Getting Started with Azure App Service

Table of Contents

Introduction

Azure App Service is a powerful platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering from Microsoft Azure that enables you to build, deploy, and scale web apps, mobile back ends, and even APIs. It supports a variety of programming languages and frameworks, including .NET, .NET Core, Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, and Python.

This guide will walk you through the fundamental steps to get started with Azure App Service, from creating your first App Service instance to deploying a simple application.

Note: This guide assumes you have a basic understanding of web application development and cloud concepts.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • An Azure Account: If you don't have one, you can sign up for a free account.
  • Azure CLI (Optional but Recommended): The Azure Command-Line Interface is useful for managing your Azure resources. You can download it from the official Azure CLI documentation.
  • Your Web Application: Have a web application ready to deploy. For this guide, we'll assume a simple static HTML file or a basic dynamic application.

Create an App Service

You can create an Azure App Service using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell. We'll demonstrate using the Azure portal, which offers a visual interface.

  1. Navigate to the Azure portal and sign in.
  2. Click on Create a resource.
  3. In the search bar, type "App Service" and select it from the results.
  4. Click Create.

You will be presented with a form to configure your App Service:

  • Subscription: Choose your Azure subscription.
  • Resource Group: Create a new resource group or select an existing one. Resource groups help you manage related Azure resources.
  • Name: Enter a unique name for your web app. This name will be part of the default URL (e.g., your-app-name.azurewebsites.net).
  • Publish: Select Code.
  • Runtime stack: Choose the programming language and version you want to use (e.g., Node 18 LTS, Python 3.10, .NET 7).
  • Operating System: Select either Windows or Linux.
  • Region: Choose the Azure region closest to your users for lower latency.
  • App Service Plan: This defines the compute resources (CPU, memory, storage) for your app. You can create a new plan or select an existing one. For starting, a Free (F1) or Basic (B1) tier is often sufficient.

Click Review + create, and then Create.

Azure App Service creation form

Deploy Your Application

Once your App Service is created, you can deploy your application code. Several deployment methods are available:

1. Deployment from Local Git

This is a straightforward method for deploying your code directly from your local machine.

  1. In your App Service overview page in the Azure portal, go to Deployment Center.
  2. Select Local Git as the source.
  3. Follow the instructions to get the Git deployment URL and credentials.
  4. Configure your local Git repository and push your code to the Azure remote.

2. Deployment from GitHub/Azure DevOps

For continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), you can connect your App Service to a GitHub or Azure DevOps repository.

  1. In the Deployment Center, choose GitHub or Azure DevOps.
  2. Authenticate with your account and select the repository and branch.
  3. Azure will automatically build and deploy your app whenever changes are pushed to the selected branch.

3. Deploying a Static Site

For static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, you can simply upload them using FTP or zip deploy.

Navigate to Deployment Center, select FTP / Zip Deploy, and follow the prompts to upload your files to the /site/wwwroot directory.

Tip: For many application types, you'll need to configure build processes. Azure App Service can often handle this automatically if you use CI/CD integrations or specify build commands.

Configure and Manage

After deployment, you can manage and configure your App Service through the Azure portal.

  • Configuration: Set application settings, connection strings, and general configurations.
  • Scale out (App Service Plan): Adjust the number of instances to handle traffic or scale up to a higher pricing tier for more resources.
  • Monitoring: Integrate with Azure Application Insights for detailed performance monitoring, logging, and diagnostics.
  • Custom Domains & SSL: Configure your own domain name and secure it with an SSL certificate.
  • Diagnostic Logs: Enable logging to troubleshoot issues effectively.

Next Steps

Congratulations! You've taken the first steps in deploying an application with Azure App Service.

To further enhance your understanding and leverage the full capabilities of App Service, consider exploring: