Microsoft has a cloud platform which runs .NET, NodeJS and PHP. All 101 talks out there will show you the same: it’s easy to deploy, it scales out on demand and it runs WordPress. Great! But what about doing real things? In this session, we’ll explore the things they don’t teach kids in school. How about trying to find out the architecture of this platform? What about the different deployment options for Windows Azure Web Sites, the development flow and some awesome things you can do with the command line tools? Did you know you can modify the automated build process? Join me in this exploration of some lesser known techniques of the platform.

1. Azure Web Sites
Things they don’t teach kids in school
Maarten Balliauw
@maartenballiauw

2. Who am I?
Maarten Balliauw
Antwerp, Belgium
Technical Evangelist, JetBrains
Founder, MyGet
AZUG
Focus on web
ASP.NET MVC, Azure, SignalR, ...
MVP Azure & ASPInsider
Big passion: Azure
http://blog.maartenballiauw.be
@maartenballiauw
Shameless self promotion: Pro NuGet -
http://amzn.to/pronuget2

3. Agenda
Azure Web Sites
Architecture
Project Kudu
Kudu kung-fu
Application log streaming
Managing settings
Staging and Production
Multi-tier deployments
Customizing deployments
Running “jobs” (batch files / background processes)
Visual Studio Online

4. Azure Web Sites

5. Start Simple
start free, scale up and out
as you go, friction-free
and without the headaches
Your way
with asp.net, php or
node.js, develop on
Windows, OSX or
Linux
Go Live
deploy live in seconds,
easily monitor
performance, rapidly
diagnose and
fix issues
online IDE
Web Sites in Seconds

6. demo
Azure Web Sites

7. Architecture

8. Azure Web Sites use Azure
Cloud Services + load balancer
Load-balanced Layer 7 reverse proxy
Actual infrastructure
Blob storage
Your web site is on here (GRS)
SQL Azure
Your web site config + metering is on here

9. Web Sites are not always in IIS.
They only are when requests come!

10. Azure
LB
Runtime
DB
Storage
Controller
IIS ARR
(LB)
Web Worker
Other
databases
1st request (cold site)

11. Storage
Controller
IIS ARR
(LB)
Web Worker
Other
databases
xth request (hot site)
Azure
LB

12. Runtime
DB
Azure
LB
Storage
Controller
IIS ARR
(LB)
Web Worker
X-DriveDeployment
Server
Other
databas
es
SQL Azure
Blob storage
Azure Worker Role
Provisioning /
API Frontend
Metering
DWAS
Site
(W3WP.exe)Site
(W3WP.exe)
Site
(W3WP.exe)
The full picture

13. Need some
proof?
Windows Azure Pack
(http://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/server-cloud/windows-
azure-pack.aspx)
Or:
http://blog.maartenballiauw.be/
post/2012/07/24/Hands-on-
Windows-Azure-Services-for-
Windows.aspx

14. Project Kudu

15. Project Kudu
“The engine behind git deployments on Windows Azure”
Open source (www.github.com/projectkudu/kudu)
Provides git deployments
Provides builds
Provides sandboxing
Provides hosting

16. demo
Project Kudu

17. demo
Project Kudu
on Azure Web Sites

18. Kudu kung-fu

19. Let’s be agile...
Demos
Application log streaming
Managing settings
Staging and Production
Multi-tier deployments
Customizing deployments
Running “jobs” (batch files / background processes)
Visual Studio Online

20. demo
Application log
streaming

21. Log streaming
All logs from the LogFiles/Application folder
Or configure it when querying: azure log tail <site> -p http
Settings
DIAGNOSTICS_LASTRESORTFILE -> file to log to when diagnostics go
wrong
DIAGNOSTICS_LOGGINGSETTINGSFILE -> settings file (json)
DIAGNOSTICS_TEXTTRACELOGDIRECTORY -> default folder
DIAGNOSTICS_TEXTTRACEMAXLOGFILESIZEBYTES-> log rotation
(bytes)
DIAGNOSTICS_TEXTTRACEMAXLOGFOLDERSIZEBYTES -> max log
size (bytes)

22. demo
Managing settings
and secrets!

23. demo
Staging and
production
(there are more ways to do this)

24. demo
Multi-tier
Deploying a specific project file

25. Multi-tier remarks…
One .deployment file per branch
[config]
project=MultiTier.WebApi/MultiTier.WebApi.csproj
How do I deploy all tiers in a separate website?
.deployment file per branch and every tier in a branch
or customize the build
or add an environment variable
How do I deploy all tiers in the same website?
No .deployment file, just use virtual directories

26. Customizing the build process
Check https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu/wiki/Deployment-hooks
.deployment file
[config]
command=<whatever command>
Write in batch file, bash script, PHP, JavaScript, …

27. What can I do in scripts?
A lot :-) (but not too much… there’s a sandbox)
Environment variables:
DEPLOYMENT_SOURCE
DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
DEPLOYMENT_TEMP
WEBROOT_PATH
MSBUILD_PATH
KUDU_SYNC_CMD
+ everything you feed it through the management portal

28. demo
Customizing
deployments
Sample deployment script

29. Great… but why?
Deploy an advanced multi-tier scenario
We can download stuff (NuGet package restore, pull in external Git repos
before build)
We can run stuff (msbuild, nuget.exe, curl, php, node, …)

30. demo
Customizing
deployments
What about running unit tests?

31. Post-Deployment scripts
https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu/wiki/Post-Deployment-Action-Hooks
Deploy to other regions once the first succeeds
Send an e-mail notification
Update database
Send a Tweet
…

32. demo
Running Web Jobs
(background processes)

33. Web Jobs
There is lots more!
http://www.asp.net/aspnet/overvi
ew/developing-apps-with-
windows-azure/azure-webjobs-
recommended-resources
Web Jobs SDK - react to what
happens in blob, table, queue
Run jobs continuously
Run jobs scheduled
Run jobs at interval
Run jobs on demand (manual / API)
class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) {
JobHost host = new JobHost();
host.RunAndBlock();
}
public static void SquishNewlyUploadedPNGs(
[BlobInput("input/{name}")] Stream input,
[BlobOutput("output/{name}")] Stream output) {
var quantizer = new WuQuantizer();
using (var bitmap = new Bitmap(input)) {
using (var quantized = quantizer.QuantizeImage(bitmap)) {
quantized.Save(output, ImageFormat.Png);
}
}
}
}

34. demo
Visual Studio Online

35. Conclusion

36. Key takeaways
Azure Web Sites are hosted on Azure, high density
Based on Project Kudu
Kudu kung-fu
Application log streaming
Managing settings
Staging and Production
Multi-tier deployments
Customizing deployments
Running “jobs” (batch files / background processes)
Visual Studio Online

37. Thank you!
http://blog.maartenballiauw.be
@maartenballiauw
http://amzn.to/pronuget