Referencing yaml variables in AzurePowerShellV5 inline script - azure

Question

I have a Azure DevOps yaml pipeline, that looks (a bit like) like this:
variables:
MyVar: Test
Steps:
- task: AzurePowerShell#5
displayName: 'Test variables from yml file'
inputs:
azureSubscription: MyServiceConnection
ScriptType: InLineScript
InLine: |
Write-Host "I really want to see the values from the variables in the yml file here"
Write-Host "parameters from the yml file would be great too"
Write-Host "But what would I write to do that?"
Write-Host "$(MyVar) <- Nothing here"
Write-Host "$(variables.MyVar) <- Nothing here"
Write-Host "$DoesThisWork <- Nothing here"
Write-Host "$OrThis <- Nothing here"
env:
DoesThisWork: $(MyVar)
OrThis: $(variables.MyVar)
How do I use MyVar in the InLine script?

Answer 1

I stripped it down to the simplest possible and it works just fine:
pool:
vmImage: 'windows-latest'
variables:
myVar: test value
steps:
- powershell: Write-Host "$(myVar)"
generates:
I modified your example to remove the env block which did not compile, and remove the incorrect variable references:
pool:
vmImage: 'windows-latest'
variables:
myVar: test value
steps:
- task: AzurePowerShell#5
inputs:
azureSubscription: 'My Service Connection Name'
ScriptType: 'InlineScript'
Inline: |
Write-Host "I really want to see the values from the variables in the yml file here"
Write-Host "parameters from the yml file would be great too"
Write-Host "But what would I write to do that?"
Write-Host "$(MyVar) <- Nothing here"
azurePowerShellVersion: 'LatestVersion'
and got:
It didn't get past the first one because the syntax $(variables.MyVar) is invalid. The syntax works as follows:
Compile time (usable only in the file in which the variable is declared and not to nested files like templates): ${{ variables.MyVar }}
Runtime (before task execution): $(MyVar) - expands to "$(MyVar)" if empty
Runtime (designed for conditions, or where the default value causes problems): $[variables.MyVar] - expands to empty string if empty
I'm wondering if the lack of an Azure Powershell version was part of your problem?

Answer 2

When you specify an env block, it creates the variables as environment variables.
In PowerShell, you reference environment variables with $env:VariableName. So in your case, $env:DoesThisWork.