ARM DependsOn
ARM template syntax related to dependency relations: use function resourceId with separate parameters for servicebus, topic and subscription name, not one parameter with a nested reference.
Asynchronuous Processing
This post tries to clarify the concept of asynchronuous processing. Nothing new, but quite complex. Also discusses the way to execute multiple tasks asynchronuously and a short explanation of Parallel.ForEach.
Outlook Add-In FindTime
Let’s say, you don’t know upfront what’s a convenient meeting time for all attendees. In that case you can add an add-in named FindTime to Outlook. When you create a new mail, a button New Meeting Poll will automatically be added to the toolbar.
Approvals in a YAML pipeline
Pre-deployment approvals can’t be configured in your YAML pipeline directly, but must be added via DevOps menu Pipelines/Environments.
Secret Environment Variables in a YAML pipeline
Environment variables and pre-deployment approvals can’t be created in a YAML pipeline, but obviously they still can be used in Azure DevOps using variable groups and via Pipelines/Enviroments.
Using a Storage Account for CICD
We don’t need a CICD storage account for deployment when you perform a single file deployment, so without using an orchestrator. Also, copying to a CICD storage account is not necessary in the build pipeline (ci-tasks.yml).
Powershell script for APIManagementARMTemplateCreator fails
Microsoft announced that the PowerShell Gallery has deprecated Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions 1.0 and 1.1 as of April 2020. This means you suddenly can’t run Install-Module anymore. You will have to run a specific Powershell command to fix the issue:
Expose Azure Function via API Management
When exposing an Azure Function via API Management, the most important thing to remember is that each function has a function key that can be dynamically retrieved via function listsecrets. To make the function deployment work, you will have to add an application Setting AzureWebJobsSecretStorageType=Files to your FunctionApp.
Run Unit Tests via Azure DevOps
Two important unit tests you might want to perform in your Azure project are related to maps and reusable functions. Either use the Microsoft Test Framework or XUnit for .Net Core.
Deal with empty DateTime in XSD and XSLT
For the XML fans among us. How do you validate a datetime field that can be empty? How can you use an XSLT to set a datetimefield to the inout datetime or the current datetime (when empty).