Azure Course Labs
IaaS - Deploying Applications
Infrastructure-as-a-Service is an easy way to get started with cloud deployments or cloud migrations. You can configure VMs with whatever they need and deploy any type of application. You might have a roadmap to move your apps to Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), but IaaS can be a good starting point.
In this lab you’ll create the infrastructure and use it to deploy an old .NET app on Windows, which uses a SQL Server database.
Create Resource Group
We’ll be creating a few resources, so start by storing some variables we can reuse:
# inPowerShell:
$location='westeurope'
$rg='labs-iaas-apps'
$server='<unique-dns-name>'
$database='signup'
# OR in Bash:
location='westeurope'
rg='labs-iaas-apps'
server='<unique-dns-name>'
database='signup'
# create the RG:
az group create -n $rg -l $location --tags courselabs=azure
Create SQL Database
The application we’re going to deploy will create the database schema, so we just need to start with an empty database we can connect to.
📋 Create a SQL Server and a SQL Database in the Resource Group (we covered this in the SQL lab).
Not sure how?</summary>
We can use simple commands with the variables we have already set, and accept default values for a lot of the configuration settings:
az sql server create -g $rg -l $location -n $server -u sqladmin -p '<admin-password>'
az sql db create -g $rg -n $database -s $server --no-wait
</details>
We don’t need to wait for the SQL database to be ready, we can move on to the next stage.
Create Windows Server VM
Our application needs the .NET Framework to run. That’s an older Windows-only platform, but it’s still supported in the latest Windows Server releases.
Windows Server VM images are listed under the publisher MicrosoftWindowsServer and the offer WindowsServer.
📋 Create a VM using the latest release of Windows Server 2022, with the Datacenter Core 2nd-generation SKU (we saw how to search SKUs in the Windows VM lab).
Not sure how?</summary>
# list out the SKUs:
az vm image list-skus -l westus -p MicrosoftWindowsServer -f WindowsServer -o table
Among the outputs you should see 2022-datacenter-core-g2 which is the SKU we’re looking for.
# create a VM using the latest version of the image:
az vm create -l $location -g $rg -n app01 --image MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-datacenter-core-g2:latest --size Standard_D2s_v5 --admin-username labs --public-ip-address-dns-name <your-unique-dns-name> --admin-password <your-strong-password>
</details>
You don’t need to add a DNS name for the PIP, but if you do it will be easier to connect to the VM.
Deploy the app
When the VM is up and running, we can connect and deploy the app. We’ll do that manually in this lab, and we’ll look at automation options later.
Use a Remote Desktop client to connect to the VM using the public IP address or DNS name, and the credentials you set when you created it.
This is a Windows Server Core VM so there’s no familiar Windows GUI - you’ll drop into a terminal session.
Now we can follow the app deployment instructions, which follow a common pattern:
- install dependencies to run the app
- install the application
- configure application settings
.NET Framework 4.8
The VM will have .NET already installed - start by checking the version:
# this prints the .NET Framework version(s) installed:
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -recurse |
Get-ItemProperty -name Version,Release -EA 0 |
Where { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} |
Select PSChildName, Version, Release
We need the Full framework to be 4.8 (if not we would need to install it).
Web Server
The application needs a web server. Windows Server runs Internet Information Services (IIS), but it’s not installed by default. Install it by adding the Windows features:
# verify the IIS components are not installed:
Get-WindowsFeature
# then install all the bits we need:
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Server,NET-Framework-45-ASPNET,Web-Asp-Net45
Application install
The application is packaged as a Windows Installer MSI, which is published on GitHub.
Download and run the MSI to install the app:
# download the package:
curl -o signup.msi https://github.com/courselabs/azure/releases/download/labs-iaas-apps-1.0/SignUp-1.0.msi
# deploy it:
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList '/i', 'signup.msi', '/quiet', '/norestart' -NoNewWindow -Wait
When the process completes, check that the application has been deployed:
# list the files created by the package:
ls /docker4.net/SignUp.Web
# verify that the application has been registered with the web server:
Get-WebApplication
You can test the application on the VM by making an HTTP request to localhost. You’ll get a response here but it will be full of error logs - we haven’t finished the deployment yet:
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
This will take a while to respond and then show an error - The server was not found or was not accessible.
The website is using a default configuration file. We need to edit that to use our SQL Azure database.
Application configuration
The default config file needs to be updated to use the correct database connection string:
# print the default database connection details:
cat C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
We need to replace the connection string value "Server=SIGNUP-DB-DEV01;Database=SignUp;User Id=sa;Password=DockerCon!!!;Connect Timeout=10;" with the correct server name and credentials.
Find the connection string for your database (the Portal is good for this) and update the config file:
# Windows Server Core doesn't have the full GUI but it does have Notepad :)
notepad C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
Try the app again locally with curl - you’ll get a new error :)
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
The SQL database needs to be configured to allow access from the VM.
Database configuration
Open the SQL Server (the server not the database) in the Portal and select the Networking tab.
- add a virtual network rule to allow access from the vnet the VM is connected to
- pay attention to the messages from the UI…
Test the app again with curl in the VM - you should see an HTML response with no errors:
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
Lab
Now the app is working locally, we need to publish it so we can access it from the Internet. Make the changes you need so you can browse to a DNS name from your local machine and see the application:
- http://[vm-fqdn]/signup
Click the Sign Up button and add some details. Run some queries in the SQL database to verify your data is saved.
Cleanup
Delete the RG:
az group delete -y -n $rg
az sql server create -g $rg -l $location -n $server -u sqladmin -p '<admin-password>'
az sql db create -g $rg -n $database -s $server --no-wait
MicrosoftWindowsServer and the offer WindowsServer.
Not sure how?</summary>
# list out the SKUs:
az vm image list-skus -l westus -p MicrosoftWindowsServer -f WindowsServer -o table
Among the outputs you should see 2022-datacenter-core-g2 which is the SKU we’re looking for.
# create a VM using the latest version of the image:
az vm create -l $location -g $rg -n app01 --image MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-datacenter-core-g2:latest --size Standard_D2s_v5 --admin-username labs --public-ip-address-dns-name <your-unique-dns-name> --admin-password <your-strong-password>
</details>
You don’t need to add a DNS name for the PIP, but if you do it will be easier to connect to the VM.
Deploy the app
When the VM is up and running, we can connect and deploy the app. We’ll do that manually in this lab, and we’ll look at automation options later.
Use a Remote Desktop client to connect to the VM using the public IP address or DNS name, and the credentials you set when you created it.
This is a Windows Server Core VM so there’s no familiar Windows GUI - you’ll drop into a terminal session.
Now we can follow the app deployment instructions, which follow a common pattern:
- install dependencies to run the app
- install the application
- configure application settings
.NET Framework 4.8
The VM will have .NET already installed - start by checking the version:
# this prints the .NET Framework version(s) installed:
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -recurse |
Get-ItemProperty -name Version,Release -EA 0 |
Where { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} |
Select PSChildName, Version, Release
We need the Full framework to be 4.8 (if not we would need to install it).
Web Server
The application needs a web server. Windows Server runs Internet Information Services (IIS), but it’s not installed by default. Install it by adding the Windows features:
# verify the IIS components are not installed:
Get-WindowsFeature
# then install all the bits we need:
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Server,NET-Framework-45-ASPNET,Web-Asp-Net45
Application install
The application is packaged as a Windows Installer MSI, which is published on GitHub.
Download and run the MSI to install the app:
# download the package:
curl -o signup.msi https://github.com/courselabs/azure/releases/download/labs-iaas-apps-1.0/SignUp-1.0.msi
# deploy it:
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList '/i', 'signup.msi', '/quiet', '/norestart' -NoNewWindow -Wait
When the process completes, check that the application has been deployed:
# list the files created by the package:
ls /docker4.net/SignUp.Web
# verify that the application has been registered with the web server:
Get-WebApplication
You can test the application on the VM by making an HTTP request to localhost. You’ll get a response here but it will be full of error logs - we haven’t finished the deployment yet:
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
This will take a while to respond and then show an error - The server was not found or was not accessible.
The website is using a default configuration file. We need to edit that to use our SQL Azure database.
Application configuration
The default config file needs to be updated to use the correct database connection string:
# print the default database connection details:
cat C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
We need to replace the connection string value "Server=SIGNUP-DB-DEV01;Database=SignUp;User Id=sa;Password=DockerCon!!!;Connect Timeout=10;" with the correct server name and credentials.
Find the connection string for your database (the Portal is good for this) and update the config file:
# Windows Server Core doesn't have the full GUI but it does have Notepad :)
notepad C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
Try the app again locally with curl - you’ll get a new error :)
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
The SQL database needs to be configured to allow access from the VM.
Database configuration
Open the SQL Server (the server not the database) in the Portal and select the Networking tab.
- add a virtual network rule to allow access from the vnet the VM is connected to
- pay attention to the messages from the UI…
Test the app again with curl in the VM - you should see an HTML response with no errors:
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
Lab
Now the app is working locally, we need to publish it so we can access it from the Internet. Make the changes you need so you can browse to a DNS name from your local machine and see the application:
- http://[vm-fqdn]/signup
Click the Sign Up button and add some details. Run some queries in the SQL database to verify your data is saved.
Cleanup
Delete the RG:
az group delete -y -n $rg
# list out the SKUs:
az vm image list-skus -l westus -p MicrosoftWindowsServer -f WindowsServer -o table
2022-datacenter-core-g2 which is the SKU we’re looking for.# create a VM using the latest version of the image:
az vm create -l $location -g $rg -n app01 --image MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-datacenter-core-g2:latest --size Standard_D2s_v5 --admin-username labs --public-ip-address-dns-name <your-unique-dns-name> --admin-password <your-strong-password>
This is a Windows Server Core VM so there’s no familiar Windows GUI - you’ll drop into a terminal session.
# this prints the .NET Framework version(s) installed:
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -recurse |
Get-ItemProperty -name Version,Release -EA 0 |
Where { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} |
Select PSChildName, Version, Release
# verify the IIS components are not installed:
Get-WindowsFeature
# then install all the bits we need:
Install-WindowsFeature Web-Server,NET-Framework-45-ASPNET,Web-Asp-Net45
# download the package:
curl -o signup.msi https://github.com/courselabs/azure/releases/download/labs-iaas-apps-1.0/SignUp-1.0.msi
# deploy it:
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList '/i', 'signup.msi', '/quiet', '/norestart' -NoNewWindow -Wait
# list the files created by the package:
ls /docker4.net/SignUp.Web
# verify that the application has been registered with the web server:
Get-WebApplication
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
This will take a while to respond and then show an error - The server was not found or was not accessible.
# print the default database connection details:
cat C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
"Server=SIGNUP-DB-DEV01;Database=SignUp;User Id=sa;Password=DockerCon!!!;Connect Timeout=10;" with the correct server name and credentials.# Windows Server Core doesn't have the full GUI but it does have Notepad :)
notepad C:\docker4.net\SignUp.Web\connectionStrings.config
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
curl.exe -L http://localhost/signup
az group delete -y -n $rg