Azure DevOps reports PowerShell task as passed even with non-0 exit code

Question

In Azure DevOps I have a task to run a PowerShell script. In certain scenarios, the script should exit with a non-0 code, causing the task to be reported as failed. However, Azure DevOps reports the task as passed regardless.

This is a problem because I have a subsequent job that should run if this job fails, but that is not happening because of the false positive.

The relevant part of the script shows that, in the case of the screenshot, an exit code of 1 was detected, which should result in the script exiting in error.

if ($exitCode -ne 0)
{
    Write-Output ("[Error] Failing task since return code was {0} while expected 0." -f $exitCode)
}
exit $exitCode

The task is run as part of a deployment job, and I do have the option failOnStandardError set to true.

- task: AzurePowerShell@5
  displayName: Check Function App Version
  inputs:
    azureSubscription: ${{ parameters.serviceConnectionName }}
    scriptType: FilePath
    scriptPath: ${{ parameters.scriptsArtefactPath }}/Test-FunctionAppVersion.ps1
    scriptArguments: -Uri ${{ parameters.healthCheckUri }} -AuthHeaderName Authorization -AuthHeaderValue "$(healthCheckAuthHeaderValue)"
    failOnStandardError: true
    azurePowerShellVersion: LatestVersion
    pwsh: true

How can I make Azure DevOps honour my exit codes?

I tested a similar case with the regular powershell task. It worked as expected. The failOnStandardError flag is really looking for things written to the Error stream I think. You'd need to do a Write-Error instead to force it. That isn't what you are asking for though I know. That being said, I think it is something with the return not getting handled correctly in that task. I see that they might have issues anyway with that flag for that task anyway. — Matt
– Matt, Commented Aug 20, 2020 at 16:27
If it is a bug, raising it on the github project might be the best way to get some direct relief. — Matt
– Matt, Commented Aug 20, 2020 at 16:28

Levi Lu-MSFT · Accepted Answer · 2020-08-21 03:58:58Z

12

It seems that the Azure PowerShell task has an issue capturing the exit code from a script file, it works fine with the inline scripts. You can report this problem to Microsoft development team. Hope they will provide a fix soon.

However, you can use either of below workarounds to fix it.

1, Use [Environment]::Exit($exitCode) instead of exit. See below:

if ($exitCode -ne 0)
{
    Write-Output ("[Error] Failing task since return code was {0} while expected 0." -f $exitCode)
}
[Environment]::Exit($exitCode)

2, Use logging command ##vso[task.complete result=Failed;]Failed to manually fail the task if the exitCode is non-0. See below:

if ($exitCode -ne 0)
{
    Write-Output ("[Error] Failing task since return code was {0} while expected 0." -f $exitCode)
    Write-Host "##vso[task.complete result=Failed;]Failed"
}
exit $exitCode

answered Aug 21, 2020 at 3:58

Levi Lu-MSFT

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3 Comments

David Gard Over a year ago

Thanks for the reply, I'll give those suggestions a try as soon as I get the opportunity.

Levi Lu-MSFT Over a year ago

Hi @DavidGard Did you get a chance to try above out. How did it go?

David Gard Over a year ago

Tested just now and option one seems to do the job. I will add a further comment if I do come across any issues when I'm back in the office next week. Thanks.

deckerch · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-22 11:52:52Z

2

Since the solution did not directly worked for me, I improved this a little bit and use Write-Error instead of Write-Host.

if ($exitCode -ne 0) {
  Write-Error ("[Error] Failing task since return code was {0} while expected 0." -f $exitCode)
}

Combined with the failOnStderr you will get what you need.

- task: PowerShell@2
  displayName: check stuff
  inputs:
    failOnStderr: true
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      do_some_thing
      if ($exitCode -ne 0) {
        Write-Error ("[Error] Failing task since return code was {0} while expected 0." -f $exitCode)
      }

answered Sep 22, 2022 at 11:52

deckerch

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1 Comment

malthe Aug 22 at 11:18

Lots of scripts output status messages to stderr, often not meaning that an actual error occurred. Use with caution!

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