AzureDevOps Duplicate dist folder in pipelines build ? Why?

Question

There is a duplication of a dist folder in the artifacts produced by the AzureDevOps -> Pipelines, the duplication is the /dist folder and also /drop/dist folder. EDIT: Full azure-pipeline.yml file

# Node.js with Angular
# Build a Node.js project that uses Angular.
# Add steps that analyze code, save build artifacts, deploy, and more:
# https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/devops/pipelines/languages/javascript

# Major modification referencing
# https://dev.to/thisdotmedia/continuously-integrating-angular-with-azure-devops-2k9l

trigger:
- master

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- task: NodeTool@0
  inputs:
    versionSpec: '10.x'
  displayName: 'Install Node.js'

# Build angular app area
- script: npm install
  displayName: 'npm install'

- script: npx ng build --prod
  displayName: 'npm build'

# Testing area
- script: npm install puppeteer --save-dev
  displayName: 'Installing puppeteer (Headless browser for testing)'

- script: npx ng test --watch=false --codeCoverage=true
  displayName: 'Running Tests'

- task: PublishTestResults@2
  condition: succeededOrFailed()
  inputs:
    testResultsFormat: 'JUnit'
    testResultsFiles: '**/TEST-*.xml'
  displayName: 'Publish Test Results'

# Publishing items
#   deploy.psl (Powershell script to deploy)
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: 'deploy.ps1'
    ArtifactName: 'drop'
    publishLocation: 'Container'

#   Firebase.json
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1    
  displayName: 'Publish Artifact: Firebase.json'
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: 'firebase.json'
    ArtifactName: 'drop'
    publishLocation: 'Container'

#   App
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    PathtoPublish: 'dist'
    ArtifactName: 'drop/dist'
    publishLocation: 'Container'
  displayName: 'Publish Artifacts'

#   Code Coverage Results
- task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@1
  condition: succeededOrFailed()
  inputs:
    codeCoverageTool: 'Cobertura'
    summaryFileLocation: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/coverage/ng-azure-devops/cobertura-coverage.xml'
  displayName: 'Publish Code Coverage Results'

- script: npx ng lint
  displayName: 'Code Analysis'

I've tried the using 'drop' as the ArtifactName, which will NOT produce a duplicate folder artifact anywhere. I am very confused on why 'drop/dist' will produce another '/dist' artifact

Answer 1

AzureDevOps Duplicate dist folder in pipelines build ? Why?

I could reproduce this issue on my side.

When we use the publish the artifacts dist folder with ArtifactName: drop/dist, Azure Devops will create a new folder drop first, then publish the artifacts dist folder to that folder drop.

You can get this message from the build log:

Upload '/home/vsts/work/1/s/dist' to file container: '#/3620698/drop/dist'

However, the drop folder is already present by default. When we publish the dist folder with with ArtifactName: drop/dist, there are two drop folder, then Azure devops will publish dist folder to those two drop folders:

In order to understand this problem more clearly, you could disable the Multi-stage pipelines in the Preview features, then you will get the output:

Obviously, there are two drop folders here, that is the reason why you get the Duplicate dist folder in pipelines build.

So, to resolve this issue, we could change the ArtifactName: drop/dist to ArtifactName: dropTest/dist:

Now, the duplicate dist folder disappears.

Hope this helps.