CI/CD Essentials for SSIS Developers

Aug 6, 2024

Azure DevOps and CI/CD for SSIS Presentation by Andy Leonard

Introduction

  • Presenter: Andy Leonard
  • Event: Data Platform Summit 2020
  • Topic: Azure DevOps and Continuous Integration (CI) for SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
  • Objective: Provide foundational knowledge about CI/CD using Azure DevOps for SSIS developers.

Agenda

  1. Brief history of CI/CD
  2. Source control examples
  3. Azure DevOps agents
  4. Pipelines in Azure DevOps

Personal Background

  • Andy Leonard has been involved in CI/CD and source control for decades.
  • Aims to bring SSIS developers to modern software development practices.
  • Previously presented at PASS Summit and authored a book on SSIS and data integration.

Understanding CI/CD

  • CI (Continuous Integration): Automated testing and building of code every time changes are made.
  • CD (Continuous Deployment): Automated deployment of code to production after tests are passed.

Source Control

  • Importance of source control: Prevents loss of code, facilitates collaboration.
  • Two types of developers: those who use source control and those who will.
  • Steps for using Azure DevOps:
    • Create Azure DevOps account at dev.azure.com.
    • Set up an organization and create a new project.
    • Configure Visual Studio to connect to Azure DevOps.

Source Control Setup

  1. Create an organization in Azure DevOps.
  2. Create a new project (public/private).
  3. Choose version control (TFS or Git).
  4. Connect Visual Studio to Azure DevOps.
  5. Add the SSIS solution to source control.

Source Control Best Practices

  • Keep project name consistent between local and source control.
  • Use clear check-in comments for future reference.
  • Document code and processes for clarity.

Azure DevOps Agents

  • Types of agents: Self-hosted vs. Cloud-hosted.
  • Self-hosted agents provide faster execution times compared to cloud-hosted ones.
  • Configuration involves creating a personal access token for authentication.

Setting Up an Azure DevOps Agent

  1. Create a personal access token in Azure DevOps.
  2. Use the token to configure the agent on a VM.
  3. Ensure the agent is listening for jobs.

Azure DevOps Pipelines

  • Pipelines automate the process of building, testing, and deploying applications.
  • Building an SSIS pipeline involves:
    • Selecting the source control option (TFS or Git).
    • Configuring build and deploy tasks for SSIS.
    • Setting up variables and environments for sensitive information.

Building an SSIS Pipeline

  1. Create a new build pipeline in Azure DevOps.
  2. Configure the build task to specify the SSIS solution and output path.
  3. Set up a deploy task with the correct destination and authentication settings.

Continuous Integration and Deployment

  • Enable continuous integration on the deployment pipeline to automate the process.
  • Add triggers to pipelines for automatic execution on code check-ins.

Testing and Error Handling

  • Importance of testing for successful and failed executions.
  • Use of logging and monitoring to assess pipeline success.
  • Example of a failure scenario to ensure system robustness.

Conclusion

  • Azure DevOps provides powerful tools for managing SSIS development.
  • Encouragement to embrace CI/CD practices in data integration workflows.
  • For further inquiries, contact Andy Leonard at andy.leonard@entdna.com or visit his blog at andyleonard.blog.