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Azure DevOps Troubleshooting

Setting up a repository on Azure DevOps is not always smooth sailing. There are many issues that can occur due to the Microsoft accounts associated with it.

Account Recommendation

We strongly recommend NOT using Microsoft accounts from other services (e.g. GitHub) when using Azure DevOps. In our experience, this has led to a lot of authentication errors when creating or joining a Git repository.

Access and Permission Issues​

Repository Access Problems​

If you don't have access to the Azure DevOps repository:

  1. First, check that you can access the repository (with your user account) on the Azure DevOps website
  2. If that's not possible, try this solution. Sometimes there are problems with multiple Microsoft accounts
  3. Another issue could be permissions. Go to "Organization Settings" → "Users" and change your team member from "Basic" to "Stakeholder" so that they can read and edit data in the repository

Access Denied Errors​

Make sure that you have enabled "Third-party application access via OAuth":

  1. Go to your Organization
  2. Click on "Organization Settings" → "Policies"
  3. Enable "Third-party application access via OAuth"

Project Creation Permissions​

If a member is unable to create Azure DevOps projects through Anchorpoint, you'll need to check their group permissions:

  1. Navigate to https://dev.azure.com/YOUR-ORGANIZATION/_settings/groups
  2. Click on "Project Collection Administrators" → "Members" tab
  3. If the member is not listed here, they won't have the necessary permissions to create DevOps projects
  4. Add the member to the "Project Collection Administrators" group to resolve this

Member Limit Issues​

When attempting to invite a new member to your Anchorpoint workspace or a specific project, you may encounter an error message stating: "Cannot add member to Azure DevOps. You need to set up billing to invite more members."

This indicates that you've reached the free member limit for your Azure DevOps organization:

  1. Navigate to https://dev.azure.com/YOUR-ORGANIZATION/_settings/billing
  2. Click on "Set up billing" to extend your member limit

Network and Connection Issues​

IPv6 Configuration Problems​

At times, Azure DevOps may experience malfunctions when accessed through the IPv6 network protocol. To address this issue, Anchorpoint offers a solution that involves modifying your network configuration to ensure that only Azure DevOps utilizes the IPv4 protocol. We do this by making adjustments to the hosts configuration file.

Alternatively, you have the option to completely disable IPv6 on your system. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to disable IPv6.

Missing Organization Invites​

If a member reports that they haven't received an invitation to join your Azure DevOps workspace:

  1. Verify the email address you used for the invitation matches the one the member provided
  2. Navigate to https://dev.azure.com/YOUR-ORGANIZATION/_settings/members
  3. Check if the member is listed under the "Basic" Access Level
  4. If the member is not visible, invite them by clicking "Add Members"
  5. Make sure to set their Access Level to "Basic" to ensure they have the appropriate permissions

Authentication Issues​

Account Logout Problems​

Due to Microsoft's account linking, it's sometimes hard to fully logout. Here is a forum entry that describes how to solve that issue.

401 - Uh oh, you do not have access​

If this happens to you, even if you think you are logged in with the correct account, take a look at this forum entry.

No Organization Found​

If you have a new account without an organization and you did not reach the organization creation process for some reason, you can create a new DevOps organization from the Azure portal.

Repository Connection Issues​

Manual Git Clone Workaround​

If you still face issues joining the Git repository, and you have access to Azure DevOps and Basic user rights, try to clone the Git repository from the terminal:

  1. Go to "Project Settings" → "Git" → "Open Console/Terminal"
  2. In the terminal, navigate to the folder where you would like to download the Git repository
  3. Run the following command: 
    git clone YOUR_AZURE_DEVOPS_REPOSITORY_URL
  4. Press Enter to execute the command

Alternative Authentication Methods​

Using Personal Access Tokens (PAT)​

If you are having trouble logging in with your username and password using the Git credential manager (the white popup dialog), you can try using custom credentials. Custom credentials use a PAT (Personal Access Token), which is an alternative to a username/password combination.

Token Expiration

PATs have a limited lifetime. Make sure you set it long enough. When a PAT expires, Anchorpoint will prompt you to re-enter your credentials. In this case, you will need to create a new PAT in your account settings.

Repository Access Errors​

This error can happen because:

  • Nobody added you to the repository on Azure DevOps
  • You don't have the proper access level in your Azure DevOps Organization

To resolve this issue, follow the steps shown in the video below: