Clone or import a pipeline

Article
2023-11-01

TFS 2018

One approach to creating a pipeline is to copy an existing pipeline and use it as a starting point. For YAML pipelines, the process is as easy as copying the YAML from one pipeline to another. For pipelines created in the classic editor, the procedure depends on whether the pipeline to copy is in the same project as the new pipeline. If the pipeline to copy is in the same project, you can clone it, and if it is in a different project you can export it from that project and import it into your project.

This version of TFS doesn't support YAML pipelines.

If your new pipeline can be created by copying another classic pipeline in the same project, follow the instructions in this section. If your pipeline is in another project, you can use import/export to copy the pipeline.

You need Edit release pipeline or Edit build pipeline permissions to clone a Classic pipeline.

To clone a build definition, navigate to Build Definitions on the Builds hub, choose ... beside the desired build definition, and choose Clone.
Your pipeline is cloned with -clone appended to the name. Choose Save or Save & queue to save the cloned pipeline.

Export and Import a pipeline

You can create a new classic pipeline by exporting an existing one and then importing it. This is useful in cases where the new pipeline has to be created in a separate project.

YAML
Classic

This version of TFS doesn't support YAML pipelines.

Next steps

Learn to customize the pipeline you just cloned or imported.

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Clone or import a pipeline

Clone a pipeline

Export and Import a pipeline

Next steps

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