How to Increase/Update Variable Group value using Azure Devops Build Definition?

Solution 1:

You can overwrite/update the value of the variables by using the logging command to set the variables again in Azure Devops Build pipleline:

Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=testvar;]testvalue"

To increase the value dynamically, you need to use the token $(Rev:.r). You can custom the variables based on the $(Build.BuildNumber) or $(Release.ReleaseName)as they will increase the value dynamically...

Just reference this thread to custom the variables:https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/vsts-docs/issues/666#issuecomment-386769445

UPDATE:

If you just want to update the value of the variables which defined in a specific Variable Group, then you can call REST API in build pipeline to achieve that:

PUT https://{account}.visualstudio.com/{ProjectName or ID}/_apis/distributedtask/variablegroups/{Variable Group ID}?api-version=5.0-preview.1

Content-Type: application/json

Request Body:

{"id":2,"type":"Vsts","name":"VG0926","variables":{"TEST0926":{"isSecret":false,"value":"0930"}}}

UPDATE2:

You can write a PowerShell script to call the REST API, then add a PowerShell task to run the script in your build pipeline: (Use the OAuth token to access the REST API)

Below sample for your reference:

$url = "$($env:SYSTEM_TEAMFOUNDATIONCOLLECTIONURI)$env:SYSTEM_TEAMPROJECTID/_apis/distributedtask/variablegroups/{Variable Group ID}?api-version=5.0-preview.1"
Write-Host $url

function CreateJsonBody
{

    $value = @"

{"id":2,"type":"Vsts","name":"VG0926","variables":{"TEST0926":{"isSecret":false,"value":"0930"}}}

"@

 return $value
}

$json = CreateJsonBody


$pipeline = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $url -Method Put -Body $json -ContentType "application/json" -Headers @{
    Authorization = "Bearer $env:SYSTEM_ACCESSTOKEN"
}

Write-Host "New Variable Value:" $pipeline.variables.TEST0926.value

UPDATE3:

Well, tested again, below scripts works for me as well. You can try it, just replace the parameters accordingly:

# Base64-encodes the Personal Access Token (PAT) appropriately
$base64AuthInfo = [Convert]::ToBase64String([Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes(("{0}:{1}" -f "","PAT here")))
$url = "https://dev.azure.com/xxx/Test0924/_apis/distributedtask/variablegroups/1?api-version=5.0-preview.1"

$json = '{"id":1,"type":"Vsts","name":"VG0928","variables":{"TEST0928":{"isSecret":false,"value":"0931"}}}'
$pipeline = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $url -Method Put -Body $json -ContentType "application/json" -Headers @{Authorization=("Basic {0}" -f $base64AuthInfo)}
Write-Host "New Variable Value:" $pipeline.variables.TEST0928.value 

Solution 2:

I used this task to update the value of my variables inside my group.

Shared variable updater (preview)

Dont forget to set those settings :

1. Requires 'Allow scripts to access the OAuth token' in agent job additional options

2. Set administrator role to 'Project Collection Build Service' in the variable group.

In case of using a YAML pipeline

When using a YAML pipeline, the OAuth token is automatically added (no need for step 1 above), but requires a bit of work to make accessible for the powershell script. Use the guidance here to be able to use the token.