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Ganiyat Olagoke Adebayo
Ganiyat Olagoke Adebayo

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Getting Started with Azure App Service: Deploying Your First Web App

#webdev #devops #cloud #ai

Introduction: What Is Azure App Service?

Azure App Service is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering that allows you to build, deploy, and host web applications without managing servers or infrastructure. With App Service, Microsoft handles the underlying operating system, patching, scaling, and availability, so developers and learners can focus entirely on the application itself.

Unlike Virtual Machines—where you are responsible for configuring and maintaining the server—Azure App Service abstracts away those complexities. It supports multiple programming languages and frameworks, offers built-in security, and provides easy integration with deployment tools, making it ideal for web apps, APIs, and backend services.

One of the most powerful aspects of Azure App Service is its flexibility. Applications can be deployed in several ways, including GitHub Actions, ZIP deployment, FTP, and even directly through the Azure portal using the Advanced Tools (Kudu) PowerShell console. This makes App Service especially suitable for learning, rapid prototyping, and simple production workloads.

In this guide, I demonstrate a hands-on approach to deploying a web application by creating an App Service in the Azure portal and copying application code directly into the wwwroot folder using PowerShell. This method helps beginners understand how App Service works behind the scenes while keeping the deployment process simple and visual.

In this guide, I walk through a hands-on, beginner-friendly approach to deploying a web app by directly copying and pasting application code into Azure using the PowerShell Debug Console.

This method is ideal for learning, quick tests, and simple applications.

Step 1: Prepare the Application Code

Before going to Azure, ensure your application code is ready.

This could be:

  • A simple HTML/CSS/JavaScript web app
  • A basic landing page

Example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>My Azure App</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Hello from Azure App Service</h1>
</body>
</html>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Having your code ready makes deployment fast and smooth.

Step 2: Create an App Service in Azure

  • Sign in to the Azure Portal
  • Search for App Services

  • Click Create

  • Enter the required details:

    • Subscription
    • Resource Group
    • App name (must be globally unique)
    • Runtime stack
    • Region
    • App Service Plan (Free or Basic for learning)

  • Click Review + Create

  • Click Create Azure will deploy your App Service in a few minutes.

Step 3: Confirm App Creation Status

  • In the App Service menu, locate Default domain
  • Click the domain link


At this stage, you should see the default Azure App Service page, confirming the app was created successfully.

Step 4: Open Advanced Tools (Kudu)

  • In the App Service menu, search for Advanced Tools
  • Click Go


This opens the Kudu environment, which provides debugging and file management tools.

Step 5: Open PowerShell Debug Console

  • In Kudu, click Debug Console
  • Select PowerShell


This gives you direct access to the App Service file system.

Step 6: Navigate to the Application Folder

  • In PowerShell:

  • Click site

  • Click wwwroot


The wwwroot folder contains the files served by your web app.

Step 7: Replace the Default App Code

  • Locate the hostingstart.html file
  • Click Edit


Clear the existing content
Paste your application code

  • Save the file

This replaces the default Azure page with your own app.

Step 8: Verify the Application Is Running

  • Return to the Azure Portal
  • Open your App Service

  • Click the Default domain again

  • You should now see your custom application live and running.

Step 9: Clean Up Resources (Cost Awareness)

After testing:

  • Delete the App Service
  • Delete the App Service Plan
  • Or delete the entire Resource Group

In Azure, unused resources continue to incur costs — cleaning up is part of responsible cloud usage.

How This Fits into the Bigger Azure Journey

This exercise builds naturally on previous Azure concepts:

  • Virtual Machines → full control, more management
  • Virtual Machine Scale Sets → scalable infrastructure
  • App Service → managed platform with faster deployment

From creating virtual machines, capturing images, building scale sets, and now deploying applications using App Service, this journey highlights how Azure supports multiple levels of abstraction — from infrastructure to fully managed platforms.

Conclusion

Deploying an application using Azure App Service and the PowerShell Debug Console is a simple yet powerful way to understand how platform-as-a-service works in practice.

By preparing the code, creating the App Service, enabling authentication, and deploying directly into wwwroot, you can quickly get an application live without worrying about servers.

This hands-on approach reinforces an important cloud principle:
choose the service that matches your workload — not every solution needs a virtual machine.

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