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Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019
Note
This topic covers classic release pipelines. If you want to create your pipelines using YAML, see Customize your pipeline.
A release is a construct that holds a versioned set of artifacts specified in a CI/CD pipeline. It includes a snapshot of all the information required to carry out all the tasks and actions in the release pipeline, such as stages, tasks, policies such as triggers and approvers, and deployment options. There can be multiple releases from one release pipeline, and information about each one is stored and displayed in Azure Pipelines for the specified retention period.
A deployment is the action of running the tasks for one stage, which can include running automated tests, deploying build artifacts, and whatever other actions are specified for that stage.Initiating a release starts each deployment based on the settings and policies defined in the original release pipeline. There can be multiple deployments of each release even for one stage. When a deployment of a release fails for a stage, you can redeploy the same release to that stage. To redeploy a release, simply navigate to the release you want to deploy and select deploy.
The following diagram shows the relationship between release, release pipelines, and deployments.
Create release pipelines
Releases can be created in several ways:
By using a deployment trigger to create a release every time a new build artifact is available.
By using the Create release button from within your Pipelines > Releases to manually create a release pipeline.
By using the REST API to create a release definition.
Note
If your organization is using a firewall or a proxy server, make sure you allow Azure Artifacts Domain URLs and IP addresses.
Q&A
Q: Why wasn't my deployment triggered?
A: Creating a release pipeline doesn't automatically start a deployment. Here are a few reasons why this might happen:
Deployment Triggers: defined deployment triggers may cause the deployment to pause. This can occur with scheduled triggers or when there's a delay until deployment to another stage is complete.
Queuing Policies: these policies dictate the order of execution and when releases are queued for deployment.
Pre-Deployment Approvals or Gates: specific stages may require pre-deployment approvals or gates, preventing deployment until all defined conditions are met.
