Azure App Service Deployment

Overview

Azure App Service provides a fully managed platform for hosting web applications. This example shows how to deploy a .NET application with zero-downtime deployments using staging slots.

Basic Deployment

The simplest deployment zips your published app and deploys it directly:

var project = Dotnet.Project("./src/WebApp/WebApp.csproj");

// Build and publish
Dotnet.Restore(project);
Dotnet.Build(project);
Dotnet.Publish(project, o => o
    .WithConfiguration(Configuration.Release)
    .Output(Root / "publish"));

// Create deployment zip
var zipPath = Root / "deploy.zip";
// The publish folder gets zipped automatically by AppService.DeployZip

// Authenticate and deploy
Azure.EnsureAuthenticated();
AppService.DeployZip("my-webapp", Root / "publish");

Blue-Green Deployment with Slots

For zero-downtime deployments, use staging slots:

var deploy = DefineProfile("deploy");

var project = Dotnet.Project("./src/WebApp/WebApp.csproj");
var publishPath = Root / "publish";

// Build
Dotnet.Restore(project);
Dotnet.Build(project);
Dotnet.Test(Dotnet.Project("./tests/WebApp.Tests/WebApp.Tests.csproj"));

Dotnet.Publish(project, o => o
    .WithConfiguration(Configuration.Release)
    .Output(publishPath));

if (deploy)
{
    Azure.EnsureAuthenticated();

    // Deploy to staging slot, then swap to production
    AppService.DeployWithSwap("my-webapp", publishPath, "staging");

    Log.Info("Deployment complete - swapped staging to production");
}

The DeployWithSwap operation:

Deploys to the staging slot
Warms up the staging slot
Swaps staging with production
Old production becomes the new staging (easy rollback)

Manual Slot Control

For more control over the swap process:

Azure.EnsureAuthenticated();

// Deploy to staging
AppService.DeployZip("my-webapp", publishPath, o => o
    .WithDeploymentSlot("staging"));

// Run smoke tests against staging
Log.Info("Running smoke tests against staging...");
// ... your smoke test logic ...

// Swap slots
AppService.SwapSlots("my-webapp", "staging");

Log.Info("Swapped staging to production");

With Resource Group

Specify a resource group for apps not in your default:

Azure.EnsureAuthenticated();
Azure.SetSubscription("my-subscription-id");

AppService.DeployZip("my-webapp", publishPath,
    resourceGroup: "my-resource-group");

Full Example with EF Migrations

Complete deployment including database migrations:

var deploy = DefineProfile("deploy");

var webProject = Dotnet.Project("./src/WebApp/WebApp.csproj");
var testProject = Dotnet.Project("./tests/WebApp.Tests/WebApp.Tests.csproj");
var publishPath = Root / "publish";

// Build and test
Dotnet.SdkInstall();
Dotnet.Restore(webProject);
Dotnet.Build(webProject);
Dotnet.Test(testProject);

// Publish
Dotnet.Publish(webProject, o => o
    .WithConfiguration(Configuration.Release)
    .Output(publishPath));

if (deploy)
{
    Azure.EnsureAuthenticated();

    // Run EF migrations first
    var dbContext = Ef.DbContextFrom(webProject, "AppDbContext");
    Ef.DatabaseUpdate(dbContext, Env("CONNECTION_STRING"));

    // Deploy with slot swap
    AppService.DeployWithSwap("my-webapp", publishPath, "staging");

    Log.Info("Deployment complete!");
}

Key Operations

Operation	Purpose
Azure.EnsureAuthenticated()	Authenticate with Azure
AppService.DeployZip()	Deploy via zip deployment
AppService.DeployWithSwap()	Deploy to slot and swap
AppService.SwapSlots()	Swap deployment slots