Describe Azure DevOps release pipeline capabilities
Azure DevOps has extended support for pipelines as code (also called YAML pipelines) for continuous deployment and started introducing various release management capabilities into pipelines as code.
The existing UI-based release management solution in Azure DevOps is referred to as classic release.
You'll find a list of capabilities and availability in YAML pipelines vs. classic build and release pipelines in the following table.
| Feature | YAML | Classic Build | Classic Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agents | Yes | Yes | Yes | Specifies a required resource on which the pipeline runs. |
| Approvals | Yes | No | Yes | Defines a set of validations required before completing a deployment stage. |
| Artifacts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Supports publishing or consuming different package types. |
| Caching | Yes | Yes | No | Reduces build time by allowing outputs or downloaded dependencies from one run to be reused in later runs. In Preview, available with Azure Pipelines only. |
| Conditions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Specifies conditions to be met before running a job. |
| Container jobs | Yes | No | No | Specifies jobs to run in a container. |
| Demands | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ensures pipeline requirements are met before running a pipeline stage. Requires self-hosted agents. |
| Dependencies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Specifies a requirement that must be met to run the next job or stage. |
| Deployment groups | Yes | No | Yes | Defines a logical set of deployment target machines. |
| Deployment group jobs | No | No | Yes | Specifies a job to release to a deployment group. |
| Deployment jobs | Yes | No | No | Defines the deployment steps. Requires Multi-stage pipelines experience. |
| Environment | Yes | No | No | Represents a collection of resources targeted for deployment. Available with Azure Pipelines only. |
| Gates | No | No | Yes | Supports automatic collection and evaluation of external health signals before completing a release stage. Available with Azure Pipelines only. |
| Jobs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Defines the execution sequence of a set of steps. |
| Service connections | Yes | Yes | Yes | Enables a connection to a remote service that is required to execute tasks in a job. |
| Service containers | Yes | No | No | Enables you to manage the lifecycle of a containerized service. |
| Stages | Yes | No | Yes | Organizes jobs within a pipeline. |
| Task groups | No | Yes | Yes | Encapsulates a sequence of tasks into a single reusable task. If using YAML, see templates. |
| Tasks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Defines the building blocks that make up a pipeline. |
| Templates | Yes | No | No | Defines reusable content, logic, and parameters. |
| Triggers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Defines the event that causes a pipeline to run. |
| Variables | Yes | Yes | Yes | Represents a value to be replaced by data to pass to the pipeline. |
| Variable groups | Yes | Yes | Yes | Use to store values that you want to control and make available across multiple pipelines. |