Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) are essential components of the software development lifecycle. As a SQL Server professional, it is crucial to have a streamlined process for moving code and artifacts from development to production environments. In this article, we will explore how to implement CI/CD for SQL Server using Azure DevOps.

Target Audience

This article is aimed at two types of audiences:

1. Audience Type 1: Those who are using Azure DevOps code repository in SQL Server but do not have CI/CD implemented.
2. Audience Type 2: Those who are using SQL Server for development but have not utilized a DevOps repository and CI/CD.

If you fall into Audience Type 1, you can follow the steps outlined in this article to implement CI/CD. For Audience Type 2, you will first need to connect SQL Server with the DevOps repository by following the instructions in this blog post, and then proceed with the CI/CD setup.

Continuous Integration (CI)

The first step in implementing CI/CD for SQL Server is to log in to the Azure DevOps site from your organization and navigate to the pipelines section. Click on “New pipeline” to create a new pipeline.

Follow these steps to create the pipeline:

1. Choose the appropriate option based on where your code is located. In this example, we will be using the classic editor.
2. Select the repository that you are using in SQL Server and make sure to choose the default branch.
3. Create an empty job and provide the agent pool and agent specification.
4. Save the build pipeline with an appropriate name.

With these steps, the CI process is complete, and you have successfully set up continuous integration for SQL Server.

Continuous Deployment (CD)

The next part of the CI/CD process is continuous deployment, which involves moving the code and artifacts from the development environment to the pre-production and production environments.

To create a release pipeline for continuous deployment, follow these steps:

1. Create a new release pipeline and connect it with the previously created build pipeline.
2. Add the necessary artifacts to the release pipeline.
3. Create an empty job under the release pipeline.
4. Add an ARM template deployment task to create or update the resources and artifacts in SQL Server.
5. Fill in the required information for the ARM template deployment task, such as display name, deployment scope, Azure Resource Manager connection, subscription, action, resource group, location, template, template parameters, and deployment mode.
6. Save the release pipeline.

Once the release pipeline is set up, you can enable continuous deployment by setting up a trigger that automatically runs the pipeline when code is pushed from the master to the publish branch.

To test the CI/CD setup, go to your SQL Server instance, choose the master branch, and click the ‘Publish’ button. The CI/CD process will initiate, and the code for pipelines, linked services, and datasets will move from the development environment to the pre-production and production environments.

Conclusion

In this article, we have explored the step-by-step process of implementing CI/CD for SQL Server using Azure DevOps and ARM templates. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a smooth and efficient deployment process for your SQL Server projects.

It is important to note that in addition to ARM template deployment, there is another ARM template named “Azure Data Factory Deployment (ARM)” that can also be used to implement CI/CD for SQL Server.