Deploy code and containerized solutions to App Service
5 minutes
5 Questions
Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web applications. Deploying code and containerized solutions to App Service involves several approaches and methods.
**Code Deployment Options:**
1. **ZIP Deploy**: Upload your application as a ZIP file through Azu…Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web applications. Deploying code and containerized solutions to App Service involves several approaches and methods.
**Code Deployment Options:**
1. **ZIP Deploy**: Upload your application as a ZIP file through Azure CLI, REST API, or Kudu. This method packages your code and deploys it efficiently.
2. **Git Deployment**: Connect your local Git repository or external repositories like GitHub, Azure DevOps, or Bitbucket for continuous deployment. App Service pulls code automatically when changes are pushed.
3. **FTP/FTPS**: Traditional file transfer protocol for uploading application files to the wwwroot directory.
4. **Azure DevOps Pipelines**: Create CI/CD pipelines that build, test, and deploy your applications automatically.
**Container Deployment:**
1. **Web App for Containers**: Deploy Docker containers from Azure Container Registry, Docker Hub, or private registries. Configure the container image, port, and startup commands.
2. **Multi-container Apps**: Use Docker Compose files to deploy multiple containers that work together as a single application.
**Key Configuration Elements:**
- **Deployment Slots**: Create staging environments to test deployments before swapping to production, enabling zero-downtime deployments.
- **Application Settings**: Configure environment variables, connection strings, and runtime settings through the Azure portal or CLI.
- **Deployment Center**: A centralized hub in Azure portal for configuring and managing deployment sources and CI/CD integration.
**Best Practices:**
- Use deployment slots for testing before production releases
- Implement health checks to verify deployment success
- Configure auto-scaling based on demand
- Enable diagnostic logging for troubleshooting
- Use managed identities for secure authentication to Azure resources
Whether deploying traditional code or containerized applications, App Service provides flexible, scalable hosting with built-in load balancing, SSL certificates, and integration with Azure services.
Deploy Code and Containerized Solutions to App Service
Why is This Important?
Azure App Service is a fundamental platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that enables developers to host web applications, REST APIs, and mobile backends. Understanding how to deploy both code-based and containerized solutions is essential for the AZ-204 exam because it represents one of the most common real-world scenarios Azure developers encounter. This topic typically accounts for a significant portion of the compute solutions section.
What is Azure App Service?
Azure App Service is a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web apps. It supports multiple programming languages including .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, and PHP. App Service provides built-in features such as:
• Automatic scaling - Scale up or out based on demand • Continuous deployment - Integration with GitHub, Azure DevOps, and other repositories • SSL certificates and custom domains • Authentication and authorization • Deployment slots for staging environments
How Code Deployment Works
There are several methods to deploy code to App Service:
1. ZIP Deploy - Upload a ZIP file containing your application code using the Kudu REST API or Azure CLI 2. Git Deploy - Push code to a local Git repository in App Service 3. FTP/FTPS - Traditional file transfer protocol deployment 4. Azure DevOps Pipelines - CI/CD integration for automated deployments 5. GitHub Actions - Automated workflows triggered by repository events 6. Visual Studio Publish - Publish from the IDE
How Container Deployment Works
App Service supports running custom containers, giving you more control over your runtime environment:
1. Single Container - Deploy a single Docker container from Azure Container Registry, Docker Hub, or private registries 2. Multi-Container - Deploy multiple containers using Docker Compose files (Web App for Containers) 3. Container Settings - Configure startup commands, environment variables, and persistent storage
To deploy a container, you specify: • The container registry (ACR, Docker Hub, or private) • The image name and tag • Registry credentials if using a private registry • The startup command (optional)
Key Configuration Options
• Application Settings - Environment variables accessible to your application • Connection Strings - Database and service connection information • Path Mappings - Mount Azure Storage as local directories • Deployment Slots - Create staging environments and swap with production • Continuous Deployment - Enable webhooks for automatic redeployment
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on App Service Deployment
1. Know the deployment methods - Understand when to use ZIP deploy versus Git deploy versus container deployment. Questions often ask which method is appropriate for specific scenarios.
2. Understand deployment slots - Know that slots allow zero-downtime deployments, slot-specific settings versus settings that swap, and the slot swap process.
3. Container registry authentication - Remember that Azure Container Registry uses admin credentials, service principals, or managed identities for authentication.
4. Application settings behavior - App settings override values in configuration files and are exposed as environment variables at runtime.
5. Continuous deployment triggers - ACR can use webhooks to notify App Service of new image pushes, triggering automatic redeployment.
6. CLI commands to remember: • az webapp create - Create a web app • az webapp deployment source config-zip - Deploy from ZIP • az webapp config container set - Configure container settings
7. Scaling considerations - Know the difference between scale up (bigger instance) and scale out (more instances), and that containers support both.
8. Watch for scenario-based questions - These often involve choosing between code deployment and containerized deployment based on requirements like custom runtime versions or specific OS dependencies.