Templates

All the relevant steps and tasks are defined in the template. Do not include hard-coded values inside the template, so it can be re-used for other pipelines.

Template structure

To use a file as a template, the file must be able to receive values, passed from the calling pipeline.

Parameters

pipeline.yaml

- stage: STAGE_PROVISION_TEST  variables:    - template: 'variables/pipeline-variables-tst.yml'   jobs:    - template: 'templates/template-infra.yaml'     parameters:      environment: '${{ variables.environment }}'      appName: '${{ variables.appName }}'      appTier: '${{ variables.appTier }}'

As you can see, the values for environment, appName and appTier (set in de variale file) are passed to the template.

template.yaml

parameters:  environment: ''  appName: ''  appTier: ''jobs:   - deployment: 'CreateResources'           displayName: "Create Resources"    environment: '${{ parameters.environment }}'    strategy:      runOnce:        deploy:          steps:

Parameter options

In the example above, the environment is passed as a simple string value. It is possible to add objects to the template itself. This way, it is possible to have nested data send to the template itself. When you're dealing with complex solutions and infrastructure this might be a huve saver.

pipeline.yaml

- stage: STAGE_PROVISION_TEST  variables:    - template: 'variables/pipeline-variables-tst.yml'   jobs:    - template: 'templates/template-infra.yaml'     parameters:        environment: '${{ variables.environment }}'        appName: '${{ variables.appName }}'        appTier: '${{ variables.appTier }}'        brands:          - brand:            name: brandA            fullName: Full Brand Name A                        clients:            - client:                name: consumer            - client:                name: dealer          - brand:            name: brandB            fullName: Full Brand Name B                      clients:            - client:                name: consumer            - client:                name: dealer          - brand:            name: brandC            fullName: Full Brand Name C                      clients:            - client:                name: consumer            - client:                name: dealer

In this example, brands is passed as a parameter that holds a complex data object. You need to pass brands only as a parameter. The complete nested object is send to the template. The template just requires the brand parameter defined:

parameters:  environment: ''  appName: ''  appTier: ''  brand: ''

Using complex parameters

Once the data object is passed to the template, the values can easily be retreived.

"template.yaml

parameters:  environment: ''  appName: ''  appTier: ''  brand: ''jobs:    - ${{ each brand in parameters.brands }}:       - ${{ each client in brand.clients }}:         - deployment: 'CreateResources'                   displayName: "Create Resources"            environment: '${{ parameters.environment }}'            strategy:            runOnce:                deploy:                steps:                - checkout: self                    -   task: AzureCLI@2                    displayName: 'Create resources for ${{ brand.name }}_${{ client.name }}'