Top Azure DevOps Interview Questions for Freshers – 2025 Latest Complete Guide
Published by CloudSoftSol | Last Updated: December 2025
Are you preparing for your first Azure DevOps interview? Landing a job in DevOps can be challenging for freshers, but with the right preparation, you can ace your interview. This comprehensive guide covers the most commonly asked Azure DevOps interview questions that hiring managers ask entry-level candidates in 2025.
What is Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps is Microsoft’s cloud-based platform that provides development collaboration tools for software teams. It combines development (Dev) and operations (Ops) to shorten the development lifecycle while delivering features, fixes, and updates frequently in close alignment with business objectives.
Essential Azure DevOps Interview Questions for Freshers
Basic Concepts and Fundamentals
1. What is DevOps and why is it important?
DevOps is a set of practices that combines software development and IT operations to shorten the systems development life cycle. It emphasizes collaboration, automation, continuous integration, and continuous delivery. DevOps is important because it helps organizations deliver applications faster, improve deployment frequency, and achieve higher quality releases.
2. What are the key components of Azure DevOps?
Azure DevOps consists of five main services:
- Azure Boards: Agile planning tools for tracking work items, backlogs, and sprints
- Azure Repos: Git repositories for source code management
- Azure Pipelines: CI/CD platform for building and deploying applications
- Azure Test Plans: Testing tools for manual and exploratory testing
- Azure Artifacts: Package management for Maven, npm, NuGet, and Python packages
3. What is Continuous Integration (CI)?
Continuous Integration is a development practice where developers regularly merge their code changes into a central repository. After each merge, automated builds and tests run to detect integration errors quickly. CI helps teams find and fix bugs faster, improve software quality, and reduce validation time.
4. What is Continuous Deployment (CD)?
Continuous Deployment is a software release process where code changes automatically pass through the entire pipeline and deploy to production without manual intervention. Every change that passes automated tests gets deployed automatically, enabling faster feedback and rapid delivery.
5. Explain the difference between CI and CD.
Continuous Integration focuses on automatically building and testing code when developers commit changes. Continuous Deployment goes further by automatically deploying those tested changes to production environments. CI ensures code quality, while CD ensures rapid and reliable delivery to end users.
Azure Pipelines Questions
6. What is Azure Pipelines?
Azure Pipelines is a cloud service that automatically builds, tests, and deploys code projects. It supports any language, platform, and cloud, and works with GitHub, Azure Repos, and other version control systems. Pipelines enable teams to implement CI/CD practices efficiently.
7. What is the difference between Build Pipeline and Release Pipeline?
A Build Pipeline compiles source code, runs tests, and produces deployable artifacts. A Release Pipeline takes those artifacts and deploys them to various environments like development, staging, and production. Build focuses on creating the package, while Release focuses on delivering it.
8. What are Pipeline Agents?
Pipeline Agents are computing infrastructure where build and deployment tasks execute. Azure DevOps offers two types: Microsoft-hosted agents (managed by Azure) and self-hosted agents (managed by your organization). Agents run jobs specified in your pipeline.
9. What is a YAML pipeline?
YAML pipelines define CI/CD processes using YAML (Yet Another Markup Language) files stored in your repository. They enable version control of pipeline configuration, code review of pipeline changes, and better integration with your source code. YAML pipelines are the modern approach compared to classic pipelines.
10. What are pipeline triggers?
Triggers automatically start pipeline runs based on events. Common triggers include continuous integration triggers (run on code commits), scheduled triggers (run at specific times), pull request triggers (run when PRs are created), and pipeline triggers (run when other pipelines complete).
Azure Repos Questions
11. What is Azure Repos?
Azure Repos provides Git repositories or Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) for source code management. It offers unlimited private repositories, pull requests for code review, branch policies, and integration with other Azure DevOps services.
12. What is Git?
Git is a distributed version control system that tracks changes in source code during software development. It allows multiple developers to work together, maintains a complete history of changes, and enables branching and merging for parallel development workflows.
13. Explain branching strategies in Git.
Common branching strategies include:
- GitFlow: Uses master, develop, feature, release, and hotfix branches for structured releases
- GitHub Flow: Simple workflow with a main branch and feature branches
- Trunk-Based Development: Developers work on short-lived feature branches merged frequently to trunk
14. What are pull requests?
Pull requests are mechanisms for developers to notify team members that they’ve completed a feature. They allow code review, discussion, and approval before merging changes into the main branch. Pull requests improve code quality through peer review.
15. What are branch policies?
Branch policies enforce code quality standards before merging. They can require minimum number of reviewers, successful builds, linked work items, and comment resolution. Branch policies prevent direct commits to protected branches and ensure quality gates.
Azure Boards Questions
16. What is Azure Boards?
Azure Boards provides agile tools for planning and tracking work. It includes Kanban boards, backlogs, sprint planning tools, and customizable dashboards. Teams can track user stories, bugs, tasks, and features throughout the development lifecycle.
17. What are work items in Azure DevOps?
Work items are objects that track work in Azure Boards. Types include epics, features, user stories, tasks, bugs, and issues. Each work item has fields for title, description, state, assigned to, priority, and custom fields based on your process template.
18. What is a sprint in Agile methodology?
A sprint is a time-boxed iteration, typically 1-4 weeks, during which teams complete a set amount of work. Teams plan sprints, work on committed items, and review progress at the end. Sprints enable incremental delivery and regular feedback cycles.
19. What are the different process templates in Azure Boards?
Azure Boards offers four process templates:
- Agile: Suitable for teams using Agile methodology with user stories
- Scrum: Designed for Scrum teams with product backlog items
- CMMI: For teams requiring formal change management
- Basic: Simplified template for teams starting with Azure Boards
20. What is the difference between Epic, Feature, and User Story?
Epics are large bodies of work spanning multiple sprints. Features are significant pieces of functionality within an epic. User stories are small, specific requirements from the user’s perspective that can be completed in a sprint. This hierarchy helps organize and prioritize work.
Azure Test Plans Questions
21. What is Azure Test Plans?
Azure Test Plans provides tools for manual testing, exploratory testing, and test case management. It integrates with Azure Pipelines for automated testing and offers rich test execution experiences, test result tracking, and quality insights.
22. What are test cases?
Test cases are step-by-step instructions for testing specific functionality. They include preconditions, test steps, expected results, and actual results. Test cases ensure systematic testing coverage and provide repeatable testing procedures.
23. What is exploratory testing?
Exploratory testing is an approach where testers actively explore the application without predefined test cases. Testers learn, design, and execute tests simultaneously. It’s effective for finding unexpected bugs and understanding user experience.
Azure Artifacts Questions
24. What is Azure Artifacts?
Azure Artifacts is a package management service that allows teams to create, host, and share packages. It supports multiple package types including NuGet, npm, Maven, Python, and Universal Packages. Artifacts integrate with CI/CD pipelines for automated package publishing.
25. What are upstream sources in Azure Artifacts?
Upstream sources allow you to use packages from public registries like npmjs.com or NuGet.org through your Azure Artifacts feed. This provides package caching, offline availability, and centralized package management for your organization.
Infrastructure and Deployment Questions
26. What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?
Infrastructure as Code is the practice of managing infrastructure through code rather than manual processes. Configuration files define infrastructure specifications, enabling version control, automation, and consistent environment provisioning. Popular IaC tools include ARM templates, Terraform, and Bicep.
27. What are deployment slots in Azure?
Deployment slots are live environments within Azure App Service with their own hostnames. They enable staging deployments, testing changes before production, and zero-downtime swaps. Common slots include production, staging, and development environments.
28. What is blue-green deployment?
Blue-green deployment is a strategy that reduces downtime by running two identical production environments. Blue represents the current version, and green represents the new version. Traffic switches from blue to green after successful testing, with easy rollback capability.
29. What are service connections in Azure DevOps?
Service connections enable Azure Pipelines to connect to external services like Azure subscriptions, GitHub, Docker registries, or Kubernetes clusters. They store authentication credentials securely and authorize pipelines to deploy resources or access repositories.
30. What is a deployment group?
Deployment groups are logical sets of deployment target machines with agents installed. They enable multi-machine deployments, orchestrated rolling updates, and health checks. Deployment groups are useful for on-premises or IaaS deployments.
Interview Preparation Tips for Freshers
Technical Skills to Develop
- Version Control: Practice Git commands, branching, merging, and resolving conflicts
- YAML Syntax: Learn YAML pipeline structure and common tasks
- Basic Scripting: Understand PowerShell or Bash for automation tasks
- Cloud Fundamentals: Familiarize yourself with Azure services and concepts
- Agile Practices: Understand Scrum, Kanban, and sprint planning
Hands-On Practice
- Create a free Azure DevOps organization and explore all services
- Build sample CI/CD pipelines for simple applications
- Set up automated testing in your pipelines
- Practice creating and managing work items in Azure Boards
- Experiment with different deployment strategies
Common Interview Scenarios
Be prepared to discuss:
- How you would set up a CI/CD pipeline for a web application
- Your approach to handling merge conflicts
- How you prioritize and track work items
- Troubleshooting failed pipeline runs
- Implementing security best practices in DevOps
Why Choose CloudSoftSol for Azure DevOps Training?
At CloudSoftSol, we specialize in providing comprehensive Azure DevOps training and consulting services. Our expert-led courses prepare freshers for real-world DevOps challenges with:
- Hands-on labs and practical projects
- Industry-relevant curriculum
- Interview preparation and mock sessions
- Placement assistance
- Access to latest Azure DevOps features and tools
Whether you’re starting your DevOps journey or looking to validate your skills, CloudSoftSol offers the guidance and resources you need to succeed in your Azure DevOps career.
Conclusion
Mastering these Azure DevOps interview questions will significantly boost your confidence as a fresher entering the DevOps field. Remember that practical experience matters as much as theoretical knowledge. Set up your own Azure DevOps projects, experiment with pipelines, and continuously learn about new features and best practices.
The DevOps field is rapidly evolving, and Azure DevOps remains one of the most sought-after skills in 2025. With proper preparation and the right training partner like CloudSoftSol, you’ll be well-positioned to launch a successful career in DevOps.
Ready to start your Azure DevOps journey? Visit www.cloudsoftsol.com for comprehensive training programs, certification courses, and expert guidance to accelerate your DevOps career.
