Build and Deploy a .NET Core Web App from Linux to a Linux Web App Service on Azure

… and do it in less than ten minutes!

I love .NET Core. It allows me to apply the C# skills I’ve been using for over a decade now (combined with my experience with the .NET Framework and its myriad APIs) to cross-platform development. I can create lightweight, portable apps and websites and containerize them, run them on the familiar Windows-based IIS server or deploy them as scalable Azure App Service endpoints.

Tools like Visual Studio Code and the Azure Command Line Interface (CLI) make it possible to leverage a consistent experience regardless of the platform I’m developing on. Although I carry a Windows 10 Surface Book laptop around, I’m just as comfortable dropping to bash on Ubuntu to build an app in Linux.

This short video demonstrates just how straightforward it is to build and deploy a .NET Core app from Linux to an Azure Web App on Linux.

There are three main steps:

• Build the app
• Create and configure the App Service
• Deploy the App Service

To build the app, create the directory and use the .NET Core tool:

mkdir mymvc
cd mymvc
dotnet new mvc
dotnet restore
dotnet run

Next, create a resource group, an app service plan, and a web app. Configure the web app to run the correct Linux version and launch your app, and set it up for git-based deployment. You can capture the endpoint to deploy to in the same step. You may need to pick your own unique app name.

az group create -n my-linux-group -l westus

az appservice plan create -g my-linux-group -n my-linux-plan --is-linux -l westus

az webapp create -n my-linux-app -p my-linux-plan -g my-linux-group

az webapp config set -n my-linux-app -g my-linux-group --linux-fx-version "DOTNETCORE|1.1.0" --startup-file "dotnet mymvc.dll"

url=$(az webapp deployment source config-local-git --name my-linux-app \
--resource-group my-linux-group --query url --output tsv)

echo $url

Finally, you need a way to deploy your files. There are several ways, but local git is a great option. You can publish your files and initalize the git repository, and then subsequent updates will only deploy the changes (you publish, then commit the changes and push). These steps initialize the repository and connect it to the remote endpoint and push the deployment files:

dotnet publish -c Release

cd bin/Release/netcoreapp1.1/publish

git init

git add -A

git commit -m "Initial Deployment"

git remote add azure $url

git push azure master

At this stage, you should have a Linux app up and running! Learn more by exploring the Web Apps overview.

Cluster Management and Orchestration of Docker Containers at Scale with Azure Container Service

I recently recorded a course for Cloud Academy to introduce the Azure Container Service. Containers have already transformed the way developers approach enterprise applications and are rapidly gaining momentum in production. To manage containers at scale requires an orchestrator, or a platform to manage the deployment, scaling, and resiliency of containers across clustered hosts. The Azure Container Service simplifies standing up and managing your orchestrator of choice in the Azure cloud.

The video starts with an introduction and overview of containers and orchestrators, demonstrates how to set up a new environment using the Azure portal, then dives into creating everything you need to stand up the cluster, private networks, load balancers and other assets for each orchestrator using the Azure Command Line Interface (CLI). In most cases you can stand up the assets needed, including virtual machine scale sets, master nodes and private agents, with just two commands.

In addition to SSH key generation, I walk through standing up each orchestrator, deploying a container, and scaling it out to multiple instances.

The orchestrators covered include:

• Kubernetes
• DC/OS with Marathon
• Docker Swarm

Cloud Academy provides several subscription options and contains hours and hours of cloud-related content. You can access the course here: Introduction to the Azure Container Service. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!