How to automate the pipelining in azure devops using rest api - node.js

Question

I would look to automate process of creating build, releases in azure devops. I do understand that rest api's exist. But will they help to automate the process and can this be done in node.js?

Answer 1

yes. Azure Devops do have API. I do not have experiences in node.js.
Docu for Azure DevOps REST API here:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/azure/devops/?view=azure-devops-rest-5.0
You may find node.js libraries here:
https://github.com/microsoft/azure-devops-node-api

Answer 2

Can you give a few more details about your desired automation process?
If you mean also the creation of definitions, then I would also have a look into YAML. In the future, there will be few more update especially for the Release Definitions:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/yaml-schema?view=azure-devops&tabs=schema
I implemented a Powershell (but not with Node.js) wrapper for the Azure DevOps Api . Here are some code snippets to create a new release:
SET UP CONNECTION
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Sets the environment parameter for the current session so that the commandlets can access Azure DevOps.
#>
function Set-AzureDevOpsEnvironment {
Param(
<# The account name of the Azure DevOps tenant to access. If not set, this is set to "vanstelematics" #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$AzureDevOpsAccountName,
<# The project name of Azure DevOps to work with. If not set, this is set to "ScaledPilotPlatform" #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$AzureDevOpsProjectName,
<# The PAT to access the Azure DevOps REST API. If not set, the function tries to read the PAT from a
textfile called "AzureDevOpsPat.user" either in the current working directory or in the profile
directory of the current user. The textfile must contain only that PAT as plain string. #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
$AzureDevOpsPat
)
if ($PSCmdlet.MyInvocation.BoundParameters["Verbose"].IsPresent) {
$Script:Verbose = $true
} else {
$Script:Verbose = $false
}
if (!$AzureDevOpsPat) {
$paths = #("AzureDevOpsPat.user", (JOin-Path $env:USERPROFILE "AzureDevOpsPat.user"))
foreach ($path in $paths) {
if (Test-Path $path -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
$AzureDevOpsPat = Get-Content $path
break
}
}
if (!$AzureDevOpsPat) {
Write-Host "AzureDevOpsPat is empty and file AzureDevOpsPat.user not found." -ForegroundColor Red
return
}
}
Write-Host "The Azure DevOps project '$($AzureDevOpsProjectName)' inside the Azure DevOps account '$($AzureDevOpsAccountName)' will be used."
$Script:AzureDevOpsAccountName = $AzureDevOpsAccountName
$Script:AzureDevOpsProjectName = $AzureDevOpsProjectName
$Script:AzureDevOpsPat = $AzureDevOpsPat
}
REST CALLER
function Call-AzureDevOpsApi($Url, $JsonBody, [ValidateSet("GET", "DELETE", "POST", "PUT", "PATCH")]$Method, $ContentType) {
if ($Script:Verbose) {
Write-Host "Calling $($Method) $($Url)"
}
if (!$ContentType) {
$ContentType = "application/json"
}
$base64AuthInfo = [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes(("{0}:{1}" -f "", $Script:AzureDevOpsPat)))
$parameters = #{
Headers = #{Authorization = ("Basic {0}" -f $base64AuthInfo)};
Method = $Method;
Uri = $Url;
}
if ($Method -in #("POST", "PUT", "PATCH")) {
if (!$JsonBody) {
Write-Error "A JsonBody is required for method $($Method)."
return
}
$JsonBodyUtf8 = [Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($JsonBody)
$parameters["Body"] = $JsonBodyUtf8
$parameters["ContentType"] = $ContentType
}
$result = Invoke-RestMethod #parameters
return $result
}
function Call-AzureDevOpsApiPost($Url, $JsonBody, [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)][ValidateSet("application/json", "application/json-patch+json")]$ContentType) {
return Call-AzureDevOpsApi -Url $Url -JsonBody $JsonBody -ContentType $ContentType -Method POST
}
function Call-AzureDevOpsApiPut($Url, $JsonBody, [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)][ValidateSet("application/json", "application/json-patch+json")]$ContentType) {
return Call-AzureDevOpsApi -Url $Url -JsonBody $JsonBody -Method PUT
}
function Call-AzureDevOpsApiPatch($Url, $JsonBody, [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)][ValidateSet("application/json", "application/json-patch+json")]$ContentType) {
return Call-AzureDevOpsApi -Url $Url -JsonBody $JsonBody -Method PATCH
}
function Call-AzureDevOpsApiGet($Url, [Parameter(Mandatory=$False)][ValidateSet("application/json", "application/json-patch+json")]$ContentType) {
return Call-AzureDevOpsApi -Url $Url -Method GET
}
function Call-AzureDevOpsApiDelete($Url, [ValidateSet("application/json", "application/json-patch+json")]$ContentType) {
return Call-AzureDevOpsApi -Url $Url -Method DELETE
}
NEW RELEASE
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Creates a new release for a given Release Definition and artifact (p.e. build)
#>
function New-Release {
Param(
<# The id of the release definition to create the release for. #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$ReleaseDefinition,
<# The alias of the artifact of the release definition to create the release for #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$ArtifactAlias,
<# The version of the artifact (p.e. the id of the build)#>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$ArtifactVersion,
<# The description/name of the release #>
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
$Description
)
$url = "https://vsrm.dev.azure.com/$($Script:AzureDevOpsAccountName)/$($Script:AzureDevOpsProjectName)/_apis/release/releases?api-version=4.1-preview.6"
$releaseData = #{
"definitionId" = $ReleaseDefinition.id;
"description" = $Description;
"artifacts" = #(
#{
"alias" = $ArtifactAlias;
"instanceReference" = $ArtifactVersion
}
);
"isDraft" = $false;
"reason" = "none";
"manualEnvironments" = $ReleaseDefinition.environments | select -ExpandProperty name
}
$result = Call-AzureDevOpsApiPost -Url $url -JsonBody ($releaseData | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 100)
return $result
}
Hope this gives an idea how to use it.