Set Up an Azure Pipelines Agent

To execute an Azure DevOps pipeline, you need an Azure Pipelines agent. The agent is a standalone program that runs your pipeline jobs on a physical or virtual machine.

This article focuses on what you need to run Ranorex tests from an Azure DevOps pipeline. For general agent topics, see the official Azure DevOps documentation.

Create a new Personal Access Token

1.  Go to User Settings > Personal Access Tokens
2. Create a PAT with Agent Pools (read, manage) scope only (clear all other scopes).  For more information, go to Register an agent using a personal access token PAT.
   

3. Copy the new PAT somewhere safe.

   Important: A PAT is shown only once when you create it, copy it immediately, and store it securely.

Create or select an agent pool

To download an agent:

1. In Azure DevOps, open Project settings > Agent pools > Add pool (or use an existing one):
   • Organization settings (Azure DevOps Services)

   • Collection settings (Azure DevOps Server)

     Note: Depending on your UI and permissions, you might not see Agent pools under Project settings. If so, use Organization settings instead.

2. Select an agent pool (for example, Default)
   
3. Open the Agents tab and select New agent.
4. Select:
   • OS: Windows
   • Architecture: x64 (recommended) or x86

5. Select Download and extract the .zip file to a folder of your choice.

   Important: Use a folder path without spaces (for example, C:\agents\ado-agentrx) and avoid configuring the agent from Git Bash/mintty shells.

Configure the agent

Configure the agent so it can connect to your Azure DevOps organization and listen for jobs.

1. Open Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell (don’t use PowerShell ISE).

2. Go to the folder where you extracted the agent and run:

   ./config.cmd

3. When prompted, configure the agent:
   

   • Server URL: Use your organization URL (Azure DevOps Services), for example, https://dev.azure.com/<your-organization>.

     Note: Create a PAT with Agent Pools (read, manage) scope only (clear all other scopes), then paste it into the prompt. For more information, go to Register an agent using a personal access token PAT

   • Authentication type: Select PAT (Personal Access Token).
   • Agent pool: Select the default local pool.
   • Agent name / Work folder: Accept defaults or adjust as needed.
   • Run as service: Select N (don’t run as a service). This guide assumes you’ll run the agent interactively (a common requirement for UI test execution).
   • If prompted to start the agent now, select Y.

If you didn’t start the agent during configuration:

1. In the agent folder, run the following:

   ./run.cmd

2. You should see Listening for Jobs.
   

The agent starts, connects to Azure DevOps, and waits for jobs from your pipeline.