How to do local template development for my Cross platform Release notes task

author Richard Fennell calendar Jun 10, 2020 · 3 min read · DevOps DevOps VSTS VSTS  ·
Share on: linkedin copy

The testing cycle for Release Notes Templates can be slow, requiring a build and release cycle. To try to speed this process for users I have created a local test harness that allows the same calls to be made from a development machine as would be made within a build or release.

However, running this is not as simple was you might expect so please read the instruction before proceeding.

Setup and Build

  1. Clone the repo contain the Azure DevOps Extension.

  2. Change to the folder

    _ExtensionsXplatGenerateReleaseNotesV2testconsole

    _

  3. Build the tool using NPM (this does assume Node is already installed)

    _npm install
    npm run build

    _

Running the Tool

The task the testconsole runs takes many parameters, and reads runtime Azure DevOps environment variable. These have to be passing into the local tester. Given the number, and the fact that most probably won't need to be altered, they are provided in settings JSON file. Samples are provided for a build and a release. For details on these parameters see the task documentation

The only values not stored in the JSON files are the PATs required to access the REST API. This reduces the chance of them being copied onto source control by mistake.

Two PATs are potentially used.

  • Azure DevOps PAT (Required) - within a build or release this is automatically picked up. For this tool it must be provided
  • GitHub PAT - this is an optional parameter for the task, you only need to provide it if working with private GitHub repos as your code store. So usually this can be ignored.

Test Template Generation for a Build

To run the tool against a build

  1. In the settings file make sure the TeamFoundationCollectionUri, TeamProject and BuildID are set to the build you wish to run against, and that the ReleaseID is empty.

  2. Run the command

    _node .GenerateReleaseNotesConsoleTester.js build-settings.json <Optional: your GitHub PAT>

    _

  3. Assuming you are using the sample settings you should get an output.md file with your release notes.

Test Template Generation for a Release

To run the tool against a release is but more complex. This is because the logic looks back to see the most recent successful run. So if your release ran to completion you will get no notes as there has been no changes it it is the last successful release.

You have two options

  • Allow a release  to trigger, but cancel it. You can then use its ReleaseID to compare with the last release
  • Add a stage to your release this is skipped, only run on a manual request and use this as the comparison stage to look for difference

To run the tool

  1. In the settings file make sure the TeamFoundationCollectionUri, TeamProject, BuildID, EnvironmentName (as stage in your process), ReleaseID and releaseDefinitionId are set for the release you wish to run against.

  2. Run the command

    _node .GenerateReleaseNotesConsoleTester.js release-settings.json <Optional: yourGitHub PAT>

    _

  3. Assuming you are using the sample settings you should get an output.md file with your release notes.

Hope you find it useful