ADF Deployment

Question

Hi,

I have a ADF dev instance which has all pipelines, dataflows , triggers which are parameterized.

If I deploy this to UAT and prod, how ADF will behave? Where can I specify the parameters for these instances? how it will affect the main branch code?

Where these differernces of instances will be stored in repository? we are using azure devops as repos.

I have not done deployment before, devops team will deploy using ci/cd pipeline. Please clarify. i want to understand the process and flow.

Answer 1

I will divide your question in 3 parts :

Deployment Process

1. ADF integration with Azure DevOps facilitates CI/CD through the use of ARM templates and Azure Pipelines
2. ARM templates support parameters that can be dynamically provided at deployment time. This is crucial for deploying the same data factory setup across different environments with varying configurations (like different database connections, file paths....)
3. Your ARM templates and parameter files should be stored in your Azure DevOps repository. This will allow the version control and tracking of changes across different deployments.
4. Azure DevOps Pipelines are used to automate the deployment of your ADF resources. The pipeline will typically:

• Fetch the latest ARM templates and parameter files from the repository.
  • Apply environment-specific parameters during deployment. This can be done by having separate parameter files for each environment or using variable groups in Azure DevOps to define environment-specific values.

Managing Environment-Specific Parameters

• For each environment (dev, UAT, prod), you can maintain separate parameter files that define environment-specific values for your ADF resources. During the deployment pipeline execution, you specify which parameter file to use based on the target environment.
• Another approach is to use Azure DevOps variable groups. You can define variables for each environment in these groups. During the deployment, the pipeline can dynamically substitute these values based on the target environment.

Impact on Main Branch and Repository Organization

• Your main branch will typically contain the "source of truth" ARM templates and generic parameter files. Environment-specific configurations should be managed through separate parameter files or Azure DevOps variable groups, not hardcoded in the main branch.
• In the repository, you might organize the files as follows:
  • A folder for ARM templates.
  • Separate folders or files for environment-specific parameters (if using parameter files).
  • Branching strategies can be employed to manage development and release cycles, with the main branch serving as the primary base for releases.

Answer 2

Hi Santhi Dhanuskodi ,

In addition to the above response from community expert, I want to add you can use custom parameters with the Resource Manager template to override parameters in ADF while deploying your ARM template from dev to higher environments.

To override the default Resource Manager parameter configuration, go to the Manage hub and select ARM template in the "Source control" section. Under ARM parameter configuration section, click Edit icon in "Edit parameter configuration" to open the Resource Manager parameter configuration code editor.

Check the below documentation for more details: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/continuous-integration-delivery-resource-manager-custom-parameters

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