Setting Up CI/CD Pipelines with Azure DevOps for Enterprise Apps

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines are essential for modern software delivery. Azure DevOps provides a complete platform for automating builds, tests, and deployments — enabling teams to ship reliable software faster.

Why CI/CD Matters

• Catch bugs early with automated testing on every commit
• Deploy to production in minutes instead of days
• Reduce human error in deployment processes
• Enable rollback if something goes wrong

Pipeline Architecture

Setting Up the Build Pipeline

Create a new pipeline in Azure DevOps and connect it to your repository. Here is a sample YAML configuration for a .NET application:

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main
      - develop

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
  - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
    inputs:
      command: 'restore'

  - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
    inputs:
      command: 'build'
      arguments: '--configuration Release'

  - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
    inputs:
      command: 'test'
      arguments: '--configuration Release'

  - task: DotNetCoreCLI@2
    inputs:
      command: 'publish'
      arguments: '--configuration Release --output $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'

  - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1

Release Pipeline with Approvals

Set up a release pipeline with multiple stages — Dev, Staging, and Production. Add manual approval gates before production to ensure quality control. Azure DevOps supports pre-deployment approvals, gates, and scheduled deployments.

Best Practices

• Run unit tests and integration tests in the build pipeline
• Use environment-specific configuration with variable groups
• Implement blue-green or canary deployments for zero-downtime releases
• Monitor deployments with Application Insights
• Set up branch policies to require successful builds before merging

"The goal of CI/CD is not just speed — it's confidence. Confidence that every change is tested, validated, and deployable."