environment in my VSTS release process. I can't honestly see how these would be any use to me without this feature.
I've experimented with one workaround, but it didn't work. I tried:
Naming my variable group & variables with an environment prefix e.g.
Variable Group Name="Production ConnectionStrings"
Variable name="Production_LoggingConnectionString"
I thought once I linked the "Production_ConnectionStrings" variable, I could reference $(Production_LoggingConnectionString) from within a standard Process variable, but this didn't work.
I think I could come up with some powershell that would do something like the above and set variables, but this seems a bit too custom for me.
Does anyone else have an idea that I can use variable groups per environment, easily, without waiting around for VSTS to build this feature (if ever). Btw, if you want this feature, there is a suggestion here you can upvote: Make it possible to link a variable group to a specific environment in a release definition
This has now been implemented in VSTS variable groups as scopes. Go to your release definition -> Variables -> Variable Groups -> Link variable group, and you get the link window as below, where you can choose the scope to be either release or one or more of your environments!
I did not manage to find any release information on this feature, I just stumbled upon it as I was tweaking my releases.
I ended up using a powershell script to define my process variable based on the variable groups, it works great.
Let's say I want a variable named "LoggingConnectionString" and this has different values per environment
Steps:
Define a Variable group, e.g. "SharedLoggingVariables"
Inside this Variable group, define a variable/value for each environment, e.g. "LoggingConnectionStringDev", "LoggingConnectionStringProduction"
Back in your Process Variables for the Build/Release, make SURE you don't have a variable named "LoggingConnectionString", otherwise this will overwrite the value coming from the variable group
In your Release process, create a Powershell inline script at the beginning of the Agent with the following code
Param(
[string]$LoggingConnectionString
)
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=LoggingConnectionString]$LoggingConnectionString"
Pass your variable group as an argument to this inline powershell, e.g.
-LoggingConnectionString "$(LoggingConnectionStringDev)"
The final powershell step should look something like this:
During release, the powershell will set your process variable from the variable groups. If powershell isn't an option for you, there are other options
No, there is no way to use variable Groups per environment.
As the user voice you linked, you can vote and follow up for the suggested feature.
The work around for now is using environment variables to overwrite the variables in variable Group.
Assume the variable LoggingConnectionString with the value Server=myDB in variable group need to be used both for Dev environment and staging environment. But for staging environment, it needs to use another value (such as Server=stageDB) from the variable LoggingConnectionString. So you can add the an environment variable LoggingConnectionString with the value Server=stageDB for staging environment.
When the variable $(LoggingConnectionString) is used in Dev environment, it will use the value (Server=myDB) defined in variable group.
When the variable $(LoggingConnectionString) is used in staging environment, since the variables both defined in environment variable and variable group, it will use the value (Server=stageDB) defined in environment variable.
I'm trying to understand how we can associate variable groups to a particular environment within a single release definition. It does not appear as though this is currently possible?
As I understand it, in a release definition we can define variables that can be scoped to all or specific environments within that release definition.
We also have the ability to "link" Variables Groups to that release definition. The problem I have is that I would like to create Variable Groups that only get applied to say Production environments and not the non prods within a release definition.
Has anyone been able to achieve something like this? I know this is currently possible in other Release Managers like Octopus.
Thanks in advance.
This is now available in VSTS. When linking variable groups you have the ability to link a variable group to the entire release definition or to one or more specific environments.
Based on your description (apply variables only for production environment in a release definition), you should use environment variables instead of variable group.
There are three kinds of variables for release management:
Variable group: the variable scope is works for all the build/release definitions. You can link variable group through variable groups Tab in release definition.
Release variable:
The variable scope is works for the current release definition, and it can be used for all the release environment of the current release definition. You can add release definition through process variables Tab, and set variable scope as Release.
Environment variable:
The variable scope only works of an environment, and it’s not available for other release environment.
You can add an environment variable in process variables Tab, and select an environment as the scope.
For your situation, you should set the variable scope as production variable, so that the variable can only available for production environment.