Developers of Unity UWP apps: stop wasting time compiling builds in Unity, then Visual Studio, then manually deploying. Save time with an automated pipeline! Create builds from start to finish, implement Unit Tests, save every build artifact, and even distribute using App Center! Learn how to create a Azure DevOps pipeline that can be used to build any Mixed Reality solution.

1. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
HoloLens Unity Build Pipelines
on Azure DevOps
Sarah Sexton

2. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Help me help you!

3. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

4. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Introduction
Sarah Sexton
https://aka.ms/SarahSays GitHub.com/SarahSexton Twitter: @Saelia
Software Engineer Microsoft Redmond, USA

5. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

6. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Why use a pipeline? Without one:
Code
Manual
Deploy to
Device
Manual Visual
Studio
Build
Manual Unity
Build
Commit and
push to repo
Test
More Coding
Manual unit
testing

7. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Why use a pipeline? With one:
Code
Automatic
Send Build to
App Center
Automatic
Visual Studio
Build
Automatic
Unity Build
Commit and
push to repo
Download
build on
device
More Coding …
Test
Automatic unit
testing

8. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Well, because it can’t build 2-step UWP projects. 😟
Why not Unity Cloud Build?

9. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Which Pipeline System should I use?
Local/Manual Process Unity Cloud Build Custom Pipeline
-Requires human
resource time and
equipment.
-Process is error-prone.
-ONLY builds projects
from Unity.
-Cannot add custom
PowerShell scripts.
-Cannot build 2-step
UWP projects.
(ex: Azure DevOps or
GitHub Actions)
-Fully automatable.
-Fully customizable.
-Self-hosted agent
can automate any
manual task.

10. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Pros and Cons of a pipeline:
Pro
• Increase efficiency
• Spend more time doing important tasks
• Waste less time on builds that ultimately fail
• Collaborate faster
• Build artifacts available to whole team
• Ensure unit tests pass before every build
• Work smarter
• Grab build artifacts easily
• Review PRs more wisely
• Build the project without a PC
Con
• The time for a single “Commit to Deployment”
could turn out to be slightly longer
• Initial setup time
• Team onboarding/training
• May cost money
• May require a Unity Plus or Pro license

11. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Prerequisites
 Azure DevOps Organization/Tenant
 Microsoft Account or a work/organization account
 Knowledge how to add users to your Azure Active Directory Tenant
(if you plan to collaborate)
 Knowledge of how to ensure the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK)
foundation package is added to a Unity project
(Release v2.1.0 at the time of this writing)
 A Unity 2019 project*
(2019.2.x at the time of this writing.) (*With MRTK Foundation added.)
 A Unity Plus/Pro license serial key
(With at least 1 available seat to activate.)

12. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
A Unity Plus/Pro license is required (by Unity company)
to build using hosted agents. 😟
Why not Unity Personal (free)?

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DEMO
Start a build in Azure DevOps

14. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

15. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Which Pipeline System should I use?
Local/Manual Process Unity Cloud Build Custom Pipeline
-Requires human
resource time and
equipment.
-Process is error-prone.
-ONLY builds projects
from Unity.
-Cannot add custom
PowerShell scripts.
-Cannot build 2-step
UWP projects.
(ex: Azure DevOps or
GitHub Actions)
-Fully automatable.
-Fully customizable.
-Self-hosted agent
can automate any
manual task.

16. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

17. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Section Title Goes HereYour First Pipeline

18. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Your First Pipeline
Microsoft Hosted Agent:
• Tells Azure DevOps to spin up a
Windows VM image that has Windows
and VS installed.
• Cheap because it’s only yours while
you use it – first one is free
• Only pay a monthly fee for
simultaneous machines running.
• Your mileage may vary
Self-Hosted Agent:
• Could be a Windows VM living in your
Azure subscription
• Could be a real computer
• More expensive to run constantly, but
offers more manual control
• Faster than a Microsoft Hosted Agent

19. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
We’ve set up a template for you!
GitHub.com/microsoft/Azure-DevOps-YAML-for-Unity

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What does it do?
• Publishes the solution folder & pipeline artifacts to target path
# The path to the folder which contains the Assets folder of the project.
# If your Unity project is located in a subfolder of your repo, make sure
it is reflected in this.
unity.projectPath: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/'

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What does it do?
• Finds, downloads, and caches NuGet
• Restores the NuGet packages for the solution
# Find, download, and cache NuGet:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller@1
displayName: 'Install NuGet'
# Restore the NuGet packages for the solution:
- task: NuGetCommand@2
displayName: 'NuGet restore'
inputs:
restoreSolution: '$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)/*.sln’
# Change to '$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)/*.sln' to resume two jobs

22. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
What does it do?
• Builds the solution with Visual Studio to make an .appx
• Publishes the package (.appxbundle/.msixbundle) it just built
# Build the solution with Visual Studio to make an .appx:
- task: MSBuild@1
displayName: 'Build solution'
inputs:
solution: '$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)' # Change to
'$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)' to resume two jobs
configuration: Release
msbuildArguments: '/p:AppxBundle=Always /p:AppxBundlePlatforms="$(vs.appxPlatforms)"'
# Publish the package (.appxbundle/.msixbundle) that we just built:
- task: PublishPipelineArtifact@0
displayName: 'Publish Pipeline Artifact'
inputs:
artifactName: 'apppackages'
targetPath: '$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)$(vs.packagePath)' # Change to
'$(unity.projectPath)$(unity.outputPath)$(vs.packagePath)' to resume two jobs

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What does it do?
• Builds the Visual Studio solution generated from the previous job
• Creates a package.
# Build the Visual Studio solution generated from the previous job and create a package.
- job: unitytests
dependsOn: unity
condition: and(succeeded(), eq(variables['runTests'], 'true'))
displayName: Unity Tests
variables:
installCached: false
steps:
# What version of Unity does the project say that it wants?:
- task: UnityGetProjectVersionTask@1
name: unitygetprojectversion
displayName: Calling UnityGetProjectVersionV1 from unity-azure-pipelines-tasks extension
inputs:
unityProjectPath: '$(unity.projectPath)'

24. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Unity Unit Tests
RayWenderlich.com/9454-introduction-to-unity-unit-testing

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YAML
# Install Unity (from cache or download) then create Visual Studio project from Unity
- job: unity
displayName: Unity Build
variables:
installCached: false
# Try to ensure that we have the right secrets set up to continue, otherwise fail the job:
condition: or( not(variables['unity.username']), not(variables['unity.password’]),
not(variables['unity.serialKey']) )
steps:
# What version of Unity does the project say that it wants?:
- task: UnityGetProjectVersionTask@1
name: unitygetprojectversion
displayName: Calling UnityGetProjectVersionV1 from unity-azure-pipelines-tasks extension
inputs:
unityProjectPath: '$(unity.projectPath)'

26. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
YAML
# Install Unity (from cache or download) then create Visual Studio project from Unity
- job: unity
displayName: Unity Build
variables:
installCached: false
# Try to ensure that we have the right secrets set up to continue, otherwise fail the job:
condition: or( not(variables['unity.username']), not(variables['unity.password’]),
not(variables['unity.serialKey']) )
steps:
# What version of Unity does the project say that it wants?:
- task: UnityGetProjectVersionTask@1
name: unitygetprojectversion
displayName: Calling UnityGetProjectVersionV1 from unity-azure-pipelines-tasks extension
inputs:
unityProjectPath: '$(unity.projectPath)'

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YAML
# Install Unity (from cache or download) then create Visual Studio project from Unity
- job: unity
displayName: Unity Build
variables:
installCached: false
# Try to ensure that we have the right secrets set up to continue, otherwise fail the job:
condition: or( not(variables['unity.username']), not(variables['unity.password’]),
not(variables['unity.serialKey']) )
steps:
# What version of Unity does the project say that it wants?:
- task: UnityGetProjectVersionTask@1
name: unitygetprojectversion
displayName: Calling UnityGetProjectVersionV1 from unity-azure-pipelines-tasks extension
inputs:
unityProjectPath: '$(unity.projectPath)'

28. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Upload Azure-Pipelines.yml to Repository

29. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Add secret variables

30. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Create a new build pipeline

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Link this new YAML up in Azure DevOps

32. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
This Azure DevOps "recipe" YAML will:
• Run Unity Unit Tests
• Dynamically activate
• Build UWP project
• Save new Visual Studio project as “artifact”
• Restore NuGet for .sln, build Visual Studio project
• Save the app packages it built as an “artifact”
• Deactivate Unity when finished

33. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
DEMO
Setting up your own Azure DevOps build pipeline

34. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

35. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Section Title Goes Here
Next Steps and other
Considerations

36. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Define automatic build steps for
everything, no matter how trivial.
Apply branch policies to require
passing automated builds.
Publish successful build artifacts
to App Center for distribution.
Enhance your entire process

37. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Unity keys can only be on
2 machines at once.
If you want to run a series of build agents,
dynamically grabbing keys, you could
implement a key management system.
Unity Pro Keys Key Management
store.unity3d.com/account/licenses/other

38. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Helpful examples: MRTK’s automated pipelines
https://github.com/microsoft/MixedRealityToolkit-Unity/tree/mrtk_development/pipelines

39. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
• Intro
• Why Use a Pipeline?
• Which Pipeline System should I use?
• My First Pipeline
• Next Steps and other Considerations
• Resources

40. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.
Resources
• Our example YAML:
GitHub.com/Microsoft/Azure-DevOps-YAML-for-Unity
• Unity + Azure DevOps Plugin:
Dinomite-studios.github.io/unity-azure-pipelines-tasks
• Unity Store license link:
https://store.unity3d.com/account/licenses/other
• YAML documentation:
Docs.Microsoft.Com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/yaml-schema?view=azure-
devops&tabs=schema
• Unity Unit Tests:
RayWenderlich.com/9454-introduction-to-unity-unit-testing
• MRTK:
GitHub.com/microsoft/MixedRealityToolkit-Unity/

41. Microsoft Game Stack. Level Up.