Introduction to Azure DevOps
1 - What is Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps is a suite of cloud services from Microsoft that provides end-to-end tools for software development.
2 - The 5 main services
2.1 Overview
| Service | Description | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Boards | Agile project management | Jira, Trello |
| Azure Repos | Git/TFVC repositories | GitHub, GitLab |
| Azure Pipelines | CI/CD | Jenkins, GitHub Actions |
| Azure Artifacts | Package management | Nexus, JFrog |
| Azure Test Plans | Test management | TestRail |
2.2 Azure Boards
- Work items (Epics, Features, User Stories, Tasks, Bugs)
- Backlogs and sprints
- Kanban boards
- Dashboards and reports
2.3 Azure Repos
- Unlimited Git repositories
- Branch policies and protection
- Pull requests with reviewers
- Code search and navigation
2.4 Azure Pipelines
- Automated build and release
- YAML or visual designer
- Microsoft-hosted or self-hosted agents
- Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS)
2.5 Azure Artifacts
- Private package feeds
- npm, NuGet, Maven, Python, Universal
- Upstream sources
- Retention policies
2.6 Azure Test Plans
- Test cases and test suites
- Manual and exploratory tests
- Integration with pipelines
- Coverage reports
3 - Azure DevOps Server vs Services
| Aspect | Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Microsoft Cloud | On-premises |
| Updates | Automatic | Manual |
| Scalability | Unlimited | Depends on infrastructure |
| Cost | Per user | Server license |
| Offline | No | Yes |
4 - Organization and projects
4.1 Hierarchy
4.2 Create an organization
- Go to dev.azure.com
- Sign in with a Microsoft account
- Create a new organization
- Choose the region (Europe, US, etc.)
4.3 Create a project
# Via Azure CLI
az devops project create \
--name "MonProjet" \
--organization "https://dev.azure.com/MonOrg" \
--process Agile \
--visibility private
5 - Pricing
5.1 Free tier
| Service | Free |
|---|---|
| Azure Repos | Unlimited |
| Azure Boards | 5 users |
| Azure Pipelines | 1 parallel job (1800 min/month) |
| Azure Artifacts | 2 GB |
| Azure Test Plans | Not included |
5.2 Paid plans
| Plan | Price/user/month |
|---|---|
| Basic | ~$6 |
| Basic + Test Plans | ~$52 |
| Stakeholder | Free (read-only) |
5.3 Additional parallel jobs
| Type | Price/month |
|---|---|
| Microsoft-hosted | ~$40/job |
| Self-hosted | ~$15/job |
6 - User interface
6.1 Navigation
Organisation
└── Projet
├── Overview
│ ├── Summary
│ ├── Dashboards
│ └── Wiki
├── Boards
│ ├── Work Items
│ ├── Boards
│ ├── Backlogs
│ └── Sprints
├── Repos
│ ├── Files
│ ├── Commits
│ ├── Pushes
│ ├── Branches
│ └── Pull requests
├── Pipelines
│ ├── Pipelines
│ ├── Environments
│ ├── Releases
│ └── Library
├── Test Plans
└── Artifacts
6.2 Extensions
Azure DevOps supports Marketplace extensions:
- SonarQube
- Slack integration
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- And much more...
7 - Azure CLI for DevOps
7.1 Installation
# Installer Azure CLI
# Windows
winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI
# macOS
brew install azure-cli
# Linux
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash
# Installer l'extension DevOps
az extension add --name azure-devops
7.2 Configuration
# Se connecter
az login
# Configurer l'organisation par défaut
az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/MonOrg
# Configurer le projet par défaut
az devops configure --defaults project=MonProjet
# Vérifier la configuration
az devops configure --list
7.3 Useful commands
# Lister les projets
az devops project list --org https://dev.azure.com/MonOrg
# Créer un repo
az repos create --name mon-repo
# Lister les pipelines
az pipelines list
# Déclencher un pipeline
az pipelines run --name mon-pipeline
Summary
In this chapter, we discovered:
- The 5 services of Azure DevOps
- The difference between Services and Server
- The organization of projects
- Pricing
- The user interface
- The Azure CLI for DevOps
Next step
In the next chapter, we will explore Azure Repos in detail.