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Dynamically checkout github repository based on parameter

In some cases, the DevOps team may need to checkout multiple github repositories in the current working directory of the pipeline. By default the pipeline will download the code of the repository where it belongs.

The below pipeline will download a github repository based on a parameter that user provides. In order to accomplish that you will need a service connection with your github account/organization.

Then using the below pipeline you can download a repository with a specific branch by providing the repository name.

trigger:
- main

pool:
  vmImage: ubuntu-latest

parameters:
- name: repoparam
  type: string
  default: reponame
- name: branchparam
  type: string
  default: main

variables:
  - name: repositoryvar
    value: ${{parameters.repoparam}}
  - name: branchvar
    value: ${{parameters.branchparam}}


resources:
  repositories:
    - repository: gitrepo
      type: github
      name: geralexgr/$(repositoryvar)
      ref: $(branchvar)
      endpoint: geralexgr

steps:
- checkout: gitrepo
  displayName: download repository

For example given that I have created a repository geralexgr/terraform-az-lin-win I will provide only the name of it terraform-az-lin-win and the main branch.

When running the pipeline the selected repository will be downloaded into C:agent/work/buildID/s or /home/vsts/work/buildID/s

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Authentication failed. The ‘Authorization’ header is missing – Invoke-WebRequest Azure ARM

While building an automation procedure I had to POST the management API of Azure. 

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/pool/xxx/xxxx/xxxx/xxxx -Method POST

When I used the Invoke-WebRequest without Authentication it failed. The error that you will get when you do not have Authentication headers set can be found below. 

Invoke-WebRequest: {"error":{"code":"AuthenticationFailed","message":"Authentication failed. The 'Authorization' header is missing."}}

In order to authenticate with azure you can get an access-token using az cli.

az account get-access-token

The output will look like the below output:

{
  "accessToken": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxVG-hTDHECYJxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-B5FA9l9RvqOls3iaDDYw5O86acvLIwxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-ixxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx3eoeKlxZfxxxxxxxxxxfGW2O6oA",
  "expiresOn": "2022-05-05 14:51:08.000000",
  "subscription": "a23eef11-f200-4722-866c-248ca45142f6",
  "tenant": "1efa646f-3fc3-4554-bd8c-651879a2b110",
  "tokenType": "Bearer"
}

You should take the output of the token and use it on your call.

For example using POSTMAN you should place your token under the Authorization tab. You will then be able to get the result from Azure ARM api.

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InvalidAuthenticationToken “message”:”The access token is invalid.” – Powershell

The below sample code will make an HTTP call using powershell with Authorization headers. However when you run the code it will fail.

$token =  az account get-access-token | ConvertFrom-Json
$mytoken =  $token.accesstoken
$headers = @{ Authorization = "Bearer $token.accesstoken" }
echo $headers
Invoke-RestMethod -Method Get -Uri "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/xxxxx/resourceGroups/resource-group/providers/Microsoft.Sql/servers/sql-server?api-version=2020-11-01-preview" -Headers $headers -UseBasicParsing

This is an error occuring on powershell as the $token.accesstoken is not correctly parsed. In order to resolve either use a new variable and assign the value on it ($mytoken)

$headers = @{ Authorization = "Bearer $mytoken" }
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Start multiple VMs using parameters with Azure DevOps pipeline

In this article I will explain how one can start multiple VMs on Azure using a pipeline automation. The steps you need to follow:

First create a service connection with your subscription. You should navigate to service connections -> azure resource manager and then select service principal (automatic)

You will then have to select the scope* the subscription or resource group this service connection will access.

In my scenario I added a friendly name of the subscription as Azure Subscription Service Connection

trigger: none
pr: none
parameters:
– name: vms
type: object
default: ["ubuntu1","windows-1"]
pool:
vmImage: ubuntu-latest
jobs:
– job: startvmjob
displayName: Start VMs
steps:
– checkout: none
– ${{ each vm in parameters.vms }}:
– task: AzureCLI@2
displayName: starting vm ${{vm}}
inputs:
azureSubscription: 'Azure Subscription Service Connection'
scriptType: 'pscore'
scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
inlineScript: |
$vmrequest = az vm list | ConvertFrom-Json | Where-Object {$_.Name -Match "${{vm}}"}
az vm start –resource-group $vmrequest.resourcegroup –name $vmrequest.name
view raw start-vms-azure-pipeline hosted with ❤ by GitHub

When you run the pipeline you will need to provide the VM names. You can also run this pipeline on a schedule using a cron task. My vms are ubuntu1, windows-1

By running the pipeline

Then by navigating on Azure you can notice the VM as started.

Video tutorial on YouTube: