Passing output variable, known only at runtime, from job1 to template job2 in an AzureDevOps pipeline

Question

I have an azure devops pipeline that has a job template.

I need to pass a variable from a previous job into the job template.

Within a job you can export a variable:

echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar1]test"

Across jobs you can set a flag, and import it inside variables in the next job:

    variables:
      var1: $[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]

echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar2;isOutput=true]test2"

However, when using a template this does not work, since you cannot pass a variable block to the template

Is there a simple way to pass an output variable (that is only known at run time) from job1 to job2 when job2 is a template?

---

---

Full example:

• primary pipeline:

# ################################################################
# Update the network packages

# Push new network JSON to Topdesk
# Triggers whenever connectivityJSON is updated in main branch
# ################################################################

name: testing-passing-vars

trigger: none

stages:
- stage: stage1
  jobs:
  - job: job1
    steps:
    - checkout: self

    # set a variable
    - script: |
        echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar1]test"
        echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar2;isoutput=true]test2"
      name: setvars
      displayName: 'set vars'

    - script: |
        echo "within a job local var is available"
        echo runtimevar1: $(runtimevar1) # this works
        echo runtimevar2: $(runtimevar2) # this does not work
      displayName: echovars

  - job: job2
    dependsOn: job1
    variables:
      var2: "$[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]"
    steps:
    - checkout: self

    - script: |
        echo "between jobs only the explicitely exported var is available and using the dependencies keyword in variable block op job"
        # echo runtimevar1: $(runtimevar1) # this will not work
        echo "var2: $(var2)" # this works
      displayName: echovars

  # this does not work
  - template: ./templates/jobs/test-job.yaml
    parameters:
      var1: "$[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]"
      var2: "empty"
      dependson: job1
   
  # # this is not allowed
  # - template: ./templates/jobs/test-job-variables-template.yaml
  #   variables:
  #     var2: $[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]
  #   parameters:
  #     var1: $(var2)
  #     var2: "empty"

• template inside "templates/jobs/test-job.yaml"

parameters:
  - name: var1
    type: string

  - name: var2
    type: string

  - name: dependson
    type: string

jobs:
  - job: testjob
    displayName: testjob-template1
    dependsOn: ${{ parameters.dependson }}
    variables:
      - name: localvar1
        value: "localvar"
      - name: remotevar
        value: "$[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]"

    steps:
    - checkout: self

    - script: |
        echo param1 var1 ${{ parameters.var1 }}
        echo param2 var2 ${{ parameters.var2 }}
        echo local var ${{ variables.localvar1 }}
        echo remote var ${{ variables.remotevar }}
      displayName: 'echo vars'

Answer 1

You can't pass output variables via parameters. Parameters need to be given in advance, can't be the runtime produced.

But you can define the variable in template jobs using $[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ] as in your sample code, and then use it echo remote var $(remotevar) instead of ${{ variables.remotevar }}

I think you are following the right approach, but some errors occurred when using variables

Here is your sample code with some minor modifications.

main.yml

stages:
- stage: stage1
  jobs:
  - job: job1
    steps:
    # set a variable
    - script: |
        echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar1]test"
        echo "##vso[task.setvariable variable=runtimevar2;isoutput=true]test2"
      name: setvars
      displayName: 'set vars'

    - script: |
        echo runtimevar1: $(runtimevar1)
        echo runtimevar2: $(setvars.runtimevar2)
      displayName: echovars

  - job: job2
    dependsOn: job1
    variables:
      var2: $[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]
    steps:
    - script: |
        echo "var2: $(var2)"
      displayName: echovars

  # this does not work
  - template: ./test-job.yaml
    parameters:
      var1: "hello world"

test-job.yml

parameters:
- name: var1
  type: string

jobs:
- job: testjob
  displayName: testjob-template1
  dependsOn: job1
  variables:
  - name: remotevar
    value: $[ dependencies.job1.outputs['setvars.runtimevar2'] ]

  steps:
  # Get the Azure credentials for this environment
  - script: |
      echo param1 var1 ${{ parameters.var1 }}
      echo remote var $(remotevar)
    displayName: 'echo vars'

Please note the relative path of my file