Azure DevOps Tools Documentation

Azure Boards

Azure Boards provides a rich set of agile tools to help your teams plan, track, and discuss work across sprints and releases. Whether you're using Kanban, Scrum, or custom process templates, Azure Boards offers flexible solutions.

Key Features

Backlogs: Organize and prioritize your product backlog.
Sprints: Plan and manage your sprint cycles.
Task Boards: Visualize work in progress and track task status.
Dashboards: Create custom dashboards for team visibility.
Querying: Powerful query engine to find work items.

Getting Started with Boards

To start using Azure Boards, navigate to the 'Boards' section in your Azure DevOps project. You can begin by creating new work items such as Epics, Features, User Stories, or Tasks. Configure your team's process template to match your agile methodology.

Tip: Leverage custom fields and tags to categorize and filter your work items effectively.


# Example: Creating a User Story via REST API (simplified)
curl -X POST \
  'https://dev.azure.com/{organization}/{project}/_apis/wit/workitems/$%7B'User Story'%7D?api-version=6.0' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -u ":{personal_access_token}" \
  --data '{
    "fields": {
      "System.Title": "As a user, I want to log in securely",
      "Microsoft.VSTS.TCM.Priority": 1,
      "System.Description": "User story details..."
    }
  }'

Azure Repos

Azure Repos offers unlimited, cloud-hosted private Git repositories for your project. You can collaborate with others on code, manage versions, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines.

Key Features

Git Repositories: Scalable and secure Git hosting.
Pull Requests: Code review workflow to improve code quality.
Branch Policies: Enforce code quality and team standards.
Code Search: Quickly find code across all your repositories.

Azure Pipelines

Azure Pipelines enables you to automatically build, test, and deploy your code to any cloud or on-premises. It supports virtually any language, platform, and cloud.

Key Features

CI/CD Automation: Set up continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines.
YAML Pipelines: Define your pipelines as code for version control and reusability.
Multi-stage Pipelines: Orchestrate complex deployment scenarios.
Deployment Gates: Control the flow of deployments based on approvals and quality checks.


# azure-pipelines.yml
trigger:
- main

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- script: echo Hello, world!
  displayName: 'Run a one-line script'

- script: |
    echo Add other tasks to build, test, and deploy your project here.
    echo For example, package your application, run unit tests, deploy to a staging environment.
  displayName: 'Build and Test'

Azure Test Plans

Azure Test Plans provides a comprehensive suite of tools for manual and exploratory testing. Plan, execute, and track your testing efforts from a single platform.

Key Features

Test Plans: Organize test cases and suites.
Test Runner: Execute manual tests and record results.
Exploratory Testing: Capture rich diagnostic data during exploration.
Reporting: Track test progress and quality metrics.

Azure Artifacts

Azure Artifacts allows you to create, host, and share packages from multiple sources, including npm, NuGet, Maven, and Python. Integrate artifact management seamlessly into your CI/CD workflow.

Key Features

Package Feeds: Host and manage packages.
Upstream Sources: Proxy public registries to cache packages.
Multiple Package Types: Support for various package managers.