Azure App Services for Developers

Build, deploy, and scale web apps and APIs with ease.

Welcome to Azure App Services

Azure App Services is a fully managed platform that enables you to build and host web applications, REST APIs, and mobile back ends in the programming language of your choice without managing infrastructure. It also supports containerized applications.

Unleash Your Development Potential

Focus on writing code, not managing servers. Azure App Services handles the rest.

Getting Started

Follow these steps to create and deploy your first web application:

  1. Navigate to the Azure Portal.
  2. Search for "App Services" and click "Create".
  3. Select your subscription, resource group, and provide a name for your app.
  4. Choose a runtime stack (e.g., .NET, Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, Ruby, Docker Container).
  5. Select an operating system (Windows or Linux).
  6. Choose an App Service Plan that suits your performance and pricing needs.
  7. Click "Review + create" and then "Create".
  8. Once deployed, you can connect your code repository (e.g., GitHub, Azure DevOps) or deploy manually via FTP, Zip deploy, or CLI.

For detailed tutorials, visit the official Azure App Services documentation.

Core Concepts

App Service Plan

An App Service plan defines a set of compute resources for your web app to run. You are charged for the App Service plan, not the apps. You can associate multiple apps with a single plan to save costs.

  • Pricing Tiers: Free, Shared, Basic, Standard, Premium, Isolated. Each tier offers different levels of performance, features, and scalability.
  • Scale Up/Out: Scale up to a higher tier for more resources (CPU, memory) or scale out to add more instances for increased load handling.

Deployment Slots

Deployment slots allow you to manage deployments and reduce downtime. You can deploy your app to a staging slot, test it, and then swap it into production with zero downtime.

  • Staging: Deploy new versions to a separate slot.
  • Testing: Thoroughly test the staging deployment.
  • Swapping: Swap the staging slot with the production slot seamlessly.

Custom Domains & SSL

You can map custom domain names to your App Service and secure them with SSL/TLS certificates.

  • Domain Mapping: Use your own domain (e.g., www.yourcompany.com).
  • SSL Binding: Ensure secure connections with HTTPS.
  • Managed Certificates: Azure provides free managed certificates for custom domains.

Authentication & Authorization

Azure App Services integrates with identity providers like Azure Active Directory, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, allowing you to easily secure your applications.

  • Built-in Providers: Leverage easy configuration for common identity providers.
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Control who can manage your App Services resources.

Deployment Options

App Services offers a rich set of deployment methods:

CI/CD Integration

Seamless integration with Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and other CI/CD tools for automated deployments.

Code Deployments

Deploy directly from Git repositories, FTP, or a local zip package.

Container Support

Host Docker containers directly on App Services. Deploy custom containers or use pre-built images.

WebDeploy & MSDeploy

Standard deployment tools for .NET applications.

Monitoring & Logging

Gain insights into your application's performance and diagnose issues effectively.

  • Application Insights: Powerful APM service for detailed telemetry, performance monitoring, and live metrics.
  • Diagnostic Logs: Access server logs, application logs, and deployment logs.
  • Metrics: Monitor CPU usage, memory, requests, and other key performance indicators.
# Example: Enabling Diagnostic Logs in Azure CLI
az webapp log config --name <your-app-name> --resource-group <your-resource-group> --application-logging true --level verbose

Security Best Practices

Secure your applications by following these recommendations:

  • Always use HTTPS.
  • Configure authentication and authorization.
  • Manage secrets securely using Azure Key Vault.
  • Keep your application runtime and dependencies up to date.
  • Use network security features like VNet integration and Private Endpoints.

Performance Tuning

Optimize your App Service for maximum performance:

  • Choose the right App Service Plan tier.
  • Scale out your app to handle increased traffic.
  • Enable Auto-scale rules.
  • Optimize your application code and database queries.
  • Utilize caching strategies.

Pricing

Azure App Services pricing is based on the App Service plan you choose and the instance size and number of instances running. The Free and Shared tiers are suitable for development and testing, while Basic, Standard, Premium, and Isolated tiers offer production-ready features and scalability.

For detailed pricing information, please visit the official Azure App Services pricing page.