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.

Next steps

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