azure-pipelines-tasks: Variable replacement not working in 'jobs' the same as 'deployment' jobs.

We had the same issue. And we solved using the workaround moving the variable group to the top level with a conditional as suggested by @Zachery2008

I found a solution. You can save the acr connection as a variable in a variable group. And if you want to choose different variable groups depending on some conditions, you can do it at the top level. So the containerRegistry will treat it correctly. For example,

trigger:
- master

variables:
  # Agent VM image name
  - name: vmImageName
    value: ubuntu-latest
  - name: imageRepository
    value: xxx
  - name: dockerfilePath
    value: xxx
  - name: buildContextPath
    value: xxx
  - ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/master') }}:
    - group: abc123
  - ${{ if eq(variables['Build.SourceBranch'], 'refs/heads/prod') }}:
    - group: xyz456

Has there been any update on this or a workaround @richatcosta?

having exactly the same setup as @richatcosta. Also looking for advice on how do deal with it.

I figured out a way how to use different variable groups for different stages, even if the variable groups share the same variable names (with different values). I still don’t understand why Microsoft hasn’t fixed this…

main.yaml:

variables:
- group: VARIABLE_GROUP_A
- group: VARIABLE_GROUP_B

stages:
- stage: BUILD_DEPLOY_GROUP_A
  displayName: 'Build/Deploy A'
  variables:
  - group: VARIABLE_GROUP_A

jobs:
  - template: deploy-environment.yml
    parameters:
      environment: GROUP_A

- stage: BUILD_DEPLOY_GROUP_B
  displayName: 'Build/Deploy B'
  variables:
  - group: VARIABLE_GROUP_B

jobs:
  - template: deploy-environment.yml
    parameters:
      environment: GROUP_B

deploy-environment.yaml:

parameters:
- name: environment
  type: string
  default: ""

jobs:
- deployment: Deploy
  pool:
    vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
  environment: ${{ parameters.environment }}

  strategy:
    runOnce:
      deploy:
        steps:
...
Now you are able to use the variables from selected variable group from main.yaml.

Somehow different variable groups only work with attribute “- deployment” within jobs. Don’t ask me why. As a workaround I used “- deployment” also for my build steps.

Microsoft should offer different variable groups for different stages…

Hopefully this helps somebody.

@channeladam I am not working on Azure DevOps anymore. I will let other team members help you with this issue if it is still continuing.

If I remember correctly it worked for me when using the syntax ${{ variables['NameOfVariable.WithDotNotation'] }}

Please see Runtime expression syntax, $(var) is processed runtime before a task executes, but the service connection is checked before that.

Sometimes moving the variable group top level is not ideal, as the connection might be different per stage.

Good luck!

Thank you @spasal . That helped

If I remember correctly it worked for me when using the syntax ${{ variables['NameOfVariable.WithDotNotation'] }}

Please see Runtime expression syntax, $(var) is processed runtime before a task executes, but the service connection is checked before that.

Sometimes moving the variable group top level is not ideal, as the connection might be different per stage.

Good luck!

This still appears to be an issue - and as per the comment from @sonnehansen it is an issue when wanting to use a (dynamically-selected) variable group in a template (or variable template etc):

release-pipeline.yml file:

stages:
- stage: UAT
  jobs:
  - template: build-template.yml@pipelineTemplates
    parameters:
      variable_group: my-uat-vg

build-template.yml file:

parameters:
- name: variable_group
  type: string    

jobs:
  variables:
  - group: ${{ parameters.variable_group }}
  - name: something_else
    value: 'value here'

  strategy:
    runOnce:
      deploy:
        steps:
...

Attempting to refer to a variable in the variable group as part of the steps results in the errors posted earlier eg “references $(foo) which was not found”

@ds-ms @zachariahcox it would be good to get an update from Microsoft on this - if any fix is planned etc. Or if not, what the recommended workaround is, and official documentation around this if possible.

Thank you all for the investigation 😃

An identical issue occurs for variables from a template in a jobs section (and works for deployment type):

jobs:
- job: build_and_push_image  
  variables:
    - template: variables.yml@repo
  steps:
...
   - task: Docker@1
      displayName: 'Build Docker Image'
      inputs:
        containerregistrytype: 'Azure Container Registry'
        azureSubscriptionEndpoint: $(ACRSubscriptionEndpoint)
        azureContainerRegistry: $(ACR)
        command: 'Build an image'
        dockerFile: 'Dockerfile'
        imageName: '$(ACR)/$(ImageName):$(Build.BuildNumber)'

• Inside jobs the variables $(ACR) and $(ACRSubscriptionEndpoint) does not resolve (but imageName does):
• Moving template: variables.yml@repo to the top level it works, as reported by @btnguyen2k.

@ds-ms: It has been a while since there was any activity here. Can you confirm if MS will fix the issue because it is a bug, or we must settle for the (top level) work-around?