Configure pipeline extension points
The pipeline templates in the ALM Accelerator for Power Platform have several extension points, or hooks. You can use them to customize the pipelines while minimizing the noise from merge conflicts when you upgrade the pipeline templates to a new release.
Extension points in ALM Accelerator YAML templates
The following table lists the extension points that are supported.
| Pipeline YAML file name | Extension point | Description | Extension YAML file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Export Solution Pre Hook | Adds customizations as the initial step in the export solution pipeline. | Hooks/export-solution-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Solution Unpack Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the unpack solution process. | Hooks/export-solution-unpack-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Manipulate Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the manipulation of solution files. | Hooks/export-solution-manipulate-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Update deployment settings Pre Hook | Adds customizations before updating the deployment settings. | Hooks/export-solution-update-deploymentsettings-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Solution Commit Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the solution source code is committed to Git. | Hooks/export-solution-commit-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/export-Solution.yml | Export Solution Post Hook | Adds customizations as the final step in the export solution pipeline. | Hooks/export-solution-post-hook.yml |
| Templates/build-Solution.yml | Build Solution Pre Hook | Adds customizations as the initial step in the build solution pipeline. | Hooks/build-solution-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/build-Solution.yml | Manipulate Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the manipulation of solution files. | Hooks/build-solution-manipulate-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/build-Solution.yml | Solution Pack Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the solution is packed from source code. | Hooks/build-solution-pack-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/build-Solution.yml | Build Solution Post Hook | Adds customizations as the final step in the build solution pipeline. | Hooks/build-solution-post-hook.yml |
| Templates/deploy-Solution.yml | Deploy Solution Pre Hook | Adds customizations as the initial step in the deploy solution pipeline. | Hooks/deploy-solution-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/deploy-Solution.yml | Import Solution Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the solution is imported. | Hooks/deploy-solution-import-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/deploy-Solution.yml | Configure Solution Pre Hook | Adds customizations before the configuration of the deployed solution. | Hooks/deploy-solution-configure-pre-hook.yml |
| Templates/deploy-Solution.yml | Deploy Solution Post Hook | Adds customizations as the final step in the build solution pipeline. | Hooks/deploy-solution-post-hook.yml |
Use extension points in the YAML templates
To use the extension points to extend the functionality of the ALM Accelerator pipelines, add your extension to either a custom YAML template in the Hooks/CustomTemplates folder or directly to the YAML file for the extension point you want to use.
The following example uses the Export Solution Pre Hook extension point to customize the template Hooks\CustomTemplates\output-environment-variables.yml in the export-solution.yml pipeline.
Add the following code to the export-solution-pre-hook.yml file:
- template: CustomTemplates/output-environment-variables.yml
The export-solution-pre-hook.yml should look like this:
steps:
- script: echo Export Solution Pre Hook
displayName: 'Export Solution Pre Hook'
enabled: false
- template: CustomTemplates/output-environment-variables.yml
Handle merge conflicts when you upgrade customized pipeline templates
Note
To help you resolve merge conflicts when you upgrade to a new release of the ALM Accelerator pipeline templates, we recommend the Pull Request Merge Conflict extension for Azure DevOps.
If you make any customizations to the ALM Accelerator pipeline templates, you'll have merge conflicts when you upgrade the templates to a new release.
The extension points are implemented in a way that should make it simple to handle merge conflicts if you've used them to customize the pipelines. Keep your changed version of a file in the Hooks folder. When you upgrade to a new release of the ALM Accelerator pipeline templates, accept any additions to the folder.