TechPrufer
Get started
Microsoft
Microsoft logoMicrosoft · Feature trail

Azure Pipelines Task Extension Bundling

22 posts · Mar 2012 – Jul 2026

What this trail covers

Azure Pipelines task extensions are being optimized for size and download/extraction times. This involves bundling Node.js-based tasks using tools like esbuild to reduce the number of files and overall package size. The goal is to improve agent initialization times, reduce build infrastructure costs, and enhance the efficiency of CI/CD pipelines. This optimization applies to any distributable artifact that repeatedly loads a large node_modules tree. This post details the integration of a new build system for TFS/VSTS that simplifies the process of building ASP.NET web applications, generating web deploy packages, and deploying them to Azure Web Sites. It covers registering Azure subscriptions, creating build definitions using the Azure Website template, and configuring build steps for both single and multiple web site deployments.

All Microsoft trails
  1. Shrinking Azure Pipeline task extensions using esbuildThis post details the implementation of esbuild to bundle Azure Pipelines task extensions, reducing package size from tens of megabytes and thousands of files to three files per task. This optimization resulted in a ~17x faster download and extract time per task (from ~4.5s to ~0.25s) and a ~98% reduction in downloads taking longer than 10 seconds. It also addresses two potential issues: deduplicating stateful shared modules and fixing sibling-asset paths when bundling multiple tasks. The post provides a checklist for publishers to adopt this optimization.
  2. Azure Pipelines deprecated tasks retirement scheduleThis post announces the retirement schedule for deprecated Azure Pipelines tasks, including ApacheJMeterLoadTest@1, AppCenterDistribute@1/2, AzureMonitor@0, Chef@1, ChefKnife@1, CloudLoadTest@1, CondaEnvironment@1, DeployVisualStudioTestAgent@2, DotNetCoreInstaller@1, DownloadPackage@0, IISWebAppDeployment@1, NuGet@0, NuGetInstaller@0, NuGetPackager@0, NuGetPublisher@0, NuGetRestore@1, QuickPerfTest@1, SqlServerDacpacDeployment@1, and XamarinTestCloud@1. It provides guidance on updating pipelines to newer tasks and details the schedule for task failures in Azure DevOps Service, with a note about future retirement in Azure DevOps Server. A temporary workaround using `continueOnError: true` is also provided.
  3. Node runner update guidance for Azure Pipelines task authorsProvides guidance for Azure Pipelines task authors on updating their Node.js tasks to support Node 16. Details the Node runner lifecycle, upcoming changes to agent feeds, and the call to action for task authors to update their `task.json` to include Node 16 execution targets, optionally retaining older Node versions for backward compatibility. Explains how to configure multiple execution sections in `task.json` for different Node versions and provides resources for upgrading tasks.
  4. Automating Azure Static Web Apps in Azure PipelinesThis post introduces a method to automate the retrieval and update of Azure Static Web Apps deployment tokens within Azure Pipelines. It leverages a PowerShell script to pull the latest deployment token from the Azure portal and update the pipeline variables, thereby removing the manual copy-paste step and enabling automated token rotation for enhanced security and to prevent downtime.
  5. Building Your First GitHub ActionDetails the process of building a GitHub Action using TypeScript to upload files to Azure Blob Storage. Covers designing the action's inputs and outputs, using the `@azure/storage-blob` and `@azure/identity` SDKs for Azure interaction, and leveraging the `glob` npm package for file path matching. Also outlines the steps for publishing the action to GitHub Marketplace and integrating it with the `azure/login` action for authentication.
  7. Replacing "View YAML"The "View YAML" feature in Azure Pipelines has been replaced with a more robust, platform-implemented version. This new version ensures greater correctness by reusing existing Classic and YAML pipeline infrastructure and employing a rigorous testing strategy that compares runtime plans of converted pipelines. It expands feature coverage to include multi-job pipelines, detailed task and input handling, and various trigger/scheduling options, while noting limitations in variable shadowing and timezone translation for cron schedules. The post also highlights the Task Assistant in the YAML editor as a tool for users who previously relied on "View YAML" for visual editing.
  8. Support for large test attachments now available in Azure PipelinesThis post announces the increased support for test attachments in Azure Pipelines, allowing files larger than 100MB. It also provides specific instructions for users with self-hosted agents behind firewalls to update their firewall rules to allow outbound requests to `https://*.vstmrblob.vsassets.io` to avoid 403 or 407 errors.
  9. Caching and faster artifacts in Azure PipelinesIntroduces pipeline caching via the `CacheBeta` task, allowing files to be cached based on a key derived from file contents or strings. Also introduces pipeline artifacts using `publish` and `download` YAML shortcuts for moving files between jobs and stages, with intelligent deduplication of content.
  10. Create a CI/CD pipeline for your Azure IoT Edge solution with Azure PipelinesIntroduced the Azure IoT Edge task for Azure Pipelines, enabling CI/CD for Azure IoT Edge solutions. This task includes capabilities for building and pushing module images to container registries, and deploying these modules to IoT Edge devices via Azure IoT Hub. It supports multi-platform builds (e.g., amd64, arm32v7) by allowing the use of build agents on different platforms and leverages Azure release pipeline stages for managing different deployment environments (QA/Production).
  11. Chef brings Habitat to VSTS, and Agile Extensions makes editing your backlog a breezeThis post introduces two new extensions for Azure DevOps: Chef's Habitat integration and Agile Extensions' Backlog Essentials. The Habitat extension adds 7 build and release tasks for working with Habitat, including installing Habitat, signing origin keys, building Habitat packages, installing/uploading/exporting packages, and tagging Docker images. The Backlog Essentials extension enhances the Azure Boards backlog experience with quick editing of fields such as tags, story points, effort, business value, description, acceptance criteria, repro steps, system info for bugs, and parent work items.
  12. Team Services January Extensions RoundupThis post introduces two new trending extensions for Azure Pipelines: 'Yarn' and 'Microsoft Azure Build and Release Tasks'. The 'Yarn' extension adds a new Build & Release task to execute Yarn commands with configurable parameters, potentially saving time in the build process. The 'Microsoft Azure Build and Release Tasks' extension offers a collection of tasks for managing Azure resources, including swapping deployment slots, starting/stopping Azure Web Apps, executing SQL queries, restoring Azure SQL Databases, performing incremental SQL database deployments, and using AzCopy for blob storage.
  13. Team Services September Extensions Roundup - App Stores!This post introduces and details extensions for automating app store releases for Windows Store, Apple App Store, and Google Play. For the Apple App Store, it describes tasks for releasing updates to TestFlight beta apps or production apps, and promoting submitted apps from iTunes Connect to the App Store. For Google Play, it covers releasing new Android app versions, promoting updates between tracks (e.g., alpha to beta), and increasing the rollout percentage of previous releases. For the Windows Store, it highlights an extension that automates publishing or updating Windows Store applications, supports release flighting, and automatic version revving.
  14. Continuous Delivery of iOS Applications with Visual Studio Team ServicesIntroduced an Apple App Store extension for Azure Pipelines/TFS that enables deployment of iOS applications to the Apple App Store. This extension leverages Fastlane for build/release tasks, including uploading builds to TestFlight, submitting apps with metadata and screenshots to iTunes Connect, and submitting apps for review. It also provides a service endpoint for managing Apple App Store/iTunes Connect credentials. The extension is open source and available on GitHub.
  15. Create Archives in Team Services Builds and ReleasesIntroduced the 'Archive Files' build task for Azure Pipelines (Team Services and TFS). This task is cross-platform and uses native zip, tar, and 7-Zip (bundled on Windows, pre-installed on Mac/Linux). It supports creating 7z, zip, wim, tar, tar.gz, tar.bz2, and tar.xz files. The task is open-sourced.
  16. A New Team Services build task to easily extract filesIntroduced a new cross-platform build task, 'Extract Files', for Team Services and Team Foundation Server. This task simplifies the extraction of archives during the build process, utilizing native unzip, tar, and 7-Zip on Mac/Linux, and bundled 7-Zip on Windows to support a wide range of archive formats. The task is open-sourced.
  17. Versioning NuGet packages in a continuous delivery world: part 2This post details the current flow of using Release Management to promote NuGet packages from a CI feed to a release feed. It outlines the steps to configure build definitions to copy .nupkg files and set up Release Management with the NuGet Publisher task. The post then introduces the concept of 'descriptors' as a future feature to better express package quality and enable filtered feed views, eliminating the need to re-push packages between feeds. It also discusses two potential strategies for version number selection: automated patch number generation and a re-versioning tool to strip prerelease segments. Finally, it proposes the idea of mutable feeds for staging areas, allowing for package overwrites, while emphasizing the default immutability for public consumption. The post includes calls for feedback on descriptors, version numbering ideas, and the use of mutable feeds.
  18. Versioning NuGet packages in a continuous delivery world: part 1This post introduces a strategy for versioning NuGet packages in a continuous delivery world, addressing the tension between Semantic Versioning (SemVer) and the need for unique version numbers for each CI build. It explains how to use SemVer's prerelease labels to create versioned CI packages (e.g., 1.0.0-ci-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS) and outlines a process using Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) builds with NuGet Packager and Publisher tasks to automate this. It also clarifies that NuGet.org is for released packages, not CI builds.
  19. Deploy artifacts from OnPrem TFS server with Release Management ServiceThis post introduces the capability to consume artifacts from build definitions on an OnPrem TFS Server and deploy applications using the Release management service in Visual Studio Team Services. It outlines the prerequisites, including configuring a release agent on an intermediary machine to act as a bridge between VSTS and the on-prem network. It also details the creation of a service endpoint for the TFS Server using the 'External TFS' type and basic authentication, and the configuration of a release definition with Windows Machine File Copy and Powershell on target machines tasks to deploy artifacts to an on-prem target environment.
  20. PHP Build Task from Cory Fowler’s DevOps PHPWorld PresentationThis post details the creation and integration of a custom build task for Azure Pipelines to package PHP applications using Composer. It outlines the steps for downloading a sample task, installing Node.js and TFX-CLI, logging in with a Personal Access Token (PAT), and uploading the custom task. The post also describes how to create a build pipeline that utilizes this custom task and includes a web performance test to verify deployment success. It emphasizes the need for on-premises agents when specific build tools like PHP and Composer are required on the agent.
  21. Deploying an Azure Web Site using the new build system in Visual Studio OnlineThis post details the integration of a new build system for TFS/VSTS that simplifies the process of building ASP.NET web applications, generating web deploy packages, and deploying them to Azure Web Sites. It covers registering Azure subscriptions, creating build definitions using the Azure Website template, and configuring build steps for both single and multiple web site deployments. The post highlights the use of MSBuild parameters like /p:DeployOnBuild=true and /p:WebPublishMethod=Package to create web deploy packages and specifies how to configure the Azure Web Site Deployment build step to reference these packages.
  22. Various test attachment size reduction features in MTMTFS 11This post announces further investments in reducing test attachment size in Microsoft Test Manager (MTM) 11, building upon previous improvements and the Test Attachment Cleaner tool. It directs readers to another blog post for further details on these improvements.