Explore release gates
Release gates in Azure DevOps provide enhanced control over deployment pipeline initiation and completion, integrating security and governance requirements into automated processes. Gates define mandatory conditions for deployment continuation (pre-deployment gates) or success validation (post-deployment gates).
Release gates streamline traditionally manual processes such as API version deployments that previously required intervention or stakeholder meetings. Gate mechanisms enable stakeholder approvals through automated workflows, significantly reducing time and coordination overhead.
Gates leverage scripts and APIs to automate approval processes through objective, data-driven assessments beyond manual intervention. Automated gate implementations support multiple scenarios:
- Incident and issues management: Gate mechanisms ensure that deployment proceeds only if the required status for work items, incidents, and issues is met. For instance, deployment may be contingent on the absence of software bugs.
- Approval integration with collaboration systems: Integration with platforms like Microsoft Teams or Slack promotes communication with stakeholders for deployment approval, awaiting their response before proceeding.
- Quality validation: Gates can query metrics from tests on build artifacts, such as pass rate or code coverage, and deploy within specified thresholds to maintain quality standards.
- Security scan on artifacts: Gate mechanisms verify completion of security scans, such as anti-virus checks, code signing, and policy validation for build artifacts, ensuring compliance with security requirements before deployment.
- User experience monitoring: Leveraging product telemetry, gates validate that the user experience remains consistent with baseline standards, preventing deployment if regression is detected.
- Change management integration: Gates wait for change management procedures in systems like ServiceNow to conclude before proceeding with deployment.
- Infrastructure health checks: Post-deployment, gates execute monitoring processes and validate infrastructure compliance against predefined rules, ensuring resource utilization and security standards are met.
Approvals and gates provide granular deployment pipeline control through both manual and automated verification processes. Automation accelerates deployments while integrating security measures, governance protocols, and stakeholder approvals into software delivery workflows. Manual approval support enables deployment pausing in environments requiring additional validation before continuation or rejection.