Developers, DevOps teams, and others can use a pipeline to create and deploy dependable code. Azure DevOps has a feature called Azure Pipelines that can be used to create a pipeline in Microsoft.
Azure Pipelines can automate builds, tests, and code deployment to various development and production environments. REST APIs are service endpoints that support a set of HTTP operations that allow users to Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete resources from a service.
This article talks about the critical aspects of Azure Pipeline APIs. In addition to that, it also describes Azure Pipeline and REST API. It also demonstrates how to create, build and deploy an Azure Pipeline and how the logs and specific artifacts can be retrieved.
Table Of Contents
What is Azure Pipeline?
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Azure Pipelines builds and tests code projects automatically before making them available to others. It can be used with almost any language or project type. To test and build your code and ship it to any target, Azure Pipelines combines Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD).
Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice that automates the merging and testing of code. Implementing CI allows you to catch bugs early in the development cycle, saving you money on bug fixes. To ensure quality, automated tests are run as part of the CI process. To enable frequent deployments, artifacts from CI systems are fed into release processes. The Build service in Azure DevOps Server assists you in setting up and managing continuous integration (CI) for your applications.
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Code is built, tested, and deployed to one or more test and production environments using the Continuous Delivery (CD) process. Quality is improved by deploying and testing in multiple environments. Infrastructure and apps are among the artifacts produced by CI systems. These artifacts are used by automated release processes to distribute new versions and fixes to existing systems. Continuous monitoring and alerting systems provide visibility into the entire CD process.
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Continuous Testing (CT) is the use of automated build-deploy-test workflows, using a variety of technologies and frameworks, to test your changes continuously in a fast, scalable, and efficient manner, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
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Azure Pipeline is a cloud service that allows you to automatically build and test your code project. The Azure pipeline has many features, such as continuous integration and continuous delivery, that allows you to test and build your code regularly and ship to any target.
Java, JavaScript, Node.js, Python,.NET, C++, Go, PHP, and XCode are all supported by Azure Pipelines.
To build and test your application, Azure DevOps has several tasks. Tasks for developing.NET, Java, Node, Android, Xcode, and C++ applications, for example, are available. Similarly, tasks to run tests using a variety of testing frameworks and services are also available. In your automation, you can also use the command line, PowerShell, or Shell scripts.
Implementing CI and CD pipelines ensure that users have access to consistent and high-quality code. Additionally, Azure Pipelines offers a quick, simple, and secure way to automate the creation and distribution of your projects.
Because Azure Pipelines supports the following scenarios, you should use it:
- Any language or platform can be used.
- At the same time, it deploys to various types of targets.
- Connects to Azure deployments.
- Builds for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
- It’s compatible with GitHub.
- Participates in open-source projects.
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What is REST API?
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REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architectural style that was developed to guide the design and development of the World Wide Web’s architecture. REST establishes a set of guidelines for how an Internet-scale distributed hypermedia system, such as the Web, should be designed. The REST architectural style emphasizes scalability of component interactions, uniform interfaces, component deployment independence, and the creation of a layered architecture to enable caching components to reduce user-perceived latency, enforce security, and encapsulate legacy systems.
REST is a widely accepted set of guidelines for creating stateless, dependable web APIs that have been used throughout the software industry. RESTful is an informal term for a web API that follows the REST constraints. RESTful web APIs are typically based on HTTP methods for accessing resources via URL-encoded parameters and data transmission using JSON or XML.
On the World Wide Web, “web resources” were first defined as URL-identified documents or files. Today’s definition is far more broad and abstract, encompassing an entity or action that can be identified, named, addressed, handled, or performed in any way on the Internet. Requests to a resource’s URI in a RESTful Web service elicit a response with a payload formatted in HTML, XML, JSON, or another format.
The response could, for example, confirm that the resource state has changed. Hypertext links to related resources can also be included in the response. HTTP is the most commonly used protocol for these requests and responses. It supports GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE operations (HTTP methods).
RESTful systems aim for fast performance, reliability, and the ability to grow by reusing components that can be managed and updated without affecting the system as a whole, even while it is running, thanks to the use of a stateless protocol and standard operations.
REST is designed to Boost Performance, Scalability, Simplicity, Modifiability, Visibility, Portability, and Reliability. This is accomplished by adhering to REST principles like Client-server Architecture, Statelessness, Cacheability, Layered Systems, Code on-demand Support, and a Uniform Interface. For a system to be classified as RESTful, it must adhere to these guidelines.
Working with Azure Pipeline APIs
Azure Pipeline APIs: Artifacts
To get a specific artifact from a pipeline run, do the following:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/artifacts?artifactName={artifactName}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
With Optional Parameters:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/artifacts?artifactName={artifactName}&$expand={$expand}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The Azure DevOps organization’s name. |
pipelineId | path | True | integerint32 | The pipeline’s ID. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
runId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the run of that pipeline. |
api-version | query | True | string | The API version to use. To use this version of the API, set this to ‘6.0-preview.1.’ |
artifactName | query | True | string | Name of the artifact. |
$expand | query | | GetArtifactExpandOptions | Expand options. Default is None. |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Artifact | successful operation |
Security
accessToken
This is the most basic kind of personal token. The password is the token, and the user name can be anything you want.
Artifact
A pipeline produces artifacts that are collections of files. Artifacts can be used to share files between pipeline stages or between pipelines.
Name | Type | Description |
name | string | The name of the artifact. |
signedContent | SignedUrl | Signed url for downloading this artifact |
url | string | Self-referential url |
GetArtifactExpandOptions
This expands the number of choices available for artifacts. By default, it is None.
Name | Type | Description |
none | string | No expansion. |
signedContent | string | Includes signed content. |
SignedUrl
A signed url that allows anonymous access to private resources for a limited time.
Name | Type | Description |
signatureExpires | string | Timestamp when access expires. |
url | string | The URL to allow access to. |
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Azure Pipeline APIs: Logs
Logs – Get
To obtain a particular log from a pipeline run, enter the following:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/logs/{logId}?api-version=6.0-preview.1
With optional parameters:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/logs/{logId}?$expand={$expand}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
logId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the log. |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
pipelineId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the pipeline. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
runId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the run of that pipeline. |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
$expand | query | | GetLogExpandOptions | Expand options. Default is None. |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Log | successful operation |
Log
The log of Azure Pipeline API is as follows:
Name | Type | Description |
createdOn | string | The date and time the log was created. |
id | integer | The ID of the log. |
lastChangedOn | string | The date and time the log was last changed. |
lineCount | integer | The number of lines in the log. |
signedContent | SignedUrl | A signed url allowing limited-time anonymous access to private resources. |
url | string | |
Logs – List
To obtain a list of Azure Pipeline API logs, enter the following command:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/logs?api-version=6.0-preview.1
With optional parameters:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs/{runId}/logs?$expand={$expand}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
pipelineId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the pipeline. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
runId | path | True | integerint32 | ID of the run of that pipeline. |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
$expand | query | | GetLogExpandOptions | Expand options. Default |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | LogCollection | successful operation
|
Definitions
GetLogExpandOptions | Expand options. Default is None. |
Log | Log for a pipeline. |
LogCollection | A collection of logs. |
SignedUrl | A signed url allowing limited-time anonymous access to private resources. |
GetLogExpandOptions
This expands the number of choices for getting logs. By default, it is none.
Name | Type |
none | string |
signedContent | string |
LogCollection
This is a collection of logs. They are collected by navigating to the pipeline summary.
Name | Type | Description |
logs | Log[] | The list of logs. |
signedContent | SignedUrl | A signed url allowing limited-time anonymous access to private resources. |
url | string | URL of the log. |
Azure Pipeline APIs: Create Pipeline
To Build an Azure Pipeline API, enter the following command:
POST https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines?api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
Request Body
Name | Type | Description |
configuration | CreatePipelineConfigurationParameters | Configuration parameters of the pipeline. |
folder | string | Folder of the pipeline. |
name | string | Name of the pipeline. |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Pipeline | successful operation |
Definitions
ConfigurationType | Type of configuration. |
CreatePipelineConfigurationParameters | Configuration parameters of the pipeline. |
CreatePipelineParameters | Parameters to create a pipeline. |
Pipeline | Definition of a pipeline. |
PipelineConfiguration | |
ReferenceLinks | The class to represent a collection of REST reference links. |
ConfigurationType
This explains the Type of Configuration that is used in the Azure Pipeline API.
Name | Type | Description |
designerHyphenJson | string | Designer-JSON. |
designerJson | string | Designer JSON. |
justInTime | string | Just-in-time. |
unknown | string | Unknown type. |
yaml | string | YAML. |
CreatePipelineConfigurationParameters
These are the Azure Pipeline API configuration parameters:
Name | Type | Description |
type | ConfigurationType | Type of configuration. |
CreatePipelineParameters
This creates the parameters required to create a Azure Pipeline API.
Name | Type | Description |
configuration | CreatePipelineConfigurationParameters | Configuration parameters of the pipeline. |
folder | string | Folder of the pipeline. |
name | string | Name of the pipeline. |
Pipeline
This depicts the Azure Pipeline API definition.
Name | Type | Description |
_links | ReferenceLinks | The class to represent a collection of REST reference links. |
configuration | PipelineConfiguration | |
folder | string | Pipeline folder |
id | integer | Pipeline ID |
name | string | Pipeline name |
revision | integer | Revision number |
url | string | URL of the pipeline |
PipelineConfiguration
Name | Type |
type | ConfigurationType |
ReferenceLinks
This class encapsulates a collection of REST reference links. Each response from a REST API includes hyperlinks to other related resources.
Name | Type | Description |
links | object | The readonly view of the links. Because Reference links are readonly, we only want to expose them as read only. |
Pipelines – Get
To get an Azure pipeline, with the option of specifying the version, enter the following command:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}?api-version=6.0-preview.1
With optional parameters:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}?pipelineVersion={pipelineVersion}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
pipelineId | path | True | integerint32 | The pipeline ID |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
pipelineVersion | query | | integerint32 | The pipeline version |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Pipeline | successful operation |
Definitions
ConfigurationType | Type of configuration. |
Pipeline | Definition of a pipeline. |
PipelineConfiguration | |
ReferenceLinks | The class represents a collection of REST reference links. |
Pipelines – List
To create an Azure pipeline API list, enter the following command:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines?api-version=6.0-preview.1GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines?api-version=6.0-preview.1
With optional parameters:
GET https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines?orderBy={orderBy}&$top={$top}&continuationToken={continuationToken}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
$top | query | | integerint32 | The maximum number of pipelines to return |
continuationToken | query | | string | A continuation token from a previous request, to retrieve the next page of results |
orderBy | query | | string | A sort expression. Defaults to “name asc” |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Pipeline[] | successful operation |
Definitions
ConfigurationType | Type of configuration. |
Pipeline | Definition of a pipeline. |
PipelineConfiguration | |
ReferenceLinks | The class to represent a collection of REST reference links. |
Azure Pipeline APIs: Run the Pipeline
To activate a Azure Pipeline API, enter the following command:
POST https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs?api-version=6.0-preview.1
With optional parameters:
POST https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipelineId}/runs?pipelineVersion={pipelineVersion}&api-version=6.0-preview.1
URI Parameters
Name | In | Required | Type | Description |
organization | path | True | string | The name of the Azure DevOps organization. |
pipelineId | path | True | integerint32 | The pipeline ID. |
project | path | True | string | Project ID or project name |
api-version | query | True | string | Version of the API to use. This should be set to ‘6.0-preview.1’ to use this version of the api. |
pipelineVersion | query | | integerint32 | The pipeline version. |
Request Body
Name | Type | Description |
previewRun | boolean | If this is the case, don’t start a new run. Instead, after parsing templates, return the final YAML document. |
resources | RunResourcesParameters | The resources the run requires. |
stagesToSkip | string[] | |
templateParameters | object | |
variables | <string, Variable> | |
yamlOverride | string | You can optionally supply different YAML when using the preview run option. This allows you to see how the final YAML document will look before committing any changes. |
Responses
Name | Type | Description |
200 OK | Run | successful operation |
Definitions
BuildResourceParameters
ContainerResourceParameters
PackageResourceParameters
PipelineReference
This depicts a reference to a pipeline. It contains data objects that are used to describe a pipeline.
Name | Type | Description |
folder | string | Pipeline folder |
id | integer | Pipeline ID |
name | string | Pipeline name |
revision | integer | Revision number |
url | string | |
PipelineResourceParameters
ReferenceLinks
A collection of REST reference links are represented by this class. Every REST API has links that help a link relating one URL with another
Name | Type | Description |
links | object | The readonly view of the links. Because Reference links are readonly, we only want to expose them as read only. |
Repository
Name | Type |
type | RepositoryType |
RepositoryResource
Name | Type |
refName | string |
repository | Repository |
version | string |
RepositoryResourceParameters
Name | Type | Description |
refName | string | |
token | string | This is the security token to use when connecting to the repository. |
tokenType | string | Optional. This is the type of the token given. If not provided, a type of “Bearer” is assumed. Note: Use “Basic” for a PAT token. |
version | string | |
RepositoryType
Name | Type |
azureReposGit | string |
azureReposGitHyphenated | string |
gitHub | string |
unknown | string |
Run
Name | Type | Description |
_links | ReferenceLinks | The class to represent a collection of REST reference links. |
createdDate | string | |
finalYaml | string | |
finishedDate | string | |
id | integer | |
name | string | |
pipeline | PipelineReference | A reference to a Pipeline. |
resources | RunResources | |
result | RunResult | |
state | RunState | |
url | string | |
variables | <string, Variable> | |
RunPipelineParameters
These are the settings that you need to adjust as they affect the execution of Azure pipeline API.
Name | Type | Description |
previewRun | boolean | If true, don’t actually create a new run. Instead, return the final YAML document after parsing templates. |
resources | RunResourcesParameters | The resources the run requires. |
stagesToSkip | string[] | |
templateParameters | object | |
variables | <string, Variable> | |
yamlOverride | string | If you use the preview run option, you may optionally supply different YAML. This allows you to preview the final YAML document without committing a changed file. |
RunResources
Name | Type |
repositories | <string, RepositoryResource> |
RunResourcesParameters
Name | Type |
builds | <string, BuildResourceParameters> |
containers | <string, ContainerResourceParameters> |
packages | <string, PackageResourceParameters> |
pipelines | <string, PipelineResourceParameters> |
repositories | <string, RepositoryResourceParameters> |
RunResult
Name | Type |
canceled | string |
failed | string |
succeeded | string |
unknown | string |
RunState
Name | Type |
canceling | string |
completed | string |
inProgress | string |
unknown | string |
Variable
Name | Type |
isSecret | boolean |
value | string |
Conclusion
This article discusses the Azure Pipeline APIs extensively. It also gives a brief introduction to Azure Pipeline and REST API. It also shows how to create and run a pipeline using the Azure REST API, as well as how to retrieve logs and specific artifacts.
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