AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement build and release pipelines
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
```yaml
jobs:
- deployment: Deploy
environment: prod
strategy:
runOnce:
deploy:
steps:
- download: current
artifact: drop
- task: AzureWebApp@1
inputs:
azureSubscription: 'myServiceConnection'
appName: 'myApp'
package: '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/drop/*.zip'
```The exhibit shows a deployment job in an Azure Pipelines YAML file. The deployment fails with the error 'No package found with pattern: $(Pipeline.Workspace)/drop/*.zip'. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that candidates often assume 'drop' is the artifact name or a workspace root folder, but in this case it is a subfolder inside the artifact. They overlook that the artifact name itself must be included in the package path.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The artifact is not downloaded to the expected path; the artifact name must be included in the path.
The error indicates the deployment job is looking for a .zip file in a folder named 'drop' directly under the pipeline workspace. However, in Azure Pipelines, artifacts are downloaded to a folder named after the artifact, and the published artifact contains a 'drop' folder inside it (or 'drop' is merely a folder, not the artifact name). The correct path must include the artifact name first, e.g., '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/<artifact-name>/drop/*.zip'. Option A correctly identifies that the artifact name is missing from the path.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The artifact is not downloaded to the expected path; the artifact name must be included in the path.
Why this is correct
The downloaded artifact is placed under '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/<artifact name>/'. If the artifact is named 'drop', the correct path is '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/drop'.
- ✗
The wildcard pattern '*.zip' is not supported.
Why it's wrong here
The DownloadPipelineArtifact task's 'pattern' parameter explicitly supports wildcard expressions such as `*.zip`, so wildcards are not the problem. If the file was not found, the actual cause is that the artifact's root directory (the artifact name, e.g., 'drop') must be included in the path because downloaded artifacts are placed under '$(Pipeline.Workspace)/<artifact name>/'.
- ✗
The Azure service connection has expired.
Why it's wrong here
The error message indicates that the package file could not be found, not that authentication or connectivity failed. The DownloadPipelineArtifact task reads from the pipeline's own artifact storage and does not use an Azure service connection; an expired service connection would produce a connection or authorization error, not a missing file error.
- ✗
The pipeline is using a Microsoft-hosted agent that does not support the download task.
Why it's wrong here
The DownloadPipelineArtifact task is a built-in Azure Pipelines task that works on all Microsoft-hosted and self-hosted agents, as long as the agent has the standard pipeline workspace. The agent type is irrelevant to the file-not-found error; the problem is the path used to reference the downloaded artifact, not the agent's capabilities.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to DevOps and Azure DevOps
Key term
Pipeline
A pipeline is an automated series of steps that takes code from development to production, ensuring quality and speed.
Key term
Azure Pipelines
Azure Pipelines is a cloud-based CI/CD service from Microsoft that automatically builds, tests, and deploys code to any platform or cloud.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-400 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AZ-400 exam.