Deploying Your Applications on Azure

This section guides you through the various methods and best practices for deploying your applications and infrastructure to Microsoft Azure. Azure offers a robust and flexible platform for hosting a wide range of workloads, from simple web applications to complex enterprise solutions.

Effective deployment strategies are crucial for ensuring reliability, scalability, and security. We'll explore common tools and techniques to streamline your deployment process.

Getting Started with Azure Deployment

Before you deploy, ensure you have:

  • An active Azure subscription.
  • The necessary permissions to create resources in your subscription.
  • A clear understanding of the Azure services you intend to use.

For new users, we recommend starting with the Azure portal for a visual approach to resource creation and management. However, for repeatable and automated deployments, infrastructure as code (IaC) tools are highly recommended.

Core Deployment Methods

Azure supports several powerful methods for deploying resources, each with its own strengths:

Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates

ARM templates are JSON-based files that declaratively define the infrastructure and configuration of your Azure solution. They are the native deployment language for Azure.

{
    "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "storageAccountType": {
            "type": "string",
            "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
            "allowedValues": [
                "Standard_LRS",
                "Standard_GRS",
                "Standard_RAGRS",
                "Premium_LRS"
            ]
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
            "apiVersion": "2021-09-01",
            "name": "[concat('mystorageacc', uniqueString(resourceGroup().id))] ",
            "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
            "sku": {
                "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
            },
            "kind": "StorageV2",
            "properties": {}
        }
    ]
}

Bicep

Bicep is a declarative language that provides a more concise and readable syntax for creating ARM resources. It transpiles to ARM templates.

param storageAccountType string = 'Standard_LRS'

resource storageAccount 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2021-09-01' = {
  name: 'mystorageacc${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'
  location: resourceGroup().location
  sku: {
    name: storageAccountType
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
}

Terraform

Terraform by HashiCorp is a popular open-source IaC tool that allows you to provision and manage infrastructure across multiple cloud providers, including Azure, using a single workflow.

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
  name     = "example-resources"
  location = "West Europe"
}

resource "azurerm_storage_account" "example" {
  name                     = "examplestorageacc${random_string.suffix.result}"
  resource_group_name      = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
  location                 = azurerm_resource_group.example.location
  account_tier             = "Standard"
  account_replication_type = "LRS"

  tags = {
    environment = "staging"
  }
}

resource "random_string" "suffix" {
  length  = 8
  special = false
  upper   = false
}

Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell

Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) and Azure PowerShell provide imperative ways to deploy resources. They are excellent for scripting and interactive management.

Azure CLI Example:

az group create --name MyResourceGroup --location westus2
az storage account create --name mystorageaccountcli --resource-group MyResourceGroup --location westus2 --sku Standard_LRS

Azure PowerShell Example:

New-AzResourceGroup -Name "MyResourceGroup" -Location "West US 2"
New-AzStorageAccount -Name "mystorageaccountps" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup" -Location "West US 2" -SkuName "Standard_LRS"

Integrating with CI/CD Pipelines

Automating your deployments is key to agility and consistency. Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and Jenkins are popular choices for building robust CI/CD pipelines that deploy to Azure.

Key steps often include:

  • Triggering builds on code commits.
  • Running automated tests.
  • Packaging application artifacts.
  • Deploying infrastructure using IaC tools.
  • Deploying application code to Azure services (e.g., App Services, AKS, VMs).
Learn more about CI/CD

Monitoring and Logging Deployments

Once deployed, it's essential to monitor your applications and infrastructure. Azure Monitor provides comprehensive tools for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry data.

Key services include:

  • Azure Monitor Logs: For collecting and analyzing log data.
  • Application Insights: For application performance monitoring (APM).
  • Azure Monitor Metrics: For real-time performance data.
  • Azure Advisor: For recommendations on performance, security, and cost.

Deployment Best Practices

To ensure successful and maintainable deployments:

  • Use Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Automate resource provisioning and management for consistency and repeatability.
  • Version Control Your Infrastructure: Store IaC templates and scripts in a version control system (e.g., Git).
  • Implement Blue/Green or Canary Deployments: Minimize downtime and risk during updates.
  • Secure Your Deployments: Use Azure Key Vault for secrets and manage access with Azure RBAC.
  • Monitor Thoroughly: Set up alerts and dashboards to quickly identify and address issues.
  • Test Extensively: Include unit, integration, and end-to-end tests in your pipeline.