I was recently asked for help with Release Management where the user noticed the changes to their Release Template were not taking effect. After further investigation I identified the confusion and felt it deserved further explanation.
The user began a release which failed on a “Deploy Using PS/DSC” action.
Based on the detailed log the user identified an error in their Release Template and corrected their mistake. They then returned to the failed release and clicked the “Retry Failed Deployment” button to retry the deployment.
The release failed again in the exact same place as if the changes were ignored.
The reason for the subsequent fail is because once a release is started a copy of the Release Template is made. Therefore, any changes to the Release Template will not affect any running releases. To see those changes the user would have to start a new release.
However, there is a way to change the values used in a release that is already inflight. To change the values used in a Release Template for an active release you need to click “View Sequence” and make your changes there.
Please note these changes only affect the release where the changes are made and do not change the Release Template the release was started from.