Work with the Update images pipeline

Version: 10.4

In the Update images pipeline, you can update image references for Sitecore existing application services, such as CM, CD, ID, and PRC, and additional application services depending on the selected topology during solution provisioning.

To update your Sitecore images, or your other service image references:

  1. Check that the image you are updating is already located in the Azure Container Registry (ACR).

  2. In Azure DevOps go to the Pipelines section in the left-hand navigation, click the All tab, and select the update images link from the available list of pipelines.

  3. If this is your first time running the pipeline, click Run pipeline. This opens the Run pipeline dialog.

  4. In the Run pipeline dialog check that the Branch/tag field is set to main.

  5. Go to your container registry and copy the path from the Login server parameter field in the Essentials section.

  6. For the Sitecore application reference, in the Run pipeline dialog add the new path in the related field for each Sitecore application image reference you are updating. For example, for CM, update the path in the Sitecore CM Image Path field.

  7. Enter ‘NA’ for those Sitecore application references that are not being updated.

  8. Click Run.

Pipeline execution and validation

When the Update images pipeline is run a series of steps are executed. 

As it goes through each step of the pipeline, the output verifies that it is successful or provides error information to help you troubleshooting the issue.

To run and validate the pipeline:

  1. Use the output from the 010 Input Validation step to check for issues with the new path, and to get a confirmation that the image references path will be updated.

    In the following example, the pipeline correctly recognizes that the [cortexprocessingworker] image was not found in the ACR and an error is thrown.

    Pipeline code example.

    To resolve the issue:

    • Verify the path and ensure that the image is uploaded to the ACR with the correct tag.

    • When you have verified, run the pipeline again.

  2. Once the output from the 010 Input Validation step verifies that there are no issues with the image references update, you can proceed to the 020 Update docker images configuration and complete pull request step. When the image references are updated successfully, the pipeline creates and completes the pull request (PR) for the changes. 

    The step output below shows that the image references update is confirmed and the pipeline has created and completed the PR.

    Pipeline code example.

  3. After the update images pipeline completes the run and completes the PR, the continuous integration (CI) run is triggered automatically for the application pipeline to run and deploy images to Kubernetes. 

    The following image shows that the CI run is triggered for the application pipeline after the PR completes, as part of the update images pipeline run.

    The CI run.

Promote changes between environments

The Image updates pipeline enables you to promote changes between environments. For example when you make changes to your Pre-PROD environment and have tested them, you can push the modifications into PROD.

To promote changes between environments:

  1. Push image to the ACR.

    ACR is shared and used between various deployments sharing the same agreement.

  2. In your Pre-PROD environment, run the Update images pipeline, as outlined in the previous steps to update the Docker configuration and to deploy a container application service in your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

  3. Validate the changes and ensure that everything is working as expected in the Pre-PROD environment.

  4. Run the Update images pipeline in the PROD environment.

    Because ACR is shared, there is no need to push images again to apply the same changes for PROD. The container application services are deployed into your AKS.

Trigger the update image pipeline automatically using API

You can also integrate your CI/CD workflows and trigger the Update Images pipeline as part of it, automatically. This procedure describes how to trigger the pipeline and provides the required parameters via an API call.

As a prerequisite, you must have obtained the following information from the Sitecore Managed Cloud support team:

  • Update Images pipeline ID for your environment

  • Access token to interface with the DevOps environment

To trigger the update images pipeline using an API:

  1. Use the POST method and a URL that is configured with the your parameters. These include organization name, your project name, and the pipeline ID of the Update images pipeline:

    https://dev.azure.com/{customer organization}/{customer project}/_apis/pipelines/{pipeline ID}/runs?api-version=6.0-preview.1

  2. You must configure the authorization using the access token provided by the Managed Cloud support team.

  3. The body of the API call must contain parameters with the path for the images to update. Use the following template, named Example 1 to build the API call body in JSON format.

    The images that do not require updating can be set as NA.

    The following example shows the setting of a single image to be updated for the otherServiceImages parameter.

    RequestResponse
    {
     "templateParameters": {
           "sitecoreCmImagePath" : "NA",
           "sitecoreCdImagePath" : “NA”,
           "sitecoreIdImagePath" : “NA”,
           "sitecorePrcImagePath" : “NA”,
           "otherServiceImages" :  "- Name: <image name>\n  Path: <ACR FQDN>/<image name>:<image tag>"
            }
}

After the API call is made, you'll receive a Status: 200 OK message, if completion is successful, and the pipeline with trigger and run as in previous steps.

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