AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement build and release pipelines
You are designing a build pipeline for a Java application that uses Maven. You want to publish the compiled JAR file as a build artifact. Which task should you use?
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
✓
PublishBuildArtifacts@1
The Publish Build Artifacts task publishes files as pipeline artifacts. Option B (Maven@3) is wrong because it builds the project but does not publish artifacts. Option C (ArchiveFiles@2) is wrong because it creates a zip but does not publish. Option D (CopyFiles@2) is wrong because it only copies files within the agent.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
PublishBuildArtifacts@1
Why this is correct
PublishBuildArtifacts@1 uploads a specified directory or file to the Azure Pipelines artifact store, assigning it a name so it can be downloaded from the build summary or consumed by subsequent jobs, stages, and release pipelines. This task is the definitive way to make build outputs available as build artifacts.
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Maven@3
Why it's wrong here
Maven@3 invokes the Maven build tool to compile, test, and optionally package a Java application, but it only writes outputs like JAR files to the agent's working directory. Although it may produce build deliverables, it does not upload them to the Azure Pipelines artifact service, so a separate publish task is required.
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ArchiveFiles@2
Why it's wrong here
ArchiveFiles@2 compresses source or build files into a .zip, .7z, or .tar.gz archive on the local file system, but creating an archive is not the same as registering it as a pipeline artifact. Without an explicit PublishBuildArtifacts step, the archive remains on the agent and is not downloadable from the build.
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CopyFiles@2
Why it's wrong here
CopyFiles@2 copies files from a source folder to a target folder within the agent machine, typically used to stage content before publishing or testing. It performs no upload to Azure DevOps, so copied files are not exposed as build artifacts and will not be available to other pipelines or releases.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Designing a Build Pipeline
Key term
Pipeline
A pipeline is an automated series of steps that takes code from development to production, ensuring quality and speed.
Key term
Build artifact
A build artifact is the packaged, deployable output created by a build process, such as a compiled binary, ZIP file, or container image, that is stored for later use in testing or release.
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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.