How do I configure an Azure regression test pipeline to run on a VM?
09:57 16 Jul 2026

We have a test pipeline which runs a set of regression tests daily. These are built with C#, Playwright and Reqnroll. First steps link to the test solution download required packages from NuGet and then builds the solution.

We now have a VM which is all set up as an Environment and ready for use but what I cannot figure is how to access the solution once the pipeline is running from the VM, the test YAML I am using is shown below. So what is the best approach here? Any tips or guides please?

variables:
  solution: '/RegressionTests.sln'
  buildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
  buildConfiguration: 'Release'
  system.debug: false


stages:
- stage: Deploy
  displayName: Deploy to QA VM
  jobs:
  - deployment: DeployVM
    displayName: Deploying to QA VM
    pool:
      name: Azure Pipelines
      vmImage: 'windows-latest'
      demands: msbuild
    timeoutInMinutes: 30      
    
    environment: QA
    strategy:
      runOnce:
        deploy:
          steps:
          - script: echo QA VM      

          - task: NuGetToolInstaller@1
            displayName: 'Install NuGetTool'

          - task: NuGetCommand@2
            displayName: 'NuGet Restore'
            inputs:
              restoreSolution: '$(solution)'

          - task: VSBuild@1
            displayName: 'QA Tests Build'
            inputs:
              solution: '$(solution)'
              msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactStagingDirectory)"' 
              platform: '$(buildPlatform)'
              configuration: '$(buildConfiguration)'
azure-pipelines virtual-machine