Azure App Service Deployment

Overview of Deployment Methods

Azure App Service offers a flexible and robust platform for hosting web applications. Deploying your code to App Service can be achieved through various methods, catering to different workflows and development preferences. This document outlines the most common and recommended deployment strategies.

Key Deployment Options

• Azure Repos Git: Directly deploy from a Git repository hosted in Azure Repos.
• GitHub: Continuous deployment from a GitHub repository with automatic builds and deployments.
• Bitbucket: Similar to GitHub, enabling continuous deployment from Bitbucket.
• Local Git: Deploy directly from a local Git repository.
• External Git: Deploy from other Git providers like GitLab or personal servers.
• Zip Deploy: Deploy a .zip file containing your application. This can be done via Kudu or Azure CLI.
• Container Registry: Deploy your application as a container image from Azure Container Registry or Docker Hub.
• FTP/FTPS: Traditional file transfer protocols for deploying files.
• WebDeploy: A Microsoft tool for deploying web applications and sites.
• OneDrive/Dropbox: Sync your deployment package from cloud storage.

Choosing the Right Method

The best deployment method depends on your team's workflow, the tools you use, and your need for continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD).

• For automated CI/CD pipelines, integrating with GitHub, Azure Repos, or Azure DevOps is highly recommended.
• For simple deployments or testing, Zip Deploy or Local Git can be convenient.
• For microservices or containerized applications, deploying from a Container Registry is the standard approach.

Deploying with GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions provides a powerful way to automate your build and deployment pipeline directly from your GitHub repository. Here’s a simplified example of a workflow to deploy to Azure App Service:

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'

    - 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'
        package: '.'
        slot-name: 'production' # Or your deployment slot name

            

Ensure you have set up the AZURE_CREDENTIALS secret in your GitHub repository's settings, containing your Azure service principal credentials.

Using Azure CLI for Deployment

The Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is a versatile tool for managing Azure resources. You can deploy your application using the az webapp deploy command.

# Log in to your Azure account
az login

# Set your subscription context (if you have multiple)
az account set --subscription "Your Subscription Name or ID"

# Deploy from a local zip file
az webapp deploy --resource-group "YourResourceGroup" --name "YourAppServiceName" --src-path "./path/to/your/app.zip" --type zip

# Deploy from a local folder (using zip deploy implicitly)
az webapp deploy --resource-group "YourResourceGroup" --name "YourAppServiceName" --src-path "./your-app-folder/"

# Deploy from a local Git repository
az webapp deployment source config-local-git --name "YourAppServiceName" --resource-group "YourResourceGroup" --git-url "https://github.com/yourusername/yourrepo.git" --branch main
            
            

Replace placeholders like YourResourceGroup, YourAppServiceName, and ./path/to/your/app.zip with your actual values.