Create manual via MS Azure DevOps build pipeline?

[Kooswillem]

We have succeeded to keep all our H&M sources stored on DevOps using GIT LFS and are now trying to find out what is possible in building manuals via MS Azure DevOps build pipelines.

My MS Copilot tells me:
You cannot install Help+Manual on Microsoft-hosted agents (i.e., the vmImage like windows-latest) because:

1. These agents are ephemeral—they're reset after each job.
2. You don’t have admin rights to install software during the job.
3. Help+Manual requires a licensed installation, which can't be activated dynamically.

In what I understand about Help & Manual, I see only point two as a problem. It should IMHO be able to dynamically install H&M and license it via the command line.

Is there a way to install help and manual via the command line in a MS Azure DevOps build pipeline and build a manual as Azure DevOps 'artifact'?

And if so, how?

[Tim Green]

Hi Willem,

We don't have experience with this, but you need to consider the following:

*) Help+Manual requires a full Windows environment, with everything that entails. If it doesn't have that, it definitely won't work. Also, AFAIK DevOps is basically Team Foundation Server and that is definitely no longer supported.

*) In the event that it does work in that environment you will need to activate the build server mode for that installation by running this command line under the Windows account that will be used for build server operation

Code: Select all

HELPMAN.exe /LIC:XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

where the license key to activate is entered after the /LIC: switch.

*) If you want to run Help+Manual in GUI mode in any kind of cloneable environment like that, you will also need to have a Floating license for server use.