How can I set the EnvironmentName for XML transformation during a deployment job?

Question

Alright folks, giving Azure multi-stage-pipelines feature a go and not having much luck getting xml transformations using a deployment job to work.

Update: This is not using the Classic Deploy/Release UI in Azure DevOps

What I've done so far:

remove transformations from the build process. Attempting to build once and deploy everywhere
verified that the web.{stage}.config files are included in the webdeploy package by removing node in csproj
Set up stage with name of 'Development'

pipeline yaml

trigger:
  batch: false # If batch set to true, when a pipeline is running, the system waits until the run is completed,
  branches:
    include:
    - staging-devops
  paths:
    include:
    - myProject/*
    - API/*

variables:
  BuildConfiguration: 'Release'
  BuildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
  System.Debug: true

stages:
- stage: Build
  displayName: 'Build project'
  jobs:
  - job:
    displayName: 'Build and package client'
    pool:
      vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'
      demands:
      - msbuild
      - visualstudio
    steps:
    - task: VSBuild@1
      displayName: 'Visual Studio build'
      inputs:
        solution: 'myProject/myProject.csproj'
        vsVersion: '15.0'
        msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:AutoParameterizationWebConfigConnectionStrings=False /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\"'
        platform: 'AnyCPU'
        configuration: 'Release'
    - task: PublishPipelineArtifact@1
      inputs:
        targetPath: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
        artifactName: 'myProject-web-client'
  - job:
    displayName: 'Build and package API'
    pool:
      vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'
      demands:
      - msbuild
      - visualstudio
    steps:
    # add caching of nuget packages
    - task: NuGetToolInstaller@0
      displayName: 'Use NuGet 4.4.1'
      inputs:
        versionSpec: 4.4.1
    - task: NuGetCommand@2
      displayName: 'NuGet restore'
      inputs:
        restoreSolution: 'API/myAPI.sln'
    - task: VSBuild@1
      displayName: 'Visual Studio build'
      inputs:
        solution: 'API/myAPI.sln'
        vsVersion: '15.0'
        msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:AutoParameterizationWebConfigConnectionStrings=False /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)\\"'
        platform: '$(BuildPlatform)'
        # configuration: '$(BuildConfiguration)'
    - task: PublishPipelineArtifact@1
      inputs:
        targetPath: '$(build.artifactstagingdirectory)'
        artifactName: 'myProject-api'

- stage: Development
  displayName: 'Development'
  dependsOn: Build
  condition: succeeded('Build') #add check if artifact is available
  jobs:
  - deployment: DeploymyProjectClient
    displayName: 'Deploy web client'
    timeoutInMinutes: 30
    pool:
      vmImage: "windows-latest"
    environment:
      name:  Staging
      resourceType: VirtualMachine
      tags: web
    strategy:
      runOnce:
        deploy:
          steps:
            - task: IISWebAppDeploymentOnMachineGroup@0
              displayName: 'Deploy web application (myProject)'
              inputs:
                webSiteName: myProjectDev
                package: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/myProject-web-client/**/*.zip'
                removeAdditionalFilesFlag: true
  - deployment: Development
    displayName: 'Development'
    timeoutInMinutes: 30
    pool:
      vmImage: "windows-latest"
    environment:
      name:  Staging
      resourceType: VirtualMachine
      tags: web
    strategy:
      runOnce:
        deploy:
          steps:
          - task: IISWebAppDeploymentOnMachineGroup@0
            displayName: Development
            inputs:
              webSiteName: 'WebAPI-Test'
              package: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/myProject-api/**/*.zip'
              xmlTransformation: true

I've tried variations of the stage name, displayname, deployment name, etc still can't get the transformation for the Development stage to fire.

I do get the web.config and web.release.config to work but that is it.

2020-05-02T05:26:04.9272125Z ##[debug]adjustedPattern: 'C:\azagent\A2\_work\_temp\temp_web_package_8799433796999105\**/*.config'
2020-05-02T05:26:04.9343033Z ##[debug]9 matches
2020-05-02T05:26:04.9345300Z ##[debug]9 final results
2020-05-02T05:26:04.9351908Z ##[debug]Applying XDT Transformation : C:\azagent\A2\_work\_temp\temp_web_package_8799433796999105\Content\D_C\a\1\s\API\obj\Debug\Package\PackageTmp\Web.Release.config -> C:\azagent\A2\_work\_temp\temp_web_package_8799433796999105\Content\D_C\a\1\s\API\obj\Debug\Package\PackageTmp\Web.config

When reviewing the log file for deployment I do see the following

##[debug]Release.EnvironmentName=undefined

How can I set the stage name properly in order for the transformations to be applied during deployment??

Leo Liu-MSFT Leo Liu-MSFT · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-04T07:07:41

How can I set the EnvironmentName for XML transformation during a deployment job?

This is known issue that has already been reported to product team.

As workaround, you could try to set the variable Release.EnvironmentName on the stage-level and on the job-level:

- stage: Development
  displayName: 'Development'
  dependsOn: Build
  condition: succeeded('Build') #add check if artifact is available
  variables:
    Release.EnvironmentName: Development
  jobs:

Then, the environment-specific config transformation was triggered.

Hope this helps.

How can I set the EnvironmentName for XML transformation during a deployment job?

2 Answers