Azure Pipelines Data Driven Matrix - matrix

Question

In GitHub Actions, I can write a matrix job like so:
jobs:
test:
name: Test-${{matrix.template}}-${{matrix.os}}
runs-on: ${{matrix.os}}
strategy:
matrix:
os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macOS-latest]
template: ['API', 'GraphQL', 'Orleans', 'NuGet']
steps:
#...
This will run every combination of os and template. In Azure Pipelines, you have to specify each combination manually like so:
stages:
- stage: Test
jobs:
- job: Test
strategy:
matrix:
Linux:
os: ubuntu-latest
template: API
Mac:
os: macos-latest
template: API
Windows:
os: windows-latest
template: API
# ...continued
pool:
vmImage: $(os)
timeoutInMinutes: 20
steps:
#...
Is it possible to create a data driven matrix strategy similar to GitHub Actions?

Answer 1

Is it possible to create a data driven matrix strategy similar to GitHub Actions?
The answer is yes. This is a known issue that has already been reported on github:
Add cross-product matrix strategy
In addition, there is workaround that mentioned this issue in the official documentation:
Note
The matrix syntax doesn't support automatic job scaling but you can
implement similar functionality using the each keyword. For an
example, see nedrebo/parameterized-azure-jobs.
jobs:
- template: azure-pipelines-linux.yml
parameters:
images: [ 'archlinux/base', 'ubuntu:16.04', 'ubuntu:18.04', 'fedora:31' ]
pythonVersions: [ '3.5', '3.6', '3.7' ]
swVersions: [ '1.0.0', '1.1.0', '1.2.0', '1.3.0' ]
- template: azure-pipelines-windows.yml
parameters:
images: [ 'vs2017-win2016', 'windows-2019' ]
pythonVersions: [ '3.5', '3.6', '3.7' ]
swVersions: [ '1.0.0', '1.1.0', '1.2.0', '1.3.0' ]
azure-pipelines-windows.yml:
jobs:
- ${{ each image in parameters.images }}:
- ${{ each pythonVersion in parameters.pythonVersions }}:
- ${{ each swVersion in parameters.swVersions }}:
- job:
displayName: ${{ format('OS:{0} PY:{1} SW:{2}', image, pythonVersion, swVersion) }}
pool:
vmImage: ${{ image }}
steps:
- script: echo OS version &&
wmic os get version &&
echo Lets test SW ${{ swVersion }} on Python ${{ pythonVersion }}

Answer 2

Not an ideal solution, but for now, you can loop over parameters. Write a template like the following, and pass your data to it.
# jobs loop template
parameters:
jobs: []
jobs:
- ${{ each job in parameters.jobs }}: # Each job
- ${{ each pair in job }}: # Insert all properties other than "steps"
${{ if ne(pair.key, 'steps') }}:
${{ pair.key }}: ${{ pair.value }}
steps: # Wrap the steps
- task: SetupMyBuildTools#1 # Pre steps
- ${{ job.steps }} # Users steps
- task: PublishMyTelemetry#1 # Post steps
condition: always()
See here for more examples: https://github.com/Microsoft/azure-pipelines-yaml/blob/master/design/each-expression.md#scenario-wrap-jobs