Exercise - Create an Azure DevOps organization

  • 10 minutes

Microsoft provides free Azure DevOps accounts for individuals, small teams, and open-source projects. Enterprises can also sign up for Azure DevOps accounts that can scale to thousands of team members. We're going to sign up for a free Azure DevOps organization to see how its services can help us on our DevOps journey.

Note

In this learning path, you'll use Azure DevOps Services, which Microsoft hosts for you. There's also Azure DevOps Server, the on-premises version of Azure DevOps Services that you can install and run on your own network.

Create an Azure DevOps organization

Follow along with the team by setting up your own free Azure DevOps organization:

  1. Go to dev.azure.com.

  2. Select the Start free button.

  3. Sign in by using your Microsoft account. Or if you don't have a Microsoft account, select Create One! and finish the steps.

    Note

    You might have a Microsoft account already. Typically, these end with hotmail.com or outlook.com.

  4. Review the Terms of Service, Privacy Statement, and Code of Conduct, and select Continue if you agree to them.

    Note

    As the person creating the Azure DevOps organization, you'll automatically become the owner. Please be considerate when deciding on your account name and avoid existing legal entities.

Create an organization

Next, set up an organization. Here's how:

  1. If you've never created an Azure DevOps organization, you'll see a window with a Create new organization button. If you have, you'll see a link that reads New organization. Select the option you see.
  2. In the Azure DevOps Terms of Service and Privacy notification window, select Continue.
  3. Create an organization for the Microsoft Learn modules next to the dev.azure.com/ field. If you're prompted that the name is already taken, just add some numbers to the end to make it unique. For example: Tailspin0523.
  4. Choose a location near you where your projects will be hosted.
  5. Complete the captcha.
  6. Select Continue.

The next screen prompts you to create a project. You'll do that in the next module.

Congratulations! In the next module, the team will use Azure Boards to create its first project and backlog.