Activate Parallel Jobs

Question

Hello Support,

We would like to request an increase in our Azure DevOps parallel jobs allocation. Our team currently requires access to additional parallel jobs to support our build and deployment workloads.

Specifically, we are requesting a total of 6 parallel jobs to accommodate our operational requirements and improve pipeline execution efficiency.

Please advise on the process, licensing requirements, or any additional information needed to complete this request.

Answer 1

Hello support,

we have tried this option and we get this error message.

Answer 2

Hello Support,

Thank you for your response.

We have previously followed the steps provided; however, we require further assistance. When navigating to the Billing page and attempting to update the Paid Parallel Jobs field, we receive an error message.

Please see the attached screenshot (below) for reference and advise on how we can proceed.

We would appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue.

Answer 3

Hello Lesron,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

To increase your Azure DevOps parallel jobs allocation to a total of 6, the required approach depends heavily on whether your pipelines are running inside a Public or Private project.

According to official Microsoft Documentation, each parallel job allows you to execute a single job at a time in your organization. Here is how allocation, licensing, and capacity expansions are structured:

1. Free Tier Allocations & Activation (For New Organizations)

By default, to prevent abuse (such as hidden cryptocurrency mining), Microsoft temporarily disables the automatic free grant of parallel jobs for new organizations.

• Public Projects: Microsoft provides up to 10 free Microsoft-hosted parallel jobs that can run for up to 360 minutes (6 hours) each time. If your project is public, you can get the 6 jobs for free by filling out the official Azure DevOps Parallelism Request Form.
• Private Projects: Microsoft offers only one free parallel job that can run for up to 60 minutes each time (capped at 1,800 minutes per month).

2. Licensing Requirements for 6 Concurrent Parallel Jobs

If your workloads run in a Private Project, you cannot acquire 6 parallel jobs under the free grant. You must set up billing and purchase additional capacity.

As stated in the official Microsoft documentation regarding Microsoft-hosted parallel jobs:

"When you purchase your first Microsoft-hosted parallel job, the number of parallel jobs you have in the organization is still one. To be able to run two jobs concurrently, you need to purchase two parallel jobs if you're currently on the free tier. The first purchase only removes the time limits on the first job."

Therefore, to run 6 concurrent jobs simultaneously in a private project, you must purchase a quantity of 6 paid parallel jobs. Purchasing paid parallel jobs removes the monthly 1,800-minute restriction and extends the maximum runtime per job to 360 minutes (6 hours).

How to Purchase and Activate 6 Parallel Jobs

To buy and allocate more parallel jobs, ensure you are a member of the Project Collection Administrators group:

1. Set up Billing: Go to Organization settings > Billing and link your Azure DevOps organization to an active Azure Subscription.
2. Navigate to Parallel Jobs: Sign in to your organization (https://dev.azure.com/{yourorganization}).
3. Select Organization settings in the bottom-left corner.
4. Select Parallel jobs under the Pipelines section.
5. Click Purchase parallel jobs (or change next to Microsoft-hosted jobs).
6. Enter 6 as your desired total quantity and click Save.

Note: It can take up to 30 minutes for your newly purchased parallel jobs to reflect and become available for use in your pipeline execution.

Note: This response is drafted with the help of AI system.