Accelerate Azure DevOps or TFS with JFrog Artifactory and Conan
For some C/C++ developers, working within the structure of continuous integration can be an awkward transition. Running a CI server and the supporting tools to resolve dependencies, share packages, and manage binaries may be unfamiliar, and getting them to work together well can be challenging.
C/C++ Continuous Integration Challenges
Microsoft’s Azure DevOps (formerly known as VSTS) or TFS can be attractive to these developers, providing an environment for coding and building applications that they’re already familiar with. But to integrate this CI server with those tools that help manage builds, may require using shell commands, a manual and complex method that’s prone to mistakes.
That’s why we made theJFrog Artifactory Extension for Azure DevOps and TFSavailable in the Azure marketplace, to provide easy integration of theArtifactory binary repository managerwith those CI development platforms. And in the latest version, the extension now supports Conan tasks that can make it easier to run Conan builds.
Conan Promotes C/C++ in Azure DevOps
Conanis an open source, decentralized and multi-platform package manager for C/C++ developers to create and share native binaries. It can be used withArtifactory as a Conan Package Managerto resolve dependencies and share packages within your organization.
The support for Conan now in theJFrog Artifactory Extensionhelps you perform the following tasks in Azure DevOps or TFS:
- Run Conan commands
- Resolve Conan dependencies from remote Artifactory servers
- Push Conan packages to Artifactory
- Publish BuildInfo metadata
- Import a Conan configuration
This tutorial shows how to add Conan tasks to your Build or Release pipelines through the Artifactory Extension, and push the generated buildinfo metadata to Artifactory where it can be used to track and automate your builds.
Configuring DevOps Azure to use Artifactory with Conan tasks
Before You Start
To configure your builds to use Conan and Artifactory together, first download and install these tools.
Installing Conan
- DownloadandInstallthe Conan version that’s appropriate for your system.
- To use the Conan support provided by the JFrog Artifactory Extension you mustconfigure a self-hosted agentthat will enable Conan builds for your Azure Pipelines environment.
Installing the Artifactory Extension
- Download theJFrog Artifactory Extensionfrom the Visual Studio Marketplace and follow the installation instructions in the Overview.
When completed, proceed to create builds and access buildinfo from within Azure DevOps or TFS.
Steps to Follow
In these steps, you will set up Azure DevOps to use Artifactory and add Conan tasks to your build pipeline. Then you can set up to push the buildinfo from the Conan task to Artifactory.
STEP 1: Configure the Artifactory instance
Once the Artifactory Extension is installed, you must configure Azure DevOps to access the Artifactory instance.
To add Artifactory to Azure DevOps:
- In Azure DevOps, go toProject Settings > Service connections.
- Click+ New service connection显示列表控件,然后选择Artifactory.
- In the resultingUpdate Authentication for Artifactorydialog, enter the required server and credential information, and clickOK.
STEP 2: Add a Conan task
Once your Artifactory connection is configured, you may add Conan tasks to your Build or Release pipelines.
To add a Conan task:
- Go to the PipelineTaskssetup screen.
- In theAdd taskssection, search for “Conan” in the task selection list.
- Select theArtifactory Conantask to add it to your pipeline.
- In the new task, select which Conan command to run.
- Configure the Conan command for the task.
Continue to add Conan tasks as you need for each pipeline.
STEP 3: Configure the Push task buildinfo to Artifactory
When the pipeline containing the Conan task executes, the task log shows all the information about the executed Conan command.
You can configure your Conan task to collect the buildinfo by selecting theCollect buildinfocheckbox when you create the task.
Once collected, the buildinfo can then be pushed as metadata to Artifactory.
To perform this, create anArtifactory Publish Build Infotask to push the metadata to your Artifactory instance.
After you run the pipeline, you will be able to see the build information for the Conan task in Artifactory.
Accelerate with Artifactory
While we’ve focused here on Conan for C/C++ developers,Artifactory Extension for Azure Devops/TFSsupports several other build types as well, such as npm for JavaScript and Maven for Java. The extension lets you capture information about deployed artifacts and resolved dependencies, and automatically collecting environment data associated with your builds that can be fully traced.
Haven’t experienced Artifactory yet? Start yourfree Artifactory trial on Microsoft Azure. Also, be sure to get started withAzure Pipelines for free.
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