Implementing the Build Pipeline Using Deployment Tasks

In the previous chapter, we created a pipeline using YAML, and we learned the process of creating jobs and tasks in the YAML format and exporting and importing a build pipeline. This chapter will dive deep into creating a pipeline using standard tasks. By the end of this chapter, you will have learned how to create a build pipeline for web application development, including Node.js, .NET Core, Docker, and Microsoft SQL Server, both on-premises and in Azure, using beginner-friendly tasks that make it easy to understand the concept.

We will cover the following topics:

• Working with Node.js and Node Package Manager (NPM) tasks
• Working with .NET Core CLI tasks
• Working with Docker tasks
• Working with SQL Server deployment tasks

Let’s start by learning how to create a pipeline using Node.js and NPM tasks.

Working with Node.js and NPM tasks

You need to use Node.js and NPM commands to build and deploy Node.js applications. There are many predefined tasks to build such applications in an Azure pipeline. Follow these steps to create a pipeline using Node.js and NPM tasks:

1. After logging in to the Azure DevOps portal, select your organization, navigate to the Pipelines page, and click on New pipeline:

Figure 5.1 – A new pipeline

2. Select Azure Repos Git, which is a source code repository for this demo:

Figure 5.2 – Selecting Azure Repos Git

3. Select the PacktAzureDevOps repository that we created in Chapter 2:

Figure 5.3 – Selecting a repository

4. Click on Show more:

Figure 5.4 – Showing more tasks

5. Select the Node.js option:

Figure 5.5 – Selecting Node...

Working with .NET Core CLI tasks

For .NET applications, you must use .NET Core CLI commands to build and deploy .NET applications. There are many predefined tasks to build .NET applications in an Azure pipeline. Follow these steps to create a pipeline using .NET Core CLI tasks:

1. Follow steps 1 to 3 from the previous section for Node.js and NPM tasks.
2. Select Starter pipeline:

Figure 5.8 – Selecting the Starter pipeline option

3. Rename the file from the default name to make it easier to understand what the YAML file is for:

Figure 5.9 – Renaming a pipeline file

4. Select the Use .NET Core task and click Add:

Figure 5.10 – Selecting the Use .NET Core task

5. Update the version property to use .NET 6:

Figure 5.11 – Updating the .NET version

6. Select the .NET Core task and click on Add:

...

Working with Docker tasks

For cloud-native applications, you need to use Docker commands to build and deploy cloud-native applications. There are many predefined tasks for building cloud-native applications in an Azure pipeline. You can perform the following steps to create a pipeline using Docker tasks:

1. Follow steps 1 to 4 as described in the previous section for .NET Core CLI tasks.
2. Rename the file for the Docker pipeline:

Figure 5.14 – Renaming the file

3. Select the Docker CLI installer task, click on Add, and update DockerInstaller@0:

   - task: DockerInstaller@0
     inputs:
       dockerVersion: '17.09.0-ce'

   The following screenshot shows you how to add a Docker CLI installer task and fill in the details on this task:

Figure 5.15 – Adding a Docker CLI installer task

4. Select the Docker task and click on Add, and you will see the following code. This...

Working with SQL Server deployment tasks

You need to use SQL Server commands to build and deploy SQL Server applications. There are many tasks that need to be completed to build SQL Server applications in Azure Pipelines; follow these steps to create a pipeline using SQL Server deployment tasks:

1. You can follow steps 1 to 4 as described in the Working with .NET Core CLI tasks section.
2. Rename the file as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 5.18 – Renaming the file

3. Search for SQL Server database, select the SQL Server database deploy task, and enter the following:

   - task: SqlDacpacDeploymentOnMachineGroup@0
     inputs:
       TaskType: 'sqlQuery'
       SqlFile: 'migrate.sql'
       ExecuteInTransaction: true
       ServerName: 'localhost'
       DatabaseName: 'your_database'
      ...

Summary

This chapter taught you how to build and release pipelines, using standard NPM, the .NET Core CLI, Docker, and SQL Server deployment tasks. These predefined tasks are popular for building and deploying Node.js and .NET applications. They reduce the time spent by developers creating manual commands when running a pipeline to build those applications.

In the next chapter, you will learn in depth about integrating testing and security tasks to make your code and applications more reliable.