AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
Configuring and Managing Repositories
Configure Git tags to organize the source control repository
Git tags serve as fixed points—or landmarks—in your commit history, helping you mark version releases and other significant milestones. By leveraging tags, you can easily reference builds, rollback to stable states, and integrate seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines in Azure Repos or any Git-based workflow.
Why use Git tags?
- Create immutable release points for reproducibility
- Simplify collaboration by referencing a specific state of the code
- Automate deployments by targeting a tag in your pipeline
Types of Git tags
| Tag Type | Description | Typical Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Lightweight | A simple ref to a commit | Quick local markers |
| Annotated | A full Git object (message, author, timestamp) | Official release versions |
Note
Annotated tags include metadata—such as the tagger’s name, date, and a descriptive message—making them ideal for public releases.
Creating tags
# Create a lightweight tag pointing to HEAD
git tag v2.0
# Create an annotated tag with a message
git tag -a v2.1 -m "Release 2.1: Added performance improvements"
Listing all tags
# Display all tags sorted alphabetically
git tag
Pushing tags to remote
# Push a specific tag to origin
git push origin v2.0
# Push all local tags at once
git push origin --tags
Warning
Avoid force-pushing or rewriting existing tags, as this can lead to inconsistencies in collaborators’ repositories.
Checking out a tag
To view or revert to a tagged commit:
git checkout v2.0
This puts your working directory in “detached HEAD” state. To make changes, create a new branch:
git checkout -b hotfix/v2.0-patch
Sorting tags by semantic version
git tag --sort=v:refname
This ensures v1.10 appears after v1.2.
Integrating Git tags with Azure Repos
Tags pushed to Azure Repos can trigger build and release pipelines. For step-by-step guidance, see Git version control in Azure Repos.
Links and References
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