Azure DevOps YAML pipeline scheduled run

Question

I have a pipeline that needs to run on a schedule. The pipeline currently has variables for each environment, that look like this:

variables:
- ${{ if eq(parameters.envName, 'Test') }}:
  - name: subscription
    value: testsub
  - name: storage_account
    value: testsa
  - name: other_resource_branch
    value: test
- ${{ if eq(parameters.envName, 'Staging') }}:
  - name: subscription
    value: stagingsub
  - name: storage_account
    value: stagingsa
  - name: other_resource_branch
    value: staging
- ${{ if eq(parameters.envName, 'Prod') }}:
  - name: subscription
    value: prodsub
  - name: storage_account
    value: prodsa
  - name: other_resource_branch
    value: prod

I would like to make schedule for each of these environments, something like this, which would make the pipeline run on a schedule on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday per environment:

schedules:
- cron: '0 0 * * 1'
  displayName: Test schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master
- cron: '0 0 * * 2'
  displayName: Staging schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master
- cron: '0 0 * * 3'
  displayName: Prod schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master

Is there a way to correlate each of these schedules to corresponding variables? As far as I could see in the ADO documentation, there is no official way, but is there maybe a workaround?

Answer 1

I am afraid that there is no out-of-box variables can distinguish three schedule triggers.

As far as I could see in the ADO documentation, there is no official way, but is there maybe a workaround?

Yes. You can refer to the following workarounds:

1.You can split the Pipeline into 3 separate pipelines based on schedule trigger date.

In this case, you can set the corresponding variables for each pipeline.

When the Pipelines are triggered by the corresponding schedule trigger, the variables will be set as expected.

2.If you need to keep the environments in the same pipeline, you can add an additional stage to check the schedule trigger date.

Then we can set the Pipeline variable and pass it to the next stages to confirm which environment should be run.

Here is an example:

schedules:
- cron: '0 0 * * 1'
  displayName: Test schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master
- cron: '0 0 * * 2'
  displayName: Staging schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master
- cron: '0 0 * * 3'
  displayName: Prod schedule
  branches:
    include:
    - master

stages:
- stage: CheckDate
  jobs:
  - job: CheckDate
    pool: 
      vmImage: windows-latest
    steps:
    - powershell: |
        $Time = Get-Date
        $Dayofweek = $Time.ToUniversalTime().DayOfWeek
        echo $Dayofweek
        #noted the time here is UTC time, please change the time value accordingly 
        if($Dayofweek -eq "Wednesday"){
          echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=envName;isOutput=true]Prod"
        }
        if($Dayofweek -eq "Monday"){
          echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=envName;isOutput=true]Test"
        }
        if($Dayofweek -eq "Tuesday"){
          echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=envName;isOutput=true]Staging"
        }      
      name: CheckDate
   
    - script:  echo $(CheckDate.envName)

- stage: RunPipeline
  variables:
    - name: 'envName'
      value: $[stageDependencies.CheckDate.CheckDate.outputs['CheckDate.envName']]
    
  jobs:
  - job: Prod
    condition: eq(variables['envName'], 'Prod')
    variables:
    - name: subscription
      value: testsub
    - name: storage_account
      value: testsa
    - name: other_resource_branch
      value: test
    steps:
      - script: echo $(envName)

  - job: Test
    condition: eq(variables['envName'], 'Test')
    variables:
    - name: subscription
      value: testsub
    - name: storage_account
      value: testsa
    - name: other_resource_branch
      value: test
    steps:
      - script: echo $(envName)

  - job: Staging
    condition: eq(variables['envName'], 'Staging')
    variables:
    - name: subscription
      value: testsub
    - name: storage_account
      value: testsa
    - name: other_resource_branch
      value: test
    steps:
      - script: echo $(envName)

Result: Today is Wednesday.

For more detailed info, you can refer to the doc about Cross Stages variables