Quick guide to start with the Azure DevOps YML pipeline

Quick guide- only

Azure DevOps is a powerful tool for managing software development, and one of its key features is the ability to create pipelines for building, testing, and deploying code. One way to create these pipelines is by using YAML (Yet Another Markup Language) files, which allow for easy configuration and versioning of pipeline definitions. In this blog post, we will walk through the process of creating a YAML file for an Azure DevOps pipeline, with examples for each step.

Step 1: Install the Azure DevOps Extension for Visual Studio Code

Before we can start creating our YAML file, we need to install the Azure DevOps Extension for Visual Studio Code. This extension provides many useful features for working with Azure DevOps, including syntax highlighting and IntelliSense for YAML files.

Step 2: Create a new YAML file

Once the extension is installed, we can create a new YAML file by going to File > New File in Visual Studio Code. We can then save this file with a .yml or .yaml file extension. For example, we could save our file as "pipeline.yml".

Step 3: Define the pipeline

The first thing we need to do in our YAML file is to define the pipeline. We can do this by using the "pipeline" keyword, followed by a colon and a new line. We can then define the various stages of our pipeline, such as build, test, and deploy. For example:

Copy codepipeline:
  stages:
  - stage: build
  - stage: test
  - stage: deploy

Step 4: Define the jobs and tasks

Once we have defined our pipeline, we need to define the jobs and tasks that will be run in each stage. A job is a grouping of tasks that are run in parallel, and a task is a specific action that is performed. For example, a job could be to build and test the code, and a task could be to run the tests.

Copy code  stages:
  - stage: build
    jobs:
    - job: build
      steps:
      - script: dotnet build
    - job: test
      steps:
      - script: dotnet test

Step 5: Define the triggers

In addition to jobs and tasks, we can also define triggers that will start the pipeline. These can be based on events such as code commits or pull requests. For example:

Copy codetriggers:
- branches:
  include:
  - master
  - development
  - feature/*

Step 6: Define the variables

Finally, we can define variables that will be used throughout the pipeline. These can be used to store information such as the name of the build, or the version of the code.

Copy codevariables:
  buildNumber: '1.0.0'
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'

Conclusion:

Creating a YAML file for an Azure DevOps pipeline is a simple and powerful way to manage the development process. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can easily create and configure your own pipeline, and take advantage of all the features that Azure DevOps has to offer.