[REGRESSION]: Variables output (StorageContainerUri and StorageContainerSasToken) unavailable for TFVC

[FranckSix]

New issue checklist

• I searched for existing GitHub issues
• I read pipeline troubleshooting guide
• I checked how to collect logs

Task name

AzureFileCopy@5

Breaking task version

5

Last working task version

3

Regression Description

In version 3 Task offer two output

    "outputStorageUri": "SasUri",
    "outputStorageContainerSasToken": "SasToken",

And I can use this variable like this in subsequent tasks:

$(SasUri)
$(SasToken)

But with version 5 is no longer available. It seem I must to name may task in YAML to retrieve value like :

$([taskName].StorageContainerUri)"
$([tskName].StorageContainerSasToken)"

But you forgot something... For people like me under TFVC Yaml is not available. We are stuck with the UI Version of Pipeline that not expose the task name. Result SasToken and ContainerUri was lost forever :-(

Environment type (Please select at least one enviroment where you face this issue)

• Self-Hosted
• Microsoft Hosted
• VMSS Pool
• Container

Azure DevOps Server type

Azure DevOps Server (Please specify exact version in the textbox below)

Azure DevOps Server Version (if applicable)

AzureDevopsServer_20250331.1

Operation system

Windows Server 2022

Relevant log output

2025-07-10T15:12:45.8483093Z Création des paramètres de déploiement.
2025-07-10T15:12:45.8851149Z ##[error]Consultez le guide de résolution des problèmes pour voir si votre problème y est traité : https://docs.microsoft.com/fr-fr/azure/devops/pipelines/tasks/deploy/azure-resource-group-deployment?view=azure-devops#troubleshooting
2025-07-10T15:12:45.8852470Z ##[error]Échec du téléchargement du fichier. URL : 'https://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/arm/parameters.json?$(SasToken)'. Erreur : 404: The specified resource does not exist.

Full task logs with system.debug enabled

UNSUCCESSFUL RUN

 [REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR INFORMATION] 

SUCCESSFUL RUN

 [REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR INFORMATION] 

Repro steps

If Microsoft truly aims to encourage users to migrate toward YAML pipelines, it would make sense to provide a smoother transition from the classic UI — or at the very least, offer clearer documentation on the limitations currently affecting task outputs and variable accessibility.

[FranckSix]

I've been searching for a week for how to retrieve these variables... I finally found the solution in the variables $env:AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERURI and $env:AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERSASTOKEN.

I had to create a PowerShell script to retrieve and reinject these variables into the pipeline. But due to the limitations of the AzureDevOps UI environment, as soon as you reference a variable via $(), it appears in the input parameters... and a vicious cycle ensues.

###############################################################
# Search for all AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERURI variables
# The Azure File Copy task has removed its (Storage Container URI) and
# (Storage Container SAP Token) parameters since version 4.
# In DEVOps UI, we lose the ability to retrieve these values.
#
# Fortunately, the task works with the environment variable and stores these values under two subvariables.
# - AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERURI
# - AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERSASTOKEN
#
# NB: Each time the task (ARM Template Deployment) is called, two new variables are added. This script 
#        is created from there, which allows you to find the correct values in the $env variable.
################################################################
$storageName = "$(StorageName)"
$templateFile = "$(TemplateFileName)"
$parametersFile = "$(ParametersFileName)"

Write-Host "---------Control Point------------"
Write-Host "storageName : $storageName"
Write-Host "templateFile : $templateFile"
Write-Host "parametersFile : $parametersFile"
Write-Host "---------Control Point------------"

################################################################
# The only known value to find the corresponding variables (since each AzureCopy 
# creates a new set in $env) is the container name. So I use this value to filter the two 
# desired variables.
################################################################
$uriVar = Get-ChildItem Env: | Where-Object {
    $_.Name -match '^AZUREFILECOPY\d*_STORAGECONTAINERURI$' -and $_.Value -like "*$storageName*"
} | Select-Object -First 1

######################################################################################
#Keeping the index found in an intermediate variable will be used to recompose the two values contained in $env
######################################################################################
if ($uriVar.Name -match '^AZUREFILECOPY(\d+)_') {
    $indice = $matches[1]
} else {
    $indice = ''
}

######################################################################
# Build the names of the two variables to retrieve AZUREFILECOPY[index]_[Container or Sas]
######################################################################
$prefix = "AZUREFILECOPY$indice"
$envVarSas = "${prefix}_STORAGECONTAINERSASTOKEN"
$envVarUri = "${prefix}_STORAGECONTAINERURI"

####################################
#Store $env variables in temporary variables
####################################
$varSas = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable($envVarSas)
$storageUri = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable($envVarUri)

Write-Host "Preparing the URL for the template: $(TemplateFileName)"
$varTemplateUri = $storageUri + $templateFile + "?" + $varSas
Write-Host "Preparing the URL for the settings file: ${ParametersFileName}"
$varParametersUri = $storageUri + $parametersFile + "?" + $varSas

##################################################
# Publish variables to the DEVOps pipeline
##################################################
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=ResolvedSasToken]$varSas"
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=ResolvedStorageTemplateUri]$varTemplateUri"
Write-Host "##vso[task.setvariable variable=ResolvedStorageParametersUri]$varParametersUri"

##############################
#Output information to the console
##############################
Write-Host "Variable found : $envVarSas"
Write-Host "Variable found : $envVarUri"

Write-Host "You can now use the output variables"
Write-Host " - For the SasToken : ResolvedSasToken"
Write-Host " - For the Uri :"
Write-Host "   - Template   : ResolvedStorageTemplateUri: $varTemplateUri"
Write-Host "   - Parameters : ResolvedStorageParametersUri: $varParametersUri"

I even tried referencing $env:AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERSASTOKEN directly, but DevOps then requires an input parameter for env:AZUREFILECOPY[n]_STORAGECONTAINERSASTOKEN.

I've wasted a lot of days on an arbitrary decision, and I still have no choice but to stick with version 3. But how long will it work? Version 6 is already just around the corner, and output variables still haven't made a comeback in this version.

I found a workaround (not very elegant, though). In the pipeline parameters, I provide

ResolvedStorageTemplateUri = $(ResolvedStorageTemplateUri)
ResolvedStorageParametersUri = $(ResolvedStorageParametersUri)
ResolvedSasToken = $(ResolvedSasToken)

This seems sufficient to fool DevOps and prevent these input parameters from overwriting the values injected by PowerShell.

N.B. With this solution I have no long term guarantee that the variables in $env can change names and break my patch.