We continue our deep dive into the details of our AzureDevOps.Automation.Pipeline.Templates.v2 open source blueprint repo. Today we are going to explore the templates/qa/azure-pipeline-qa-scans.yml and templates/qa/qa-scans-cd.yml templates, designed to run the quality assurance validations.
Also refer to:
- Azure DevOps Pipeline Blueprints - Exploring the start template.
- Azure DevOps Pipeline Blueprints - Exploring the version template.
- Azure DevOps Pipeline Blueprints - Exploring the info template.
- Pipelines - Why bother and what are our nightmares and options? blog series.
Today's topics - azure-pipeline-qa-scans.yml and qa-scans-cd.yml
Today we peek into the templates/qa/azure-pipeline-qa-scans.yml template which is triggered by the continuous delivery (cd) template and has one purpose, to trigger the templates/qa/qa-scans-cd.yml and in fiture, other QA templates.
azure-pipeline-qa-scans.yml
parameters:
- name: dependsOn
type: object
default: []
- name: applicationBlueprint
type: string
- name: modeElite
type: boolean
default: false
stages:
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# QUALITY ASSURANCE SCANS STAGE
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- stage: 'QAScans'
displayName: 'Quality Assurance (QA)'
dependsOn:
- ${{ each stage in parameters.dependsOn }}:
- ${{stage}}
pool:
vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
jobs:
- job: 'QAScans'
steps:
# List all environment variables within this agent
- bash: 'env | sort'
displayName: Bootstrap Dump env variables
# Inject the QA scans template into the pipeline
- template: /templates/qa/qa-scans-cd.yml@CeBlueprints
parameters:
applicationBlueprint: ${{parameters.applicationBlueprint}}
modeElite: ${{parameters.modeElite}}
qa-scans-cd.yml
parameters:
- name: applicationBlueprint
type: string
- name: modeElite
type: boolean
default: false
steps:
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# QA AUTOMATION FOR LOWER (NON-PROD) ENVIRONMENTS STAGE
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ${{ if not(or(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release'), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release/'))) }}:
- script: echo 'QA CD Lower Environment Automation Placeholder ****************************************'
- script: echo applicationBlueprint = ${{parameters.applicationBlueprint}}
- script: echo modeElite = ${{parameters.modeElite}}
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'azure-function' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to azure-function application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'nuget-package' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to nuget-package application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'universal-artifact' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to universal-artifact application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'reliable-web-app' ) }}:
- script: |
'$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/AzureDevOps.Automation.Pipeline.Toolbox.v2/toolbox/scripts/quality-assurance/robot-install.ps1'
robot --outputdir %BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY% --timestampoutputs --log mylog.html --report NONE -x RESULTSET-robottests.xml %BUILD_SOURCESDIRECTORY%\toolbox\quality-assurance\RobotScripts\HealthCheck.robot
- ${{ if and(ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'universal-artifact'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'nuget-package'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'reliable-web-app'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'azure-function')) }}:
- script: echo UNKNOWN application type
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# QA AUTOMATION FOR HIGHER (PROD) ENVIRONMENTS STAGE
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ${{ if or(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release'), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release/')) }}:
- script: echo 'QA CD Higher Environment Automation Placeholder ****************************************'
- script: echo applicationBlueprint = ${{parameters.applicationBlueprint}}
- script: echo modeElite = ${{parameters.modeElite}}
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'azure-function' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to azure-function application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'nuget-package' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to nuget-package application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'universal-artifact' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to universal-artifact application type
- ${{ if and(ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'universal-artifact'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'nuget-package'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'azure-function')) }}:
- script: echo UNKNOWN application type
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# QA AUTOMATION FOR LOWER AND HIGHER (PROD) ENVIRONMENTS STAGE
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- script: echo 'QA CD Lower and Higher Environment Automation Placeholder ***********************************'
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'azure-function' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to azure-function application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'nuget-package' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to nuget-package application type
- ${{ if eq( lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint), 'universal-artifact' ) }}:
- script: echo deal with qa scan relevant to universal-artifact application type
- ${{ if and(ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'universal-artifact'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'nuget-package'), ne(lower(parameters.applicationBlueprint),'azure-function')) }}:
- script: echo UNKNOWN application type
Drill-down
azure-pipeline-qa-scans.yml nuggets
This template is triggered by our *cd-yml template, ensures the necessary dependencies are in place, and then hands off control to the qa-scans.yml template.
Gem 1
dependsOn:
- ${{ each stage in parameters.dependsOn }}:
- ${{stage}}
The YAML snippet defines dependencies for a stage in a pipeline dynamically. It allows for flexible, parameter-driven pipeline configuration, enabling reuse of templates for multiple scenarios without hardcoding dependencies.
dependsOn keyword
- Specifies which stages in the pipeline must be completed successfully before this stage can run, ensuring the pipeline respects the execution order and dependency hierarchy.
Dynamic Dependencies
${{ each stage in parameters.dependsOn }}iterates over the values in the parameters.dependsOn array.${{ stage }}resolves each value in the array to dynamically populate the dependsOn list.
Example
If the parameters.dependsOn contains ['Build', 'Test'], the snippet will resolve to:
dependsOn:
- Build
- Test
This means the current stage will only execute after both the Build and Test stages are completed.
Gem 2
# List all environment variables within this agent
- bash: 'env | sort'
displayName: Bootstrap Dump env variables
This gem runs a Bash script to print, sort, and display all environment variables in pipeline logs. It is useful for debugging or validating environment setup in CI/CD pipelines.
- bash: Specifies a Bash script task in the pipeline.
- env | sort: Lists and sorts all current environment variables alphabetically.
- displayName: Adds a label in the pipeline UI to describe what this step does.
qa-scans.yml
For this template, we focus on a single conditional statement from the many available options.
- ${{ if or(eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release'), startsWith(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/release/')) }}:
This gem is a conditional expression that checks whether the current build branch matches specific conditions - whether we are dealing with a release branch. In the template we have a section where users can run app-type specific tasks if we are dealing with a release branch, or any other branch, or both.
That is it for today - but an ear on the ground - we have an interesting v2.1 update coming.
Questions
For my team
- Q1: Should we consider removing the conditional app-type logic examples and instead adding them only when needed for specific app-type blueprints? This could help reduce noise and improve clarity.
For you
- Q2: How do you abstract your user interface, user experience, and other testing in the continuous delivery pipelien flow (shift right), after the continuous integration pipeline flow (shift left)is complete?
Any questions or suggested improvements?