Configure and manage self-hosted agents, including virtual machine (VM) templates and containerization

In Microsoft DevOps Solutions, the use of self-hosted agents is crucial for configuring and managing your development and deployment processes. Self-hosted agents provide a flexible and scalable solution to run build and release jobs on your own infrastructure. This article will guide you through the process of configuring and managing self-hosted agents, including virtual machine (VM) templates and containerization.

Self-hosted agents offer several benefits over Microsoft-hosted agents. They allow you to customize the agent environment to meet your specific needs and requirements. By using VM templates or containerization, you can easily provision new agents and ensure consistent configurations across them.

Configuring Self-Hosted Agents with VM Templates

1. Set up a virtual machine: Create a VM using your preferred virtualization platform. Ensure that the VM meets the system requirements for running the desired agent software, such as having the necessary operating system and dependencies installed.
2. Install and configure agent software: Download and install the agent software package provided by Azure Pipelines or Azure DevOps Server. During the installation process, specify the URL of your Azure DevOps organization or Azure DevOps Server instance, along with your personal access token (PAT) or a service principal for authentication.
3. Configure the agent: Once the agent software is installed, run the configuration script to set up the agent. Provide configuration details such as the agent name, pool to which it belongs, and any additional options like proxy settings. This step connects the agent to your Azure DevOps organization or Azure DevOps Server.
4. Create a VM template: After configuring the initial agent, create a VM template from this base configuration. This template serves as a blueprint for provisioning new agents with the same configuration. Capture the virtual machine image, including the agent software and its configuration.
5. Provision new agents from the template: Use the VM template to provision additional agent machines as needed. This simplifies the process of adding new agents to scale your build and release capacity. Each machine provisioned from the template will have the agent software pre-installed and configured, ready to connect to your Azure DevOps environment.

Managing Self-Hosted Agents with Containerization

1. Set up a container host: Install a container runtime, such as Docker, on a machine that will serve as the host for your self-hosted agent containers. Ensure that the container host meets the system requirements for running containers.
2. Create a container image: Create a Docker image that includes the necessary agent software and its dependencies. You can either start with a base image provided by the agent software documentation or create a custom image that meets your specific needs. Include the agent configuration in the image, specifying the Azure DevOps organization URL and authentication details.
3. Push the image to a container registry: Push the container image to a container registry such as Azure Container Registry or Docker Hub. This step makes the image available for deploying new agent containers.
4. Run agent containers: Use container orchestration tools like Docker Compose or Kubernetes to deploy agent containers from the container image. Specify the necessary environment variables and configuration options during the container deployment process.
5. Scale the agent containers: With containerization, scaling the number of agent containers becomes easier. Use the container orchestration tools to scale up or down the number of containers based on the workload. This allows you to dynamically adjust the build and release capacity as needed.

Conclusion

Configuring and managing self-hosted agents is a critical aspect of designing and implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions. Whether you choose to use VM templates or containerization, both approaches offer flexibility and scalability to meet your development and deployment needs. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can set up self-hosted agents and customize them to fit your requirements.