Updating pipeline variables at a given scope using Azure DevOps REST api - azure

Question

I am currently trying to update a pipeline variable at the scope, DEV however, I am having hard time updating that variable. Is it possible to update the variable at a scope other than "Release"? If so, how? Below is the code that I used and the error that I received.
let reqLink = ' https://vsrm.dev.azure.com/'+ organization +'/'+project+'/_apis/release/releases?api-version=5.1';
let reqBody = {
"definitionId": definitionId,
"variables": {
"someVar":
{
"value": "foo",
"scope": "DEV"
}
}
};
sendHttpRequest('POST',reqLink,reqBody).then(response => {
let data = JSON.parse(response);
console.log(data);
});
This is the error that I am receiving:
{"$id":"1","innerException":null,"message":"Variable(s) someVar do not exist in the release pipeline at scope: Release

Answer 1

Scoped variables are defined not on the root level. But on stage level. So you must modify this here:
Here you have variable SomeVer scoped to Stage 1. The easiest way to achieve this will be hit endpoint with GET, manipulate on json and hit endpoint with PUT.
And what I noticed you are hiting release/releases whereas you should hit rather specific release release/releases/{releaseId}. Or maybe your goal is to update definition itself?

Answer 2

Is it possible to update the variable at a scope other than "Release"? If so, how?
The answer is yes.
The REST API you use is to create a release, if you want to update a release pipeline, using:
PUT https://vsrm.dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/release/definitions?api-version=6.0-preview.4
The request body of the REST API may need detailed information of the release pipeline. Use the following REST API to get it.
GET https://vsrm.dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/release/definitions/{definitionId}?api-version=6.0-preview.4
Then you can modify its response body and use it as the request body of the first REST API.
The property variables doesn't have a property called scope. If you want to update a variable from 'Release' scope to a stage scope, you need to delete the variable's original definition in variables and redefinite it in target environment. Here is an example.
Original script:
{
...
"variables": {
"somevar": {
"value": "foo"
}
},
...
};
The modified script:
{
...
"environments": [
{
"id": {stage id},
"name": DEV
...
"variables": {
"somevar": {
"value": "foo",
},
...
}
],
...
"variables": {},
...
};
Here is the summary: To change the scope of a variable, just move the variable definition to target scope.