What is the pool during a deployment job in Azure DevOps?

Question

I am using ubuntu-latest as my build vmImage for building all of my containers in my pipeline. Now I am trying to deploy a previously built container to AKS.

According to the documentation, it is supposed to look like this:

- stage: Deploy
  displayName: Deploy stage
  dependsOn: Build
  jobs:
  - deployment: Deploy
    displayName: Deploy job
    pool:
      vmImage: $(vmImageName)

Unfortunately, there is no description of what the variable $(vmImageName) refers to, and following the steps is no longer possible, since using the visual interface uses Helm, which would confuse me even more.

I am building the container like this:

- job: BuildSQL
  displayName: Build SQL Server Container image
  pool:
    vmImage: "ubuntu-latest"
  steps:
    - task: Docker@2
      displayName: Build an image
      inputs:
        command: buildAndPush
        dockerfile: "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/Code/Database/Docker/Dockerfile"
        arguments: -o $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/xxx.sql.tar
        containerRegistry: $(dockerRegistryServiceConnection)
        repository: his.sql
        tags: |
          $(tag)
    #publish the results of the previous task as manifest to be picked up by the deployment job
    - task: PublishPipelineArtifact@1
      inputs:
        artifactName: 'his.sql.tar'
        path: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)

During the next stage, if want to pick up the artifact and then deploy it:

 - stage: DeploySQL
    displayName: 'Deploy SQL Container to AKS'
    dependsOn: BuildSQL
    jobs:
    - deployment: Deploy
      displayName: Deploy job
      pool:
        vmImage: "ubuntu-latest"
      environment: 'sql-test.default'
      strategy:
        runOnce:
          deploy:
            steps:
            - task: DownloadPipelineArtifact@2
              inputs:
                artifactName: 'manifests'
                downloadPath: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/xxx.sql.tar'

The deployment job then fails with the following error message:

##[error]Pipeline does not have permissions to use the referenced pool(s) . For authorization details, refer to https://aka.ms/yamlauthz.

I am at a loss here and don't know what the pool actually refers to and what to enter there. How can I push this to my provisioned AKS cluster in Azure?

catfood catfood · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-10T17:08:21

I think this might help. If you don't have a strong preference for ubuntu-latest, then don't specify a vmImage at all! Microsoft will supply a private pool with no demands.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/yaml-schema?view=azure-devops&tabs=example%2Cparameter-schema#pool

If you do have specific demands, you can add the demands: line to your 'pool` section.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/process/demands?view=azure-devops&tabs=yaml

What is the pool during a deployment job in Azure DevOps?

2 Answers