How to add secret variable as task environment variable in VSTS

Question

This documentation states that secret variables are

Not decrypted into environment variables. So scripts and programs run by your build steps are not

Answer 1

You can supply variables to pass to tasks in the Variables page of the build definition:

Then they can be passed in to a task as an input like so:

Answer 2

Set Environment Variable

Use a Command Line task, like this:

target_environment_variable now contains the value of secret_variable.

Verify

Add a subsequent Command Line task that writes all environment variables to a disk file, like this: (note: in the Arguments text box, write to a folder that both you and build agent can access):

Queue the build definition, then view the file containing the environment variables:

Answer 3

When using the YAML-syntax this can be achieved too:

steps:
- script: |
    echo %MYSECRET%
  env:
    MySecret: $(Secret_Variable)