Integration Module for Azure DevOps and TFS

Integrating with Azure DevOps and Microsoft TFS directly via PowerShell requires you to knowupfront exactly what Projects, Work Item Types, Field names and Field values you want to interact with before you can start configuring your Azure DevOps or TFS API calls.

The Integration Module for Azure DevOps provides a set of ready built activities for integrating with Azure DevOps (formerly known as Visual Studio Team Services) or Microsoft Team Foundation Services (TFS) from within Azure Automation and the Kelverion Runbook Studio. These are forms driven activities which allow you to define interactions with Azure DevOps or TFS without having to write any PowerShell code.

When the Integration Module is used from within the Runbook Studio you also get the benefit of the Smart Discovery. You create a Smart Connection to an Azure DevOps or TFS instance and the IM will query Instance to find out all the Projects and Work Item Types in that Instance and presents you a list of the available Work Items. You then select a Work Item and the IM will automatically configure itself to show all the Fields in the Work Item as a Parameter for the command and the preconfigured value for the Fields where appropriate.

This means you don’t need to be an expert on the Azure DevOps or TFS configuration before you can interact with it because the IM will tell you how the system is configured and then you just configure the activity to achieve the interaction you require.

For example if you want to get a Work Item from Azure DevOps you often what to limit the Work Items selected to those where the contents of a fields equals a given value. In the IM activity fo Get-DevOpsWorkItem there is a filter option and the IM immediately presents you with a list of the fields in the Work Item you selected to set your filter criteria against.

When done from within the Runbook Studio this is all achieved without writing any PowerShell script.

The Key capabilities added to your Runbook Studio solution include:

• Automatically builds and executes the necessary Azure DevOps and Microsoft TFS interactions without the user having to write or understand PowerShell
• Simplifies Runbook design by automatically mapping Work Item fields to input properties, filters and published data items
• Prevents errors by controlling access to read-only fields, enforcing mandatory inputs and by providing value browsers for common data types
• Smart Connections establish a reusable link between the Runbook Studio and a specific Azure DevOps or TFS instance. You can create as many Smart Connections as you require, specifying links to multiple Azure DevOps instances. You can also create multiple Smart Connections to the same DevOps or TFS instance to allow for differences in security privileges for different user accounts