README.md

DevOps with Visual Studio Team Services (NodeJS)

Overview

In this lab, you will create a Visual Studio Team Services online account, check in your code, create a Continuous Integration pipeline, and test your cloud-based application.

Objectives

In this hands-on lab, you will learn how to:

• Create a Visual Studio Team Services online account
• Create a VSTS Git repository
• Add your code to the VSTS Git repository
• Create a Continuous Integration pipeline

Prerequisites

The source for the starter app is located in the TODO:ADD REF folder.

Exercises

This hands-on-lab has the following exercises:

• Exercise 1: Create VSTS online account
• Exercise 2: Create VSTS Git repository
• Exercise 3: Add application to VSTS Git
• Exercise 4: Create a Continuous Integration pipeline
• Exercise 5: Deploy code to an Azure Web App

Exercise 1: Create VSTS online account

1. In your browser, browser to https://www.visualstudio.com/team-services/

   

2. Log in with your account

Exercise 2: Create VSTS Git repository

VSTS gives us the option to use Git or TFVC as our project's repository. For this exercise we will use Git, and then clone the repository to our dev machine.

Note that if you acquired these lab materials via a git clone of the workshop repo then you should select a folder somewhere else on your dev machine. This will minimize conflicts between the two separate repositories

1. Starting at your account's landing page, locate the section entitle Recent projects & teams and click New.

   

2. Enter a project name such as DevCamp, ensure Version Control is set to Git and then click Create Project.

   

3. Wait for the project to be created. This process may take up to 60 seconds. When finished select the Navigate to Project button

   

4. Exit out of the Congratulations window and explore your pre-built dashboard. Familiarize yourself with the variety of widgets available, and the customization options.

   

5. Click Code on the top toolbar to navigate to the Code screen. Then click the Generate Git Credentials button to set a user name, alias, and password.

   

6. Next, select the Copy icon to copy the HTTPS URL for the repository.

7. In a console window, navigate to a spot on your dev machine and execute a git clone https://yourrepo.com/DefaultCollection/_git/Repo.git

   

   Depending on your environment setup you may need to authenticate with VSTS

You have now created a project in VSTS with a Git repository, and cloned the repository locally to your developer machine. Next we'll upload code from our machine to VSTS.

Exercise 3: Add application to VSTS Git

1. When we cloned our repository it was empty. Take the code that you have developed in the earlier labs (or the start folder bundled with this readme) and paste it into our new directory. This can be done via the command line, or with good old copy/paste in an Explorer or Finder window.

   

   Depending on how your environment is setup, there may be a hidden folder .git in your orignating directory. Do not copy this folder into the destination directory linked to VSTS

2. Back in the console, execute a git status to ensure the files are picked up by git.

   

3. Execute git add * to track the files, then a git commit -m "initial upload" to commit the files to the repository. Finally, execute git push origin master to push the files up to VSTS.

   

4. In the browser, reload the Code page to see the uploaded code

   

5. Now, any changes you make to the local repository can be pushed up to VSTS. Other team members may also begin interacting with the code base via their own clones and pushes.

Note that we did not include the node_modules or .vscode folders. These components are typically not added to source control, as they bloat the size of the repository. These files should have been excluded from your respository due to settings in the .gitignore file

Exercise 4: Create Continuous Integration pipeline

With application code now uploaded to VSTS, we can begin to create builds via a Build Definition. Navigate to the Build tab from he top navigation. We will use the hosted agent within VSTS to process our builds in this exercise.

1. From the Build tab, create a new Build Definition

   

2. There are prebuilt definitions for a variety of programming languages and application stacks, however for this exercise select Empty and click Next

   

3. Confirm the Repository Source is set to your VSTS Project, that the repository is set the repo that was earlier created, and that the Agent Queue is set to Hosted.

   Check the box next to Contiuous Integration to automatically run this build anytime code is checked into the repository.

   

4. After the empty Build Definition is created, we need to create a series of Build Steps.

   • Verify NodeJS version installed on the build agent by echoing it to the console
   • Restore all package dependencies with npm install
   • Package the code assets into a deployable zip file
   • Publish the zip file as a Publish Artifact that can be consumed by the VSTS Release System

   Each of these steps will begin by clicking the Add build step button

   

5. Add a Build Step for Command Line, found under the left-hand filter for Utility

   

   Configure the step Tool to node and the Argument to -v

   Also click the pencil icon to name this build step to Echo Node Version

   

6. Add a Build Step for npm, found under the left-hand filter for Package

   

   Configure Command for install and name the step Install Dependencies

   

   If you are using devDependencies in your package.json and want to control whether or not they are installed, then pass the --production flag in the Argument field

7. Add a Build Step for Archive

   

   In configuration boxes, we can use variables in addition to string literals. Configure Root Folder to use the directory on the Build Agent that contains our sources files by inserting $(Build.SourcesDirectory).

   For Archive file to create insert $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/archive/$(Build.BuildId).zip. This will dynamically name our zip file of code with the build number.

   Uncheck the box for Prefix root folder name to archive paths to avoid an unnecessary nesting within the .zip file.

   

   You can define your own variables to use throughout the Build and Release pipelines by clicking Variables in the Build Definition's sub-navigation. Also see here for all pre-defined variables available

8. Finally, create a Build Step for Publish Build Artifacts. This step outputs a file(s) from our Build Definition as a special "artifact" that can be used in VSTS' Release Definitions.

   

   Configure Path to Publish as $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/archive/$(Build.BuildId).zip to target the zip file created in the previous Build Step.

   For Artifact Name enter drop

   Set Artifact Type to Server

   

9. Save your Build Definition named BuildApp

   

10. Our saved Build Definition is ready to be processed by the Hosted Build Agent. Click Queue New Build to start the build process.

    

    Accept the defaults and click OK

    

    Your Build will then be queued until the Hosted Build Agent can pick it up for processing. This typically lasts less than 60 seconds to begin.

11. Once your Build completes, click each step on the left navigation bar and inspect the output. For Echo Node Version we can see the agent's version in the right Logs pane

    

12. Let's inspect the output artifacts that were published. Click the Build 213 header in the left pane to view the build's landing page. Then select Artifacts from the horizontal toolbar, and Download the drop artifact.

    

13. Unzip drop.zip to see our files (including the restored node_modules folder). This artifact will be deployed to an Azure Web App in a later exercise.

    

We now have a Build Definition that will construct our NodeJS application and package it for deployment anytime code is checked into the repository, or a manual build is queued.

Exercise 5: Deploy code to an Azure Web App

In the ARM Template that was originally deployed in the lab setup, a web app was created as a development environment to hold a NodeJS application. We will use this web app as a deployment target from VSTS. First, we need to prepare this web app for our application code and then create a Release Definition.

1. Visit the Azure Web App by browsing to the Azure Portal, opening the Resource Group, and select the Azure Web App resource that beings nodejsapp before the random string.

   

   Once the blade expands, select Browse from the top toolbar

   

   A new browser tab will open with a splash screen visible

   

2. We can deploy our code to this Azure Web App, however it was not configured with our AzureAD details. When trying to authenticate, AzureAD would refuse since it does not know about this domain.

   To fix this, return to https://apps.dev.microsoft.com, login, and open your application settings.

   

   In the section for Platforms, click Add Url to add the URL of your Azure Web App from Step 1. Remember to append the /auth/openid/return route at the end, since that is the route that will process the return data from AzureAD. Ensure this address is using https.

   

   Make sure you click Save at the bottom of the screen to add the URL to your AzureAD app.

3. Now that AzureAD is configured, we need to add our AzureAD related environment variables to the Azure Web App. Back in the nodejsapp blade where you hit Browse earlier, open Application Settings from the left navigation.

   

   Find the App Settings section containing a table of settings. In the ARM Template we auto-generated the majority of these settings, however we need to add a few additional environment variables to match the .vscode/launch.json file that we have been using locally.

   • AAD_RETURN_URL should be set to the same URL that we just configured for our AzureAD application. Should be similar to https://nodejsappmm6lqhplzxjp2.azurewebsites.net/auth/openid/return. Ensure this is using https.

   • AAD_CLIENT_ID should match launch.json and similar to 2251bd08-10ff-4ca2-a6a2-ccbf2973c6b6

   • AAD_CLIENT_SECRET should match launch.json and be similar to JjrKfgDyo5peQ4xJa786e8z

   

4. Now that the AzureAD application and the Azure Web App are ready, let's configure VSTS to deploy our built application with a Release Definition. Back in VSTS, select the Build & Release from the top navigation, and click Releases.

   

5. Click the New definition button

   

   Then select the Empty template

   

   Ensure the Source is set to the Build Definition name used in the earlier exercise and that Queue is set to the Hosted option. Then click Create to finish creating the Release Definition

   

6. Click on the Pencil icon next to the Release Definition name and rename it to ReleaseApp. Then click into Environment 1 and name it Dev

   

7. For the newly renamed Dev environment, click Add tasks then from the Deploy tab on the left navigation choose AzureRM App Service Deployment.

   

   Make sure to select the step with RM in the title, as it uses the newer Azure Resource Manager deployment system

8. VSTS needs a connection to a target Azure Subscription. Click Manage to open a new tab holding configuration options.

   

   In the new tab, select New Service Endpoint and from the dropdown choose Azure Resource Manager

   

   The modal window should automatically determinine your subscription information. Provide a name such as Azure, select *OK, and a close the tab.

   

   This pattern is used to connect to a variety of services beyond Azure such as Jenkins, Chef, and Docker

9. Back on the VSTS Build window, in the Build Step we started earlier, click the Refresh icon. The Azure connection that we setup should now appear. Select it.

   

   Next, for App Service Name choose the name of the Node Azure Web App. It may take a moment to populate.

   

10. Save the Release Definition, and Queue a new Build

    

    Select the latest completed Build, and then click Create

    

    Click on the Release 1 link to view details of the release

    

    On the release details screen, click Logs from the top toolbar to get details about each release step and following the release progress

    

    After a successful release you should see the application deployed to your web app

    

Summary

In this hands-on lab, you learned how to:

• Create a Visual Studio Team Services online account
• Create a VSTS Git repository
• Add your code to the VSTS Git repository
• Create a Continuous Integration pipeline
• Deploy a built application to an Azure Web App from VSTS

Copyright 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Except where otherwise noted, these materials are licensed under the terms of the MIT License. You may use them according to the license as is most appropriate for your project. The terms of this license can be found at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.