Azure DevOps Support and Configuration Guide

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If you're new to Azure DevOps, setting it up can be overwhelming, but don't worry, we've got you covered.

Azure DevOps provides a comprehensive support system, including online documentation, community forums, and 24/7 support.

To get started, you'll need to create an Azure DevOps organization, which can be done in just a few minutes.

Azure DevOps offers a free tier, making it accessible to teams of all sizes.

For your interest: How Much Is Azure Support

Azure DevOps Setup

Setting up Azure DevOps is a straightforward process. You can create a new organization in Azure DevOps, which will serve as the central hub for all your projects.

To create a new organization, you'll need to provide some basic information, such as your name, email address, and password. This information will be used to create your account and set up your organization.

Once you've created your organization, you can start creating projects. Each project represents a specific area of your organization, such as a web development team or a data science team. You can create multiple projects within your organization to manage different teams and projects.

Choose Services

Credit: youtube.com, Azure DevOps | Creating a Service connection with Azure

When setting up Azure DevOps, you have a choice of services to use. Azure DevOps Services is a great option for its quick set-up and maintenance-free operations.

Azure DevOps Services supports integration with GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise Server repositories. This makes it easy to collaborate across domains with your team.

You can expect elastic scale and rock-solid security with Azure DevOps Services. This means your project can grow as needed without any hiccups.

To get started, you can access cloud build and deployment servers, and application insights. This will help you track your work and identify any issues.

Here are some benefits of choosing Azure DevOps Services:

  • Quick set-up
  • Maintenance-free operations
  • Easy collaboration across domains
  • Elastic scale
  • Rock-solid security

You can start using Azure DevOps Services for free and create an organization to store your code and collaborate with your team.

Release Management

In mid-2013, Microsoft purchased InRelease from InCycle Software and fully incorporated it into Team Foundation Server 2013.

This capability complemented automated build and testing processes by allowing a true continuous deployment solution. The tools were re-branded "Release Management" for TFS 2013.

Credit: youtube.com, Azure Pipelines - Release

Release Management gives teams the ability to perform a controlled, workflow-driven release to development, test, and production environments. It also provides dashboards for monitoring the progress of one or more releases.

Microsoft rebuilt Release Management for Visual Studio Team Services and on-premises version of TFS with new changes in 2015 Update 2.

The new version of Release Management leverages the web browser as the client and relies on the same agent architecture as Team Foundation Build.

Project Configuration

In Azure DevOps, you can configure your project to use a variety of features and tools.

Azure DevOps allows you to create multiple projects within a single organization, each with its own set of features and tools.

To configure a project, you'll need to navigate to the project settings page, which can be accessed from the navigation menu.

From here, you can configure settings such as project name, description, and visibility.

You can also configure your project's workflows, including the creation of new workflows, editing existing ones, and deleting workflows that are no longer needed.

Related reading: Azure Devops Features

Credit: youtube.com, Azure DevOps - GETTING STARTED with managing PROJECT REQUIREMENTS - Tutorial for beginners

One of the key features of Azure DevOps project configuration is the ability to create and manage boards, which allow you to visualize and track work items such as bugs, tasks, and user stories.

Boards can be customized to fit the specific needs of your project, including the ability to add or remove columns, and to configure the display of work items.

Azure DevOps also provides a range of APIs and SDKs that allow you to automate project configuration and integration with other tools and services.

On a similar theme: Azure Devops Boards Columns

Version Control

Azure DevOps supports two types of source control: Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) and Git.

TFVC is a centralized version control system that allows teams to store any type of artifact within its repository. It supports Server Workspaces and Local Workspaces, with Server Workspaces allowing developers to lock files for check-out and provide notification to other developers that files are being edited.

Azure DevOps also includes a Check-in Policy feature that helps developers ensure the code checked in follows configurable rules. This rule engine is extensible and can be used to examine all aspects of the code being checked in.

With the release of TFS 2013, Microsoft added native support for Git, which is a standard implementation based on the libgit2 library. This allows developers to use their favorite Git clients, such as Xcode and Android Studio, and connect to Azure DevOps.

Consider reading: Azure Devops Server

Code Wiki

Credit: youtube.com, From Chaos to Clarity: Transitioning to Code Wiki in Azure DevOps

A code wiki in Azure DevOps is a feature that allows you to publish code as a wiki. It inherits the same editing experience as the Project Wiki.

You can have multiple code wikis, which could be useful for different aspects of your project.

Setting up a code wiki is relatively straightforward, you just need to select "Publish code as wiki".

A Project Wiki can act as a space for all your specifications, while code wikis could be used as documentation generation spaces.

Consider reading: Azure Pipelines Publish

Source Control

Azure DevOps supports two types of source control: Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) and Git.

TFVC is a centralized version control system that allows teams to store any type of artifact within its repository.

TFVC supports two different types of workspaces: Server Workspaces and Local Workspaces.

Server workspaces allow developers to lock files for check-out and provide notification to other developers that files are being edited.

Local workspaces were designed to avoid these problems, allowing developers to work on files without checking them out first.

Credit: youtube.com, What Is Version Control? | Git Version Control | Version Control In Software Engineering|Simplilearn

Azure DevOps supports a number of features to help developers ensure the code that is checked in follows configurable rules, known as Check-in Policies.

These policies can examine all aspects of the code being checked in, the comments, and the related work items.

One of the major benefits of using Azure DevOps as a Git repository is that it is backed by SQL Server and afforded the same protection as Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC).

Work Items

Work items are the foundation of Azure DevOps, representing anything from tasks to bugs to test cases. They're defined through XML documents and are highly extensible.

A work item can be linked to other work items using different relationships, creating a hierarchical tree or a flat relationship between them. This flexibility allows for various roles, such as requirements management, bug tracking, and risk tracking.

Work items can also be linked to external artifacts like web pages, documents on a file share, or documents stored in another repository, like SharePoint. This ensures that all relevant information is connected and easily accessible.

The linking capabilities of work items enable traceability from requirements to source code, test cases, and results, making it easier to report on and audit changes.

Connect to App

Credit: youtube.com, How To Add Version Control To Your Apps With Git

To connect your Azure DevOps to a new app, you'll need an Azure admin with specific permissions in both the Microsoft Entra ID and Azure DevOps environments. They'll need to be either an Azure Service Administrator or an Azure Co-administrator.

To get started, you'll need to connect Azure DevOps to the Microsoft Entra ID app you just created. From your Azure DevOps account, select Organization settings in the bottom left.

Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID and click Connect directory. Then, select the directory you want to connect and click Connect.

To connect successfully, you'll need to complete these steps in the correct order. Here's a quick rundown:

  1. From your Azure DevOps account, select Organization settings in the bottom left.
  2. Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID.
  3. Click Connect directory.
  4. Select the directory you want to connect.
  5. Click Connect.

Add Microsoft Entra ID to Dbt Cloud

To add Microsoft Entra ID to Dbt Cloud, you need to register a Microsoft Entra ID app. This involves signing into the Azure portal, clicking on Microsoft Entra ID, and selecting App registrations.

You'll need to provide a name for your app, such as "dbt Labs Azure DevOps app", and select Accounts in any organizational directory (Any Entra ID directory - Multitenant) as the Supported Account Types. This is a crucial step, as Microsoft considers Azure DevOps and Microsoft Entra ID as separate tenants, and you must select Multitenant for the app to work properly.

Recommended read: Azure Devops App

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Add a redirect URI by selecting Web and entering https://YOUR_ACCESS_URL/complete/azure_active_directory, replacing YOUR_ACCESS_URL with the appropriate Access URL for your region and plan. Click Register to complete the app registration process.

Once you've registered your Microsoft Entra ID app, you'll need to connect it to Azure DevOps. This involves creating a service user in Azure DevOps, which is a pseudo user set up with permissions specifically scoped for service to service interactions.

You should avoid linking authentication to a real Azure DevOps user, as this can cause issues if the person leaves your organization. Instead, use a service user to power headless actions in Dbt Cloud, such as project repo selection, deployment runs, and CI.

After connecting your Microsoft Entra ID app and Azure DevOps, you'll need to add your app to Dbt Cloud. This involves navigating to your account settings, selecting Integrations, and scrolling to the Azure DevOps section.

Complete the form with the required information, and your Microsoft Entra ID app should now be added to your Dbt Cloud account. This will allow team members to develop in the Dbt Cloud IDE or CLI while still maintaining secure authentication.

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Here's a summary of the steps:

  1. Register a Microsoft Entra ID app in the Azure portal.
  2. Connect the app to Azure DevOps using a service user.
  3. Add the Microsoft Entra ID app to your Dbt Cloud account.

By following these steps, you'll be able to integrate Microsoft Entra ID with Dbt Cloud and take advantage of secure authentication and authorization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to get support for Azure DevOps?

To get support for Azure DevOps, create a support ticket on the Microsoft Azure Support Ticket page. You can also report a computer security vulnerability on the Microsoft webpage.

Is Azure support 24/7?

Azure support is available 24/7 for critical issues, but for less urgent matters, support hours vary by language and severity.

Rosemary Boyer

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Rosemary Boyer is a skilled writer with a passion for crafting engaging and informative content. With a focus on technical and educational topics, she has established herself as a reliable voice in the industry. Her writing has been featured in a variety of publications, covering subjects such as CSS Precedence, where she breaks down complex concepts into clear and concise language.

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