What Is Azure DevOps?

Azure DevOps is a set of cloud-based developer services that enable teams to plan work, collaborate on code, build, test, and deploy applications. It includes:

🔧 Azure Repos – Git repositories and pull requests

🚀 Azure Pipelines – CI/CD automation

📋 Azure Boards – Agile planning and tracking

✅ Azure Test Plans – Manual and automated testing

📦 Azure Artifacts – Package management

Why Use Azure DevOps for .NET Projects?

✅ Native support for C#, .NET, ASP.NET Core
✅ Seamless integration with Visual Studio
✅ Hosted build agents with .NET SDK preinstalled
✅ Scalable pipelines for monoliths or microservices
✅ Easy deployment to Azure App Services, AKS, VMs, and more

Setting Up Azure DevOps for .NET Projects

1. Create a New Project

Go to dev.azure.com

Click “New Project” → Add a name → Choose visibility

Select Git for version control

2. Push Your Code to Azure Repos

bash

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git remote add origin https://dev.azure.com/your-org/your-project/_git/repo-name git push -u origin main

Alternatively, push directly via Visual Studio integration.

3. Create a CI/CD Pipeline

Using YAML (Recommended):

.azure-pipelines.yml:

yaml

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trigger:  - main pool:  vmImage: 'windows-latest' variables:  buildConfiguration: 'Release' steps: - task: UseDotNet@2  inputs:    packageType: 'sdk'    version: '7.x.x'    installationPath: $(Agent.ToolsDirectory)/dotnet - script: dotnet build --configuration $(buildConfiguration)  displayName: 'Build project' - script: dotnet test --no-build --verbosity normal  displayName: 'Run tests' 

You can also use the Classic Pipeline Editor for a drag-and-drop approach.

Add Deployment to Azure

Add a task to deploy to Azure App Service:

yaml

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- task: AzureWebApp@1  inputs:    azureSubscription: '<Azure Service Connection>'    appName: '<App Service Name>'    package: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/**/*.zip' 

Or deploy to AKS, Azure VM, or other environments via dedicated tasks.

Integrate with Azure Boards

Use Azure Boards for:

Scrum and Kanban boards

User stories, bugs, and tasks

Work item linking with commits and pull requests

Sprint planning and reporting

You can integrate Azure Boards with GitHub or Jira as well.

Testing and Quality Gates

Run unit tests via dotnet test

Integrate with SonarCloud for code analysis

Add Test Plans or use Playwright/Selenium for UI testing

Use Code Coverage tasks to monitor test completeness

Security and Compliance

Set branch policies and enforce required reviewers

Use Secret Variables and Azure Key Vault to manage credentials

Scan for open-source vulnerabilities with tools like WhiteSource Bolt

Real-World Use Case: CI/CD for ASP.NET Core App

Trigger: On push to main
Build Steps:

Restore NuGet packages

Build in Release mode

Run tests

Publish to a zip file
Deploy:

Push to Azure App Service (dev/staging/prod slots)

Azure DevOps + GitHub = 🔥

You can connect your GitHub repo to Azure Pipelines to combine GitHub version control with Azure CI/CD power.

yaml

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trigger:  branches:    include:      - main pr:  branches:    include:      - main 

Best Practices for .NET DevOps Success

🟢 Use YAML pipelines for versioning and portability
🟢 Automate everything—from build to test to deploy
🟢 Enforce branch protection with pull request policies
🟢 Use stages (build, test, deploy) for structured workflows
🟢 Monitor pipelines with alerts and dashboards
🟢 Deploy using blue-green or canary patterns for safety

Conclusion

Azure DevOps + .NET is a match made in development heaven. From Git-based code collaboration to fully automated CI/CD pipelines and production-ready deployments, Azure DevOps helps .NET teams move faster, with greater confidence and reliability.

At CoDriveIT, we help companies harness the power of Azure DevOps to streamline .NET delivery pipelines, enforce best practices, and deploy confidently to production.

visit our website www.codriveit.com