title	Publish and download build artifacts
description	How to publish and download build artifacts with Azure Pipelines
ms.assetid	34874DFA-2364-4C1D-A092-B8F67C499AB0
ms.topic	reference
ms.date	04/21/2022
monikerRange	<=azure-devops

Publish and download build artifacts

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

::: moniker range="azure-devops"

Note

We recommend using Download Pipeline Artifacts and Publish Pipeline Artifacts for faster performance.

::: moniker-end

Azure Artifacts enables teams to use feeds and upstream sources to manage their dependencies. You can use Azure Pipelines to publish and download different types of artifacts as part of your CI/CD workflow.

Publish artifacts

Artifacts can be published at any stage of your pipeline. You can use YAML or the classic Azure DevOps editor to publish your packages.

YAML

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

- powershell: gci env:* | sort-object name | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File $env:BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY/environment-variables.txt

- task: CopyFiles@2
  inputs:
    sourceFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)'
    contents: '**/$(BuildConfiguration)/**/?(*.exe|*.dll|*.pdb)'
    targetFolder: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    pathToPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    artifactName: drop

pathToPublish: the path of your artifact. This can be an absolute or a relative path. Wildcards aren't supported.
artifactName: the name of your artifact.

Note

Make sure you aren't using one of the reserved folder names when publishing your artifact. See Application Folders for more details.

::: moniker-end

Classic

Add the Publish Build Artifacts task to your pipeline and fill out the required fields. Make sure your file is at the root of your repository.

:::image type="icon" source="media/publish-task.png" border="false":::

Example: Use multiple tasks

YAML

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

- powershell: gci env:* | sort-object name | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File $env:BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY/environment-variables.txt

- task: CopyFiles@2
  inputs:
    sourceFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)'
    contents: '**/$(BuildConfiguration)/**/?(*.exe|*.dll|*.pdb)'
    targetFolder: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    pathToPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    artifactName: drop1
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    pathToPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    artifactName: drop2

pathToPublish: the path of your artifact. This can be an absolute or a relative path. Wildcards aren't supported.
artifactName: the name of your artifact.

::: moniker-end

Classic

You can add multiple Publish Build Artifacts tasks to your pipelines. Make sure your file is at the root of your repository.

:::image type="icon" source="media/multiple-publish-tasks.png" border="false":::

Example: Copy and publish binaries

YAML

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

- powershell: gci env:* | sort-object name | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File $env:BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY/environment-variables.txt

- task: CopyFiles@2
  inputs:
    sourceFolder: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)'
    contents: '**/$(BuildConfiguration)/**/?(*.exe|*.dll|*.pdb)'
    targetFolder: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    pathToPublish: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)'
    artifactName: drop

sourceFolder: the folder that contains the files you want to copy. If you leave this empty, copying will be done from $(Build.SourcesDirectory).
contents: File paths to include as part of the copy.
targetFolder: destination folder.
pathToPublish: the folder or file path to publish. It can be an absolute or a relative path. Wildcards aren't supported.
artifactName: the name of the artifact that you want to create.

Note

Make sure not to use reserved name for artifactName such as Bin or App_Data. See ASP.NET Web Project Folder Structure for more details.

::: moniker-end

Classic

:::image type="icon" source="../tasks/utility/media/copy-files.png" border="false"::: Utility: Copy Files

Source folder: $(Build.SourcesDirectory)
Contents: /$(BuildConfiguration)//?(.exe|.dll|*.pdb)
Target folder: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)

:::image type="icon" source="../tasks/utility/media/publish-build-artifacts.png" border="false"::: Utility: Publish Build Artifacts

Path to publish: $(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)
Artifact name: drop

Note

Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory path is cleaned up after each build. If you're using this path to publish your artifact, make sure you copy the content you wish to publish into this directory before the publishing step.

Download artifacts

YAML

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

- powershell: gci env:* | sort-object name | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File $env:BUILD_ARTIFACTSTAGINGDIRECTORY/environment-variables.txt

- task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@1
  inputs:
    buildType: 'current'        # Options: 'current' | 'specific'. Specify which build artifacts will be downloaded: `current` or from a specific build
    downloadType: 'single'      # Options: 'single' | 'specific'. Choose whether to download a single artifact or all artifacts of a specific build.
    artifactName: 'drop'        # Required when downloadType == single. The name of the artifact that will be downloaded.
    downloadPath: '$(System.ArtifactsDirectory)'    # Path on the agent machine where the artifacts will be downloaded. Default: $(System.ArtifactsDirectory).

::: moniker-end

Classic

:::image type="icon" source="../tasks/utility/media/downloadbuildartifacts.png" border="false"::: Utility: Download Build Artifacts

Download artifacts produced by: Current build
Download type: Specific artifact
Artifact name: drop
Destination directory: $(System.ArtifactsDirectory)

Note

If you're using a deployment task, you can reference your build artifacts using $(Agent.BuildDirectory). See Agent variables for more details.

::: moniker range="<=azure-devops"

When your pipeline run is completed, navigate to Summary to explore or download your artifact.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"]

::: moniker-end

Download a specific artifact

YAML

steps:
- task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Download Build Artifacts'
  inputs:
    buildType: specific                        # Options: 'current' | 'specific'. Specify which build artifacts will be downloaded: `current` or from a specific build
    project: 'xxxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxx'    # Required when buildType == specific. Project ID.
    pipeline: 20                                   # Required when buildType == specific. Build pipeline.
    buildVersionToDownload: specific    # Options: 'latest' | 'latestFromBranch' | 'specific'. Required when buildType == specific. Build version to download.
    buildId: 128                        # Required when buildType == specific && buildVersionToDownload == specific. Build ID.
    artifactName: drop                  # The name of the artifact that will be downloaded.
    extractTars: false                  # boolean. Extract all files that are stored inside tar archives.

Classic

Add the :::image type="icon" source="../tasks/utility/media/downloadbuildartifacts.png" border="false"::: Download Build Artifacts task to your pipeline definition and configure it as follows:

:::image type="content" source="media/download-specific-build-artifact.png" alt-text="A screenshot that shows a Maven package deployed to a feed." lightbox="media/download-specific-build-artifact.png":::

Download artifacts produced by: Specific build.
Project: select your project from the dropdown menu.
Build pipeline: select your build pipeline.
Build version to download: select specific version.
Build: select your build from the dropdown menu.
Download type: specific artifact.
Artifact name: select your artifact from the dropdown menu.
Destination directory: default $(System.ArtifactsDirectory).

Tips

Disable IIS Basic Authentication if you're using Azure DevOps Server to allow authentication with your Personal Access Token. For more information, see Why did my PAT stop working?.
Use forward slashes in file path arguments. Backslashes don't work in macOS/Linux agents.
Build artifacts are stored on a Windows filesystem, which causes all UNIX permissions to be lost, including the execution bit. You might need to restore the correct UNIX permissions after downloading your artifacts from Azure Pipelines.
Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory and Build.StagingDirectory are interchangeable.
Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory path is cleaned up after each build.
Deleting a build associated with packages published to a file share will result in the deletion of all Artifacts in that UNC path.
If you're publishing your packages to a file share, make sure you provide access to the build agent.
Make sure you allow Azure Artifacts Domain URLs and IP addresses if your organization is using a firewall.

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Publish and download build artifacts

Publish artifacts

YAML

Classic

Example: Use multiple tasks

YAML

Classic

Example: Copy and publish binaries

YAML

Classic

Download artifacts

YAML

Classic

Download a specific artifact

YAML

Classic

Tips

Related articles

FilesExpand file tree

build-artifacts.md

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History

build-artifacts.md

File metadata and controls

Publish and download build artifacts

Publish artifacts

Example: Use multiple tasks

Example: Copy and publish binaries

Download artifacts

Download a specific artifact

Tips

Related articles