Use template in Azure pipeline for repository refs - azure

Question

I have a project with multiple repositories and I would like to use a specific branch to checkout for RepoB, that matches the target branch of the PR
name: My nice pipeline
resources:
repositories:
- repository: RepoB
type: git
name: RepoB
# ref: ${{ replace($(System.PullRequest.TargetBranch), "refs/heads/", "")}} <<<< here is the issue
And the issue is that if I use just a plane $(System.PullRequest.TargetBranch) the input is accepted but the way ref: works, it will append to refs/heads/{{whatever the input was here}}, so I end up having refs/heads/refs/heads/target-branch. As a solution I though I can use replace but yeah thanks not the case...
Any ideas how I can grab just the target branch name without the prefix?

Answer 1

You can't use System.PullRequest.TargetBranch in template expression (which is {{}}). You have marked it here
And I can't find it at the moment, but from what I recall you can't use template expression in repository resource.
This is unfortunately not possible. You can't use expression here.
And if you try use this syntax ref:$(System.PullRequest.TargetBranch), you will get
/azure-pipelines-11.yml: Could not get the latest source version for repository kmadof/devops-templates hosted on https://github.com/ using ref refs/heads/$(System.PullRequest.TargetBranch). GitHub reported the error, "No commit found for SHA: refs/heads/$(System.PullRequest.TargetBranch)"

Answer 2

I had the same problem as you when I wanted to create a tag on a branch and specific commit in my pipeline. The best solution I found was just to make my agent do all the parts I would normally do and put it in a template :p this is how I solved it.
steps:
- checkout: none
clean: True
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Remove refs/heads from branch path and set pipeline variable
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: |
$branchSourcePath = "$(Build.SourceBranch)" -replace "refs/heads/",""
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=BRANCH_PATH;]$branchSourcePath"
Write-Host "Setting pipeline variable BRANCH_PATH to $branchSourcePath"
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Create temp folder
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: 'New-Item -Path "$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp" -ItemType Directory'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Init git repo
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: 'git init'
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Git remote add
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: git remote add $(Build.Repository.Name) https://$(git-accesstoken)#{azure-repo-path}/_git/$(Build.Repository.Name)
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Fetch
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: 'git fetch $(Build.Repository.Name) $(BRANCH_PATH)'
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Checkout commit
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: |
Write-Host "Checking out commit $(Build.SourceVersion) \n"
git checkout -b $(BRANCH_PATH) $(Build.SourceVersion)
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Set user email
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: git config --global user.email "$(Build.RequestedForEmail)"
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Set user name
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: git config --global user.name "$(Build.RequestedFor)"
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: Create tag
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: 'git tag -a {tag-name} $(Build.SourceVersion) -m "{tag-description}"'
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: PowerShell#2
displayName: 'Push tag'
inputs:
targetType: 'inline'
script: 'git push {repo-name} {tag-name}'
workingDirectory: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)\temp'
- task: DeleteFiles#1
displayName: Delete temp folder
inputs:
SourceFolder: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)'
Contents: 'temp'