save DG

Author: Rami Bououni

docs/pipelines/release/deployment-groups/index.md

@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title: Use deployment groups in Classic release pipelines
-description: Learn how to create and use deployment groups, which are logical groups of target machines for Classic release pipelines in Azure Pipelines.
+description: Learn how to create and use deployment groups in Classic release pipelines in Azure Pipelines.
 ms.assetid: 21416B0A-F60F-436F-AB46-D6C2A54D5707
 ms.topic: how-to
 ms.author: ronai
 author: RoopeshNair
-ms.date: 08/27/2024
+ms.date: 05/22/2025
 monikerRange: '<= azure-devops'
 "recommendations": "true"
 ---
@@ -14,68 +14,64 @@ monikerRange: '<= azure-devops'
 
 [!INCLUDE [version-lt-eq-azure-devops](../../../includes/version-lt-eq-azure-devops.md)]
 
-Similar to an [agent pool](../../agents/pools-queues.md), a deployment group is a logical set of target machines that each have a deployment agent installed. Deployment groups can represent environments such as "Development," "Test," or "Production." Every physical or virtual machine (VM) in the deployment group interacts with Azure Pipelines to coordinate the deployment tasks. Deployment groups are different from [deployment jobs](../../process/deployment-jobs.md), which are collections of task-related steps defined in YAML pipelines.
+Similar to an [agent pool](../../agents/pools-queues.md), a deployment group is a logical set of target machines, each have a deployment agent installed. Deployment groups typically represent environments such as *Development, *Test*, or *Production*. Each physical or virtual machine in the deployment group communicates with Azure Pipelines to coordinate deployment tasks. Deployment groups differ from [deployment jobs](../../process/deployment-jobs.md), which are collections of task-related steps defined in YAML pipelines.
 
->[!NOTE]
->Deployment groups are available only for Classic release pipelines.
+Deployment groups give you a flexible way to manage and monitor your deployment targets. You can define the security context and runtime environment for agents, assign roles and permissions to team members, and get real-time visibility into deployments with live logs for each server. You can also use tags to target specific machines, making deployments more precise and efficient.
 
-By using deployment groups, you can:
-
-- Specify the security context and runtime targets for agents.
-- Add users and give them appropriate permissions to administer, manage, view, and use the group.
-- View live logs for each server while a deployment happens, and download logs to track deployments for individual servers.
-- Use tags to limit deployments to specific sets of target servers.
+> [!NOTE]
+> Deployment groups are only available in Classic release pipelines.
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- An Azure DevOps organization and project. To create an organization and project, see [Create a new organization](../../../organizations/accounts/create-organization.md) or [Create a project in Azure DevOps](../../../organizations/projects/create-project.md).
-- Administrative access to at least one Windows or Linux physical or virtual machine to use as a deployment target.
+|     **Product**    |  **Requirements**  |
+|--------------------|--------------------|
+| **Azure DevOps**   | - An Azure DevOps [organization](../../../organizations/accounts/create-organization.md).<br>- An Azure DevOps [project](../../../organizations/projects/create-project.md).<br> - Administrator permissions on a Windows or Linux machine to install and configure the deployment agent. |
 
 ## Create a deployment group
 
-1. From your Azure DevOps project, select **Pipelines** > **Deployment groups**.
-
-   :::image type="content" source="media/pipelines-deployment-groups.png" alt-text="A screenshot showing Deployment groups in the Pipelines menu.":::
+1. Sign in to your Azure DevOps organization, and navigate to your project.
 
-1. On the **Deployment groups** screen, select **New**, or select **Add a deployment group** if this deployment group is the first one in the project.
+1. In your project, select **Pipelines**, then select **Deployment groups**.
 
-   :::image type="content" source="media/add-deployment-groups.png" alt-text="A screenshot showing Add a deployment group.":::
+1. On the **Deployment groups** page, select **New**. If this is your first deployment group, select **Add a deployment group**.
 
 1. Enter a **Deployment group name** and then select **Create**.
 
 1. On the next screen, select **Windows** or **Linux** for the **Type of target to register**. A registration script is generated.
 
-1. Select **Use a personal access token in the script for authentication**, and then select **Copy script to the clipboard**.
+1. Select **Use a personal access token in the script for authentication**, then select **Copy script to the clipboard**.
 
 1. Save the copied script to run on all the target machines in your deployment group.
 
-   :::image type="content" source="media/generated-script.png" alt-text="A screenshot showing the generated registration script and other settings.":::
+   :::image type="content" source="media/generated-script.png" alt-text="A screenshot displaying how to create a deployment group in Azure Pipelines.":::
 
 ## Register target servers
 
 To register each target server in the deployment group:
 
-1. Sign in to the machine with an administrative account and run the copied script. For Windows machines, use an elevated PowerShell command prompt.
+1. Sign in to the machine using an account with administrator permissions, and run the copied script. For Windows machines, use an elevated PowerShell command prompt.
 
    :::image type="content" source="media/register-servers.png" alt-text="A screenshot that shows registering deployment groups servers.":::
 
-1. To assign tags that let you limit deployments to certain servers in a [deployment group job](../../process/deployment-group-phases.md), enter *Y* when prompted to enter tags, and then enter a tag or tags.
+1. When prompted to add tags (can be used to target deployments to specific servers in a [deployment group job](../../process/deployment-group-phases.md)), enter Y, then provide one or more tags. Tags are case insensitive, limited to 256 characters each, and there's no limit to the number of tags you can use.
 
-   Tags are limited to 256 characters each, are case insensitive, and there's no limit to the number of tags you can use.
+1. Once setup is complete, the script should return the following message:
 
-After you set up a target server, the script should return the message `Service vstsagent.{organization-name}.{computer-name} started successfully`.
+    ```
+    Service vstsagent.{organization-name}.{computer-name} started successfully.
+    ```
 
 ## Install and upgrade agents
 
-Every target server in the deployment group requires a deployment agent. The generated registration script for target servers installs an agent. Alternatively, you can use the following methods to install agents:
+Every target server in the deployment group requires a deployment agent. The generated registration script for target servers installs an agent. Alternatively, you can install agents using one of the following methods:
 
-- If the target servers are Azure VMs, you can easily set up your servers by [installing the Azure Pipelines agent extension](./howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md#install-the-azure-pipelines-agent-azure-vm-extension) on each VM.
+- For Azure VMs, you can easily set up your servers by [installing the Azure Pipelines agent extension](./howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md#install-the-azure-pipelines-agent-azure-vm-extension) on each VM.
 
-- You can use the [AzureResourceGroupDeploymentV2 task](./howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md#use-the-azureresourcegroupdeploymentv2-task) in your release pipeline to create and register a deployment group dynamically.
+- Use the [AzureResourceGroupDeploymentV2 task](./howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md#use-the-azureresourcegroupdeploymentv2-task) in a release pipeline to dynamically create and register deployment group agents.
 
-For more information about these methods, see [Provision agents for deployment groups](howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md).
+See [Provision agents for deployment groups](howto-provision-deployment-group-agents.md) for more details.
 
-To upgrade the agents on target servers to the latest version without having to redeploy them, select the **More actions** ellipsis next to the deployment group on the **Deployment groups** page and select **Update targets**. For more information, see [Azure Pipelines agents](../../agents/agents.md).
+To upgrade deployment agents to the latest version without redeploying, go to the **Deployment groups** page, select the **More actions** ellipsis next to your deployment group, and choose **Update targets**. See [Agents](../../agents/agents.md) for more details.
 
 :::image type="content" source="media/update-targets-deployment-groups.png" alt-text="A screenshot showing how to update targets in deployment groups.":::