Configuring Azure DevOp’s Release Pipeline for TDS

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 ~ Nikhil Kulkarni ~ 2 Comments

Hi Champs,

In this part, we are configuring the settings in the Release pipeline to deploy our Web Deploy package. Although the deployment can also perform as part of the build, we prefer separate steps for build and deployment to reduce the chance of accidental deployments to production environments.

The Release pipeline takes the build artifacts from the Build pipeline and installs them on the Sitecore instances that have been configured in Azure. There are a couple of ways we can do this. We can use the generated PowerShell Script, or we can use some of the built-in settings in Azure DevOps. The PowerShell script can be modified to work within complex build processes, but the deployment can be accomplished even without it.

Deploy to Azure using the built-in Azure DevOps settings

Azure DevOps comes with a built-in App Service deploy task, taking the Web Deploy package from the Build pipeline and installs it in the selected Web App. Keep in mind, there are a couple of important configuration settings here. We need to add the Azure subscription where the Web App is located and select it under the Azure subscription tab. This fills out automatically as part of the settings, and you’ll only need to select your subscription and App Service.

Deploy to Azure using the generated PowerShell Script

The second way of deploying the Web Deploy package to the Azure Web App is using the PowerShell script generated by TDS Classic. This can be useful in build servers where there’s no native support for Azure Web deploy, or when the user wants full control and use their release script. The script also gives you an easy-to-read log containing the item names and location in the Sitecore tree of the items.

To use it, we need the Publish profile file, which can be added in source control and made available for the Release pipeline the same way we made available the PowerShell script and the Web Deploy package.

We also need to create a PowerShell Script task in our Release pipeline. In it, we specify the path to the PowerShell script, generated by TDS and the arguments, required for executing it. The arguments are the same as the ones we used for deploying from our development machine.

Both ways of deploying will give you status about the deployment and a log with all the details. The logs are formatted a bit differently, so consider this when choosing which method to use.

Summary

With TDS 5.8, we had the goal to simplify the deployment of the TDS project to Azure environments. Using Web Deploy packages, we were also able to reduce the deployment time while making the process more intuitive and visible for the developers.

Missed Part Two? Click here to read how to configure Azure DevOp’s Build Pipeline.

Need to start from the beginning? Click here to read how to set everything up locally.

Also do check my blog for automating slot swapping in Azure DevOps.

Happy Learning

Configuring Azure DevOp’s Build Pipeline for TDS

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 ~ Nikhil Kulkarni ~ 3 Comments

Hi Champs,

In part one, we set up our TDS project to create a Web Deploy package and published the package to an Azure App Service manually. Now that we know we can deploy our Web Deploy package from our local environment, let’s continue by setting up an automated build in Azure DevOps. In this part, we’ll configure only the steps in the Build Pipeline, and publish the build drop (a Web Deploy package and a PowerShell script) to the Release pipeline. Note that this is a simplified scenario to be used as a starting point. Your build/deployment process might be more complex and can include different steps than this one.

Configure the Build Pipeline

For the build pipeline, we will build the project in the “Release” configuration being it is the configuration we set up for Web Deploy packages. The first step while creating your new Build pipeline is to select your repository settings. In this example, we will use Git.

We also need to add the TDS license; otherwise, our build will fail. This happens in the Variables tab of your Build pipelines. The following variables should be created with your license info in the values.

As a starting template for our Build pipeline, we can use the Azure Web App for ASP.NET template. We don’t need all of the predefined build steps in the template for this example, so we will remove some of them. This is done to simplify the example and focus on the build process.

Our build will contain the following tasks in the Build pipeline:

Summary of the Tasks

This summary explains each task and the most important thing we should configure:

Use NuGet
This task specifies the NuGet version the build server will use. We can leave it with the default settings.

NuGet restore
This task restores the NuGet package and also doesn’t require any special settings to be configured.

Build solution
We will set the Build solution task to build the Release configuration. The Platform and the Configuration parameters are configured from the build variables. The default values are “Release” and “Any CPU” so we can use them directly.

Copy Files to
The next step copies the build output to the Staging directory, so it’s ready for publishing. We only need the PowerShell Script and the Web Deploy package from our build drop, so we will only copy them. Side Note: the paths might be different for your build.

Publish Artifacts
The final step in the Build pipeline is to publish the build artifacts to the next phase: the Release pipeline.

Once we have everything configured, we can run a test build. If everything is configured properly, we will see the Web Deploy package and the PowerShell script available in the Artifacts explorer in Azure DevOps.

Summary

As shown above, setting up a build in Visual Studio online to create a Web Deploy package is relatively simple. The only real customization of the build was a step to pick up the files from the build folder and add them to the Artifacts folder. In the next part of the series, we will show you how to configure a release pipeline to deploy the Web Deploy package to an instance of Sitecore running on an Azure App Service.

Missed the first part? Click here to read Part 1.

Ready to continue to the next step? Click here to move on to Part 3.

Happy Learning

Setting Up TDS to Build Azure Repo

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 ~ Nikhil Kulkarni ~ 2 Comments

Hi Champs,

In next few blogs I going to explain you setting up TDS for entire Sitecore CI-CD process. Without any further delay we will start by below.

By using TDS 5.8 and Web Deploy packages, I’ll walk you through on how to create a fully automated build and deployment process from your workstation to source control and into your Azure environment.

The TDS Web Deploy packages were designed around quick and easy deployments to Azure, but they can be deployed to any Sitecore server that supports Web Deploy.

The difference in using .update packages and Web Deploy packages

Workflow before TDS 5.8

Workflow after TDS 5.8

Setting up the TDS project for Web Deploy

The Web Deploy Package tab has similar options to the Update package tab. You can enable building a Web Deploy package, what to include in the package, and the package name. In this example configuration, we’ll need a Web Deploy package, so we’ll check off “Build web deploy package.” The name can be left blank, and it will use the name of the project.

Since we are planning to build on the cloud based VSO build server, we need to add the TDS Build components NuGet package into the TDS project. To do this, you need to execute the following command in the Package Manager Console of Visual Studio. Side note: make sure you have selected the nuget.org repository while executing this command.

Install-Package HedgehogDevelopment.TDS -Version 5.8.0.6

Building the Web Deploy package

To create the Web Deploy package, simply build the project/solution with the configuration where Web Deploy packages are enabled. When the build is finished, you will find a folder called [Configuration]_WebDeploy with the Web Deploy package and the Web Deploy PowerShell script.

Please note: the PowerShell script provided by TDS isn’t the only way to install the package. It is provided as a convenience for the developer to help them deploy the package if they don’t have another method of deploying it. It also contains script that can be used to monitor the deployment on the server.

Testing the Web Deploy package

Once you have the Web Deploy package and the PowerShell script, you only need to specify where it should be deployed. This can be easily set using a Publish Profile from Azure or by using parameters to the PublishWebDeploy.ps1 script. You can get a publish profile from the control menu of the App Service in Azure.

Now you can make a test deployment to the Sitecore instance using the script. I placed my Publish Profile file in the same directory where the Web Deploy package and the script were generated.

If you want to deploy the Web Deploy package into your Azure instance, all you need is to execute the script using the following parameters:

PublishWebDeploy.ps1 -PackagePath TDSProject1.wdp.zip -PublishSettingsPath tdstestinstance-630820-single.PublishSettings -ViewLogs

Summary

This completes the setup of the TDS project for building Web Deploy packages. Soon, I’ll walk you through on how to set up a TDS build in a Visual Studio Online Build Pipeline.

Ready to move on to the next step? Click here to read about configuring Azure DevOp’s Build Pipelines.

Happy Learning

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