Bicepparam and group variable from library in AzureDevops

[Xyloto91]

What about feature where we can reference variable from group variable inside bicepparam file, something like getSecret() function in bicepparm.

using './main.bicep'

param apiKey = groupVariable('infra-prod', 'api-key')
param endpont = groupVariable('infra-prod', 'endpoint') 

Why this? Because when I use bicepparam file for deployment when I need to use some variable from group variables I need to reference it in overrideParameters. OverrideParameters sometimes can grow so much so it looks so messy in yml pipeline file. It would be great if we can reference group variable in bicepparam file like getSecret() or readEnvironmentVariable() functions.

[johnlokerse]

Hi @Xyloto91, I hope I can answer your question/request.

I don't think this is a good idea to introduce a function like groupVariable() since the function will be too tightly coupled to Azure DevOps services and it won't work for other DevOps platforms. Indirectly variables or group variables are set as environment variables on the Azure Pipeline and can be read from the environment using the readEnvironmentVariable() function. But, be aware of secure (using the lock) entries in your variable group. Secure items cannot be referenced in the readEnvironmentVariable().

I wrote a blog post a while back on this and how it works with variables on the Azure Pipeline: https://johnlokerse.dev/2023/10/02/work-with-environment-variables-in-azure-bicep/

[marsontret]

convertToJson is your friend here.

Based on my experience using Azure Pipelines here's what I would do:

• Create a single azure pipelines template object with keys/values, containing all variable group data using a pipeline parameter. This might be called "varGroupData", for example.
• Pass the object in on the "env:" property of the pipeline step where you will invoke your bicep deployment. NOTE: 1) The name of the env variable MUST match the name that the readEnvironmentVariable() is set to read from. For example you might call the env var "AZ_PIPELINE_VARS"; 2) You must convert the object to JSON using the az pipelines function "convertToJson()", like 'AZ_PIPELINE_VARS: convertToJson(varGroupData)', for instance..
• In your bicepparam file read the az pipelines-created variable and convert it from json into bicep object. For example: var pipelineData = json(readEnvironmentVariable ('AZ_PIPELINE_VARS'))
• Pass data to your params by dereferencing the appropriate property: param dbName = pipelineData.dbName