Build your Azure Cloud Service

TFS 2017 | TFS 2015

Here we'll show you how to define your continuous integration (CI) pipeline for your Azure Cloud Service project.

Get set up

For the instructions in this topic, you need an Azure Cloud Service project in Visual Studio.

Tip

If you don't yet have an app but want to try this out, then see the FAQ below.

Define your CI build pipeline

Create the build pipeline

  1. Open your project in your web browser

    Browse to project

    (If you don't see your project listed on the home page, select Browse.)

    • On-premises TFS: http://{your_server}:8080/tfs/DefaultCollection/{your_project}
    • Azure Pipelines: https://dev.azure.com/{your_organization}/{your_project}

    The TFS URL doesn't work for me. How can I get the correct URL?

  2. Create a build pipeline (Pipelines tab > Builds)

    Build tab

  3. Select the Azure Cloud Service template.
  4. As the repository source, select the project, repository, and branch.
  5. Remove the Azure Cloud Service Deployment task from the build pipeline, since you will be deploying the cloud service later through a release pipeline.

Enable continuous integration (CI)

On the Triggers tab, enable continuous integration (CI). This tells the system to queue a build whenever someone on your team commits or checks in new code.

Queue and test the build

Save the build pipeline and queue a new build by selecting the Queue new build command. Once the build is done, click Artifacts and then Explore to see the cloud service package (.cspkg file) produced by the build. This is the package that your release pipeline will consume to deploy your app.

Deploy your app

After you've run the build, you're ready to create a release pipeline to deploy your app to:

FAQ

How do I create an Azure Cloud Service solution?

  1. In Visual Studio, connect to your project.

  2. On the Team Explorer home page (Keyboard: Ctrl + 0, H), under Solutions, click New.

  3. Select the Cloud templates section, and then choose the Azure Cloud Service template.

  4. When prompted for the roles in the cloud service, choose the ASP.NET Web role to the project.

  5. When prompted for the type of ASP.NET project for the Web role, choose the MVC project.

  6. Commit and push (Git) or check in (TFVC) your code.