Azure DevOps Pipelines

This skill covers building, configuring, and optimizing CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps Services for automated software delivery.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Create build pipelines for continuous integration
• Set up release pipelines for continuous deployment
• Implement multi-stage deployment workflows
• Configure automated testing in pipelines
• Set up infrastructure as code deployments
• Manage pipeline variables and secrets

Prerequisites

• Azure DevOps organization and project
• Source code in Azure Repos or GitHub
• Service connections configured (Azure, Docker, etc.)
• Appropriate permissions (Build Admin or higher)

Guidelines

Pipeline Structure

YAML Pipelines (Recommended) Store pipeline definitions in version control alongside code:

# azure-pipelines.yml
trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
      - develop

variables:
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'
  dotnetSdkVersion: '8.x'

stages:
- stage: Build
  jobs:
  - job: BuildAndTest
    pool:
      vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
    steps:
    - task: UseDotNet@2
      inputs:
        version: $(dotnetSdkVersion)
    
    - script: dotnet build --configuration $(buildConfiguration)
      displayName: 'Build solution'
    
    - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
      inputs:
        command: 'test'
        projects: '**/*Tests.csproj'
      displayName: 'Run tests'

- stage: Deploy
  condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/main'))
  jobs:
  - deployment: DeployToProd
    environment: 'Production'
    strategy:
      runOnce:
        deploy:
          steps:
          - script: echo "Deploying to production..."

Pipeline Organization

Folder Structure

azure-pipelines/
├── ci.yml              # Continuous integration
├── pr-validation.yml   # Pull request builds
├── deploy-dev.yml      # Development deployment
├── deploy-staging.yml  # Staging deployment
└── deploy-prod.yml     # Production deployment

Template Reuse

• Create reusable templates in templates/ folder
• Share common steps across pipelines
• Parameterize environment-specific values

Security and Secrets

Variable Groups

• Create environment-specific variable groups
• Mark sensitive variables as "secret"
• Link variable groups to pipelines

Service Connections

• Use service principals with minimal permissions
• Rotate credentials regularly
• Enable audit logging for connections

Best Practices

Pipeline Performance

• Use caching for dependencies (npm, NuGet, pip)
• Run jobs in parallel where possible
• Use self-hosted agents for specialized requirements
• Implement build matrices for multi-platform testing

Deployment Strategies

• Blue-green deployments for zero downtime
• Canary releases for risk mitigation
• Feature flags for controlled rollouts
• Automated rollback on failure

Testing Integration

• Run unit tests on every build
• Integration tests on PR merges
• Performance tests in staging
• Security scanning with SonarQube/Trivy

Examples

See the examples/ directory for:

• dotnet-webapp.yml - ASP.NET Core CI/CD pipeline
• nodejs-container.yml - Node.js Docker build and push
• infrastructure-deployment.yml - Terraform deployment
• multi-environment.yml - Dev/Staging/Prod workflow

References

• Azure Pipelines documentation
• YAML schema reference
• Pipeline templates
• Deployment strategies