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Azure DevOps release pipeline capabilities


Azure DevOps has extended support for pipelines as code (also called YAML pipelines) for continuous deployment and started introducing various release management capabilities into pipelines as code.


Feature

YAML

Classic Build

Classic Release

Notes

Agents

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specifies a required resource on which the pipeline runs.

Approvals

Yes

No

Yes

Defines a set of validations required before completing a deployment stage.

Artifacts

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supports publishing or consuming different package types.

Caching

Yes

Yes

No

Reduces build time by allowing outputs or downloaded dependencies from one run to be reused in later runs. In Preview, available with Azure Pipelines only.

Conditions

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specifies conditions to be met before running a job.

Container jobs

Yes

No

No

Specifies jobs to run in a container.

Demands

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ensures pipeline requirements are met before running a pipeline stage. Requires self-hosted agents.

Dependencies

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specifies a requirement that must be met to run the next job or stage.

Deployment groups

Yes

No

Yes

Defines a logical set of deployment target machines.

Deployment group jobs

No

No

Yes

Specifies a job to release to a deployment group.

Deployment jobs

Yes

No

No

Defines the deployment steps. Requires Multi-stage pipelines experience.

Environment

Yes

No

No

Represents a collection of resources targeted for deployment. Available with Azure Pipelines only.

Gates

No

No

Yes

Supports automatic collection and evaluation of external health signals before completing a release stage. Available with Azure Pipelines only.

Jobs

Yes

Yes

Yes

Defines the execution sequence of a set of steps.

Service connections

Yes

Yes

Yes

Enables a connection to a remote service that is required to execute tasks in a job.

Service containers

Yes

No

No

Enables you to manage the lifecycle of a containerized service.

Stages

Yes

No

Yes

Organizes jobs within a pipeline.

Task groups

No

Yes

Yes

Encapsulates a sequence of tasks into a single reusable task. If using YAML, see templates.

Tasks

Yes

Yes

Yes

Defines the building blocks that make up a pipeline.

Templates

Yes

No

No

Defines reusable content, logic, and parameters.

Triggers

Yes

Yes

Yes

Defines the event that causes a pipeline to run.

Variables

Yes

Yes

Yes

Represents a value to be replaced by data to pass to the pipeline.

Variable groups

Yes

Yes

Yes

Use to store values that you want to control and make available across multiple pipelines.



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