AZ-400 Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions Exam

Develop Pipelines by Using YAML

Define and Modularize YAML Pipelines

YAML Pipelines in Azure DevOps enable continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) workflows using pipeline definitions written in YAML. These pipelines are designed to automate the processes of building, testing, and deploying applications.

Key Concepts

In a YAML pipeline:

• Steps: The smallest units of work which can be scripts or tasks.
• Jobs: A collection of steps that run sequentially.
• Stages: High-level phases of the pipeline, which can contain multiple jobs.
• Variables and Templates: Enhance modularity by allowing reusable logic and environment-specific configurations.

Setting Up

To set up a pipeline:

1. Sign in to your Azure DevOps organization.
2. Navigate to Pipelines and select "New pipeline."
3. Choose where your code is stored (GitHub, Azure Repos Git, etc.)
4. Configure your pipeline by selecting appropriate templates or defining custom logic in a YAML file.

Example YAML Pipeline

Below is a simple example of a YAML build pipeline for a .NET application:

trigger:
- main

pool:
  vmImage: 'windows-latest'

steps:
- task: UseNuGet@5
  inputs:
    command: 'restore'

- task: VSBuild@1
  inputs:
    solution: '**/*.sln'
    msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true'
    platform: 'Any CPU'
    configuration: 'Release'

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    ArtifactName: 'drop'

Deploying to Azure

For deploying to Azure, add deployment tasks specific to the type of application and service, like AzureWebApp for web applications.

steps:
- task: AzureWebApp@1
  inputs:
    azureSubscription: '<your-service-connection>'
    appName: '<your-app-name>'
    package: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/**/*.zip'

Benefits

• Consistency: Ensures the same process is followed in all environments.
• Modularity: Templates allow the reuse of pipeline logic.
• Scalability: Automates the build and deployment processes to handle increasing workloads.

By using these practices, developers can create robust, repeatable, and automated pipelines that facilitate efficient DevOps workflows in Azure DevOps.

Conclusion

In summary, YAML pipelines in Azure DevOps provide a powerful method to implement CI/CD workflows. By defining steps, jobs, and stages, developers can structure their pipelines for automated builds and deployments. Using variables and templates further enhances the modularity and reusability of these pipelines. Additionally, setting up pipelines is straightforward, involving selecting the source code location, defining the YAML file, and adding deployment tasks tailored to specific applications. These practices ensure consistency, modularity, and scalability, ultimately leading to more efficient DevOps processes.