Azure DevOps Pipelines

Build, test, and deploy applications using Azure Pipelines with YAML or classic editor.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Creating CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps
• Configuring build and release stages
• Managing Azure DevOps service connections
• Deploying to Azure or other cloud platforms
• Setting up multi-stage YAML pipelines

Prerequisites

• Azure DevOps organization and project
• Service connections for target environments
• Basic YAML understanding
• Azure subscription (for Azure deployments)

YAML Pipeline Structure

These fragments require actual build outputs, deploy scripts, service connections and environment checks. Echoing “Deploying” is not a deployment. YAML PR triggers depend on repository provider; Azure Repos Git uses branch build-validation policy. Rolling deployment strategy applies to supported VM environment resources, not arbitrary web apps/Kubernetes. Pin supported runtime/agent versions and obtain the agent package from the current official download instructions with integrity verification; the archive URL below is historical. Keep untrusted PR code away from production credentials and persistent self-hosted agents.

Create azure-pipelines.yml in repository root:

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
      - develop
  paths:
    include:
      - src/*

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

variables:
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'
  nodeVersion: '22.x'

stages:
  - stage: Build
    jobs:
      - job: BuildJob
        steps:
          - task: NodeTool@0
            inputs:
              versionSpec: $(nodeVersion)
          - script: |
              npm ci
              npm run build
            displayName: 'Build application'
          # Adapt dist to the actual build output directory.
          - publish: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/dist
            artifact: drop

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

Triggers

Branch Triggers

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
      - release/*
    exclude:
      - feature/*
  tags:
    include:
      - v*

Pull Request Triggers

pr:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
  paths:
    include:
      - src/*
    exclude:
      - docs/*

Scheduled Triggers

schedules:
  - cron: '0 2 * * *'
    displayName: 'Nightly build'
    branches:
      include:
        - main
    always: true

Jobs and Stages

Parallel Jobs

stages:
  - stage: Test
    jobs:
      - job: UnitTests
        pool:
          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
        steps:
          - script: npm run test:unit
      
      - job: IntegrationTests
        pool:
          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
        steps:
          - script: npm run test:integration

Matrix Strategy

jobs:
  - job: Build
    strategy:
      matrix:
        linux:
          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
        windows:
          vmImage: 'windows-latest'
        mac:
          vmImage: 'macos-latest'
    pool:
      vmImage: $(vmImage)
    steps:
      - script: npm test

Job Dependencies

stages:
  - stage: Build
    jobs:
      - job: A
        steps:
          - script: echo Job A
      - job: B
        dependsOn: A
        steps:
          - script: echo Job B

Variables and Parameters

Variable Groups

variables:
  - group: 'production-secrets'
  - name: buildConfiguration
    value: 'Release'

Runtime Parameters

parameters:
  - name: environment
    displayName: 'Environment'
    type: string
    default: 'dev'
    values:
      - dev
      - staging
      - prod

stages:
  - stage: Deploy
    variables:
      env: ${{ parameters.environment }}
    jobs:
      - job: Deploy
        steps:
          - script: echo "Deploying to $(env)"

Secret Variables

variables:
  - name: mySecret
    value: $(SECRET_FROM_PIPELINE)  # Set in pipeline settings

steps:
  - script: |
      echo "Using secret"
      ./deploy.sh
    env:
      API_KEY: $(mySecret)

Templates

Job Template

# templates/build-job.yml
parameters:
  - name: nodeVersion
    default: '20'

jobs:
  - job: Build
    steps:
      - task: NodeTool@0
        inputs:
          versionSpec: ${{ parameters.nodeVersion }}
      - script: npm ci && npm run build

Using Templates

# azure-pipelines.yml
stages:
  - stage: Build
    jobs:
      - template: templates/build-job.yml
        parameters:
          nodeVersion: '20'

Stage Template

# templates/deploy-stage.yml
parameters:
  - name: environment
    type: string
  - name: serviceConnection
    type: string

stages:
  - stage: Deploy_${{ para