Deployment Overview
Azure App Service provides a robust platform for deploying and scaling web applications, mobile backends, and RESTful APIs. This section covers various methods to get your code running on App Service, from simple manual deployments to fully automated CI/CD pipelines.
Key Concepts
- Deployment Slots: Swap code between staging and production environments with zero downtime.
- Deployment Center: A unified interface to manage all your deployment sources and configurations.
- Continuous Deployment: Automatically deploy code changes whenever they are committed to your repository.
- Artifacts: The packaged output of your build process, ready to be deployed.
Popular Deployment Methods
Choose the method that best suits your workflow and project needs.
Visual Studio Code Extension
Deploy directly from VS Code using the Azure App Service extension. Ideal for quick deployments and development cycles.
GitHub Actions
Leverage GitHub's powerful CI/CD platform to automate builds and deployments to Azure App Service. Fully integrated with your GitHub workflow.
Azure Pipelines
Utilize Azure DevOps for end-to-end CI/CD, including build, test, and release pipelines for your App Service deployments.
Git Deployment
Deploy your application by pushing code to a Git repository connected to your App Service. Supports local Git and remote repositories like GitHub, Bitbucket, and Azure Repos.
Azure CLI
Use the Azure Command-Line Interface for scripting and automated deployments. Powerful for custom deployment workflows and integration with other tools.
az webapp deploy --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyApp --src-path /path/to/zip/file.zipCI/CD Integration
Automate your deployment process to ensure consistency, speed, and reliability. Azure App Service integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools.
Setting up GitHub Actions
- Navigate to your GitHub repository.
- Go to the "Actions" tab and select "set up a workflow yourself".
- Use a template or create a custom workflow file (e.g.,
.github/workflows/azure-deploy.yml). - Configure the workflow to build your application and deploy it to Azure App Service using the appropriate Azure GitHub Actions.
Example GitHub Actions workflow snippet:
name: Deploy to Azure App Service
on:
push:
branches:
- main
jobs:
build-and-deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: Set up Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v3
with:
node-version: '18.x'
- name: npm install, build, and test
run: |
npm install
npm run build --if-present
npm test --if-present
- name: Azure Login
uses: azure/login@v1
with:
creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}
- name: Deploy to Azure App Service
uses: azure/webapps-deploy@v2
with:
app-name: 'your-app-service-name'
slot-name: 'production'
package: '.'
Azure Pipelines for App Service
Create a new build pipeline in Azure DevOps to build your application and a release pipeline to deploy it to Azure App Service.
- Build Pipeline: Configure tasks for checking out code, setting up build environments, building your application, and publishing artifacts.
- Release Pipeline: Define stages for deployment, integrate with pre- and post-deployment approvals, and use tasks specific to Azure App Service deployment.
Advanced Deployment Topics
Deployment Slots
Deployment slots allow you to stage deployments and then swap them into production with minimal disruption. This is crucial for zero-downtime deployments.
- Create a new slot (e.g., "staging").
- Deploy your new code to the staging slot.
- Test the staging slot thoroughly.
- Perform a "swap" operation from the Azure portal or CLI to move the staged content to production.
Web Deploy and Zip Deploy
Azure App Service supports various deployment package formats, including zip archives and MSDeploy packages, allowing for flexible deployment strategies.
Zip Deploy: A common and efficient method. You can deploy a zip file containing your application code directly.
az webapp deployment source config-zip --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyApp --src zip --src-path /path/to/app.zip