DEV Community: Barbra Mududa

Creating an Azure App Service with a SQL Database using Node.js

Barbra Mududa — Sun, 21 May 2023 22:20:39 +0000

To create an app service with a SQL database in Azure, follow these steps:

Sign in to the Azure portal at https://portal.azure.com.
Click on the "Create a resource" button (+) in the Azure portal's left-hand menu.
In the search box, type "App Service" and select "App Services" from the suggested results.
Click on the "Create" button to begin creating a new app service.
In the "Basics" tab, configure the following settings:

Subscription: Select the Azure subscription you want to use.
Resource Group: Choose an existing resource group or create a new one to logically group related resources.
Name: Enter a unique name for your app service.
Publish: Choose the appropriate publishing method based on your application requirements (e.g., Code, Docker Container, etc.).
Runtime stack: Select the runtime stack that matches your application (e.g., .NET, Node.js, Python, etc.). I chose Node.js because that is what I was using for my app service
Operating System: Choose the operating system (Windows or Linux) for your app service.
Region: Select the Azure region where you want to host your app service.

Click on the "Next" button to proceed to the "Deployment" tab. Here, you give your Github repository and organisation name

Click on the "Next" button to proceed to the "Networking" tab. Select "Enable public access" on so that others may access your website.
Click on the "Review + create" button to review your app service configuration..
After reviewing the settings, click on the "Create" button to create the app service. Azure will start provisioning the necessary resources for your app service.
Once the app service is created, navigate to the app service's Overview page.

Creating a SQL Database

In the Overview page, click on the "Add" button under the "Settings" section and select "Azure SQL" from the dropdown menu.
In the "Add SQL connection" page, click on the "Create new database" option.
Configure the SQL database settings:

Database name: Enter a name for your SQL database.
Server: Choose an existing SQL server or create a new one.
Pricing tier: Select the appropriate pricing tier based on your performance and cost requirements.
Server admin login and password: Provide the login credentials for the SQL server.

Click on the "OK" button to create the SQL database.
Once the database is created, you can access its connection string and other details from the app service's Overview page.
Update your application code or configuration to use the SQL database connection string obtained in the previous step.

On your Web App Service overview, select the domain link to view your website

Below is my domain link:
https://barbra.azurewebsites.net/

That's all! You have now created an app service in Azure using a SQL database. You can deploy your application code or content to the app service, which will connect to the corresponding SQL database for data storage and retrieval.

My First Azure Web App with Azure SQL Database

Barbra Mududa — Sat, 20 May 2023 20:00:19 +0000

Title: Safiri Kenya: Your Gateway to Unforgettable Adventures

Introduction:
Are you a nature enthusiast seeking thrilling experiences in the heart of Kenya? Look no further than Safiri Kenya! This remarkable website caters to both local and international tourists, providing a platform to embark on exciting journeys such as hiking, camping, and safaris. Safiri Kenya is not just a website; it's a gateway to discovering the breathtaking beauty and diverse wildlife of Kenya. Let's delve into the key features and technologies behind this incredible platform.

Unparalleled Experiences:
Safiri Kenya is dedicated to curating unforgettable experiences for adventure seekers. Whether you're an avid hiker, a camping enthusiast, or someone longing to witness the majestic wildlife on a safari, this website has got you covered. With a wide range of meticulously crafted itineraries, you can choose from various destinations and activities that suit your preferences.

Cutting-Edge Technologies:
Safiri Kenya leverages modern technologies to provide users with a seamless and immersive browsing experience. The website is built using ReactJS, a powerful JavaScript library known for its efficiency and flexibility. This ensures fast-loading pages and smooth navigation, enhancing user satisfaction. Additionally, the website's design is enhanced by Bootstrap CSS, making it visually appealing and user-friendly.

Reliable Data Management:
To ensure a robust and secure data management system, Safiri Kenya utilizes a MySQL database. MySQL is a widely recognized and reliable relational database management system that allows efficient storage and retrieval of information. By leveraging the power of MySQL, the website ensures the seamless organization and retrieval of data, enabling quick and accurate bookings for users.

Azure Hosting for Maximum Reliability:
Safiri Kenya takes advantage of the robust hosting capabilities of Microsoft Azure. The website is hosted on Azure Web Apps, providing a reliable and scalable platform for seamless deployment and management. This ensures that users can access the website at any time, with minimal downtime or performance issues. Moreover, Azure's built-in security features ensure the protection of user data, maintaining privacy and peace of mind.

Azure SQL Database for Data Integrity:
Safiri Kenya also benefits from Azure SQL Database, a fully managed relational database service offered by Microsoft Azure. This cloud-based database solution ensures the integrity and availability of critical data, offering high performance and scalability. With Azure SQL Database, Safiri Kenya can handle a large volume of user requests while maintaining optimal response times, ensuring a smooth booking experience.

Conclusion:
Safiri Kenya is more than just a website; it's a doorway to thrilling adventures in the beautiful landscapes of Kenya. Through its user-friendly interface, cutting-edge technologies like ReactJS and Bootstrap CSS, and reliable data management using MySQL, Safiri Kenya delivers a seamless browsing and booking experience to its users. Hosted on Azure Web Apps and powered by Azure SQL Database, this website guarantees reliability, scalability, and data security. Embark on your dream journey today with Safiri Kenya and create memories that will last a lifetime.

SQL Commands Guide(Cheat-sheet)

Barbra Mududa — Sat, 06 May 2023 16:30:22 +0000

SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a programming language used to manage data stored in relational databases. A relational database is a database that organizes information into one or more tables, which are collections of data organized into rows and columns. SQL statements are used to manage and manipulate data in these tables.

1. CREATE TABLE

One of the most basic SQL statements is the CREATE TABLE statement, which is used to create a new table. For example:

CREATE TABLE users (
   id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
   name TEXT,
   age INTEGER
);

2. INSERT

The INSERT statement is used to insert a new row into a table. For example:

INSERT INTO users (name, age)
VALUES 
     ('John', 30),
     ('Jane', 25);

3. ALTER TABLE

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add a new column to a table. For example:

ALTER TABLE users 
ADD COLUMN email TEXT;

4. UPDATE

The UPDATE statement is used to edit a row in a table. For example:

UPDATE users 
SET age = 31 
WHERE name = 'John';

5. DELETE FROM

The DELETE FROM statement is used to delete one or more rows from a table. For example:

DELETE FROM users 
WHERE age < 25;

6. AS

The AS keyword allows you to rename a column or table using an alias. For example:

SELECT name AS 'Full Name', age AS 'Age'
FROM users;

7. Constraints

Constraints are used to add information about how a column can be used, such as UNIQUE, NOT NULL, and DEFAULT. For example:

CREATE TABLE employees (
   id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
   name TEXT UNIQUE,
   age INTEGER NOT NULL,
   salary INTEGER DEFAULT 50000
);

8. DISTINCT

The DISTINCT keyword is used to return unique values in the output. For example:

SELECT DISTINCT age
FROM employees;

9. WHERE

The WHERE clause is used to restrict query results to only the information we want. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE age > 30;

10.LIKE

The LIKE operator is used to search for a specific pattern in a column. The percentage sign (%) is a wildcard character that matches zero or more missing letters in the pattern. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE name LIKE 'J%';

11. 'IS NULL' AND 'IS NOT NULL'

The IS NULL and IS NOT NULL operators are used to filter the result set to only include rows with null or non-null values in a column, respectively. For example:

SELECT name
FROM employees 
WHERE salary IS NOT NULL;

12. BETWEEN

The BETWEEN operator is used to filter the result set within a certain range. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE age BETWEEN 25 AND 35;

13. AND and OR

The AND and OR operators are used to combine multiple conditions in a WHERE clause to make the result set more specific and useful. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
WHERE age BETWEEN 25 AND 35
   AND salary > 60000
   OR name LIKE '%Smith%';

14. ORDER BY

The ORDER BY statement is used to sort the result set in ascending or descending order. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
ORDER BY age DESC;

15. LIMIT

The LIMIT statement is used to specify the maximum number of rows the result set will have. For example:

SELECT *
FROM employees
LIMIT 10;

16. CASE

The CASE statement is used to create different outputs based on a condition. For example:

SELECT name,
 CASE
  WHEN age > 30 THEN 'Senior Employee'
  WHEN age > 25 THEN 'Mid-Level Employee'
  ELSE 'Junior Employee'
 END
FROM employees;

In conclusion,SQL is an extremely powerful tool for managing and manipulating data stored in relational databases.

Guide to adding storage disks to Linux Virtual Machine on Azure.

Barbra Mududa — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 22:10:13 +0000

Are you new to Linux virtual machines on Azure? Need more storage or flexibility? This step-by-step guide will show you how to create, connect, and format a data disk for your Linux VM in Azure.

Create a Linux VM:

Navigate to the Virtual Machines section of the Azure interface and build a new VM. Choose a Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu or Windows, and the suitable VM size for your needs. To create the VM, simply follow the steps.

Once the VM has been developed, you must connect to it. To connect to the VM, use the SSH client of your choice.

Create a data disk

Consider adding a data drive to your Linux virtual machine (VM) if you're utilizing Azure. You can store data on a data disk, which is a different virtual hard drive, store data, install applications, or run scripts on it. Here is a step-by-step tutorial on creating a disk:

Step 1: Creating a data disk

- Log in to your account using the Azure portal (portal.azure.com).
- Click on "Disks" in the "Storage" section of the left-hand menu.
- To create a new disk, click the "+ Add" button.
- Click the "Create" button to create the new data disk

Step 2: Attach the data disk to your VM

- Select the Linux VM you want to attach the data disk to.
- Under the "Settings" menu, select the "Disks" option.
- To add a new data disk, click the "+ Add data disk" button.
- From the drop-down option, choose the data drive you created in Step 1.
- Click "OK" to attach the data disk after making the necessary selections, such as the cache type and size.

Step 3: Format and mount the data disk

Click on the VM you want to connect to
Go to the "Connect" tab
Locate the SSH command to connect to your VM
Store the connection command and SSH key in the same folder, such as your Home or Desktop
This will ensure easy access and connection to your Linux virtual machine using the SSH command.

To identify the new data drive, use the "lsblk" command to list the available block devices. It will most likely be named "/dev/sdc".

lsblk -o NAME,HCTL,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT | grep -i "sd"

To create a new partition on the data disk, use the "fdisk" command. For a simple partition, you can utilize the default settings.

To format the new partition, use the "mkfs" command. For example, if you created a new partition at "/dev/sdc1", you can format it as an ext4 file system using the command "sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sdc1".

sudo parted /dev/sdc --script mklabel gpt mkpart xfspart xfs 0% 100%
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/sdc1
sudo partprobe /dev/sdc1

Make a mount point for the new hard drive. For example, you can use the following command to create a directory called "/mnt/data":

sudo mkdir /mnt/data.

Mount the new data disk to the mount point. For example, if you formatted the new partition at "/dev/sdc1" and created a mount point at "/mnt/data", you can mount the data disk with the following command:

sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/data

After you have successfully mounted the new data disk to your Linux virtual machine, you can verify that it has been mounted correctly using the "df -h" command.

Conclusion

Attaching a data disk to your Azure Linux VM is a simple step that can provide more storage and flexibility. You may quickly build a new data disk, attach it to your VM, format it, and mount it for usage by following the instructions indicated in this blog post.

Creating a Static Web App on Azure Using a Linux VM: Deploy Your React App with "Create Static Web App"

Barbra Mududa — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 00:27:43 +0000

Static web apps have grown in popularity for a wide range of applications, from basic marketing websites to large online applications. You can quickly deploy your React project as a static web app on Microsoft Azure by using a Linux virtual machine (VM) and the "Create Static Web App" option.

I'll walk you through the steps to construct a static web app on Azure utilizing a Linux VM and deploy your React app with "Create Static Web App" in this blog article.

Prerequisites
Before getting started, you'll need the following:

An Azure account with a subscription that has permissions to create a Linux VM.
A local copy of your React app.

Creating a Static Web App on Azure using react framework

A online presence is crucial for any organization or person in the modern digital world. While there are various ways to host a website, Azure provides a safe and dependable way to develop static web applications. Making a static web app is a simple procedure that can be finished in just a few steps thanks to Azure's user-friendly UI and comprehensive capabilities.

Step 1: Create a Resource Group

You must first create a resource group before you can construct a static web app in Azure. This is a container that houses all of the components of your web app, such as the app itself, the database, and the storage. Log into your Azure account and go to the Azure portal to create a resource group. On the left side of the screen, select the "Resource groups" tab, and then click the "Add" button.

Step 2: Create a Static Web App

After you've created a resource group, you'll need to construct a static web app. To achieve this, go to the Azure portal and click the "Create a resource" button. Then, look for "Static Web App." Choose the choice, then click "Create."

Step 3: Configure the Static Web App

To create a static web app in the Azure portal and connect it to GitHub, follow these steps:

Navigate to the App Services tab after signing in to your Azure portal account. To build a new web application, select the "+ Add" button.
Give your web app a name, choose your subscription, resource group, and app service plan, and then click "Create."

After you've finished building your web project, navigate to the Deployment Center and pick GitHub as your source control provider.
Choose your GitHub repository and provide Azure permission to access it.

Select the React framework and indicate the location of your web app in the Build Details section.

In the "App location" section, paste the "react-scripts build" command from your package.json file under the "scripts" section. This command will create your React app.
Select "build" as the output location for your app in the "Output" section.
Click on "Save" then "Create + Review" to complete the setup.

Step 4: Deploy the Static Web App

Deploying the static web application is the last step. By doing this, Azure will automatically build and deploy the app after you send your code to the Azure repository. Your static web app will be up and available to the public once the deployment is finished.After you've used Create Static Web App to publish your app to Azure, follow these steps to find where it is:

Navigate to your Static Web App resource in the Azure portal.
Select the "Overview" tab.
The "App location" field can be found in the "Deployment details" section. This will display the URL where your program is installed.
To access your app in a new browser tab, click on the URL.

Below is an example of a deployed website:

Note:

Creating a static web app on Azure is a quick and easy procedure that can be finished in a few steps. You can develop a safe and trustworthy web presence with Azure's comprehensive features and simple interface, which will help you stand out in today's digital marketplace. So, why delay? Begin today and use Azure to take your digital presence to the next level.

Mastering the Art of Instance Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Creating and Terminating Instances Like a Pro!

Barbra Mududa — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 10:22:52 +0000

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a cloud computing service that provides scalable computing capacity in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers. With EC2, you can launch instances of virtual machines, also known as instances, on Amazon's infrastructure. This allows you to quickly and easily spin up virtual servers to run your applications, store your data, or even host your website. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the steps to create and terminate an EC2 instance using the EC2 dashboard.

CREATING AN INSTANCE

Step 1: Sign in to the AWS Management Console

To create an EC2 instance, you first need to sign in to the AWS Management Console. If you don't have an AWS account, you can create one by following the instructions provided on the AWS website.

Step 2: Open the EC2 Dashboard

After you have logged in to the AWS Management Console, you can go to the EC2 dashboard by selecting the "EC2" service located in the "Compute" category of the console. This will direct you to the EC2 dashboard, where you can oversee your EC2 instances.

Step 3: Launch Instance

On the EC2 dashboard, click the "Launch Instance" button to start the process of generating a new instance. This will direct you to the "Launch Instance Wizard", which will guide you through the process of selecting the instance type, configuring the instance particulars, and launching the instance.

Step 4: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

The initial stage in the "Launch Instance Wizard" is to select an Amazon Machine Image (AMI), which is a pre-configured virtual machine image that encompasses an operating system and any supplementary software you need to execute your application. You can choose from a broad range of AMIs, including Linux, Windows, and other operating systems.

Step 5: Choose an Instance Type

The next step is to select an instance type, which determines the amount of Central Processing Unit (CPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), data storage,and networking capacity that your instance will possess. You can choose from a wide range of instance categories, including general-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, and storage-optimized instances.

Step 6: Configure Instance Details

After selecting an Amazon Machine Image(AMI) and an instance type, you can configure the instance details, including the number of instances you want to launch, the network settings, and any additional storage you need.

Step 7: Add Storage

If you require an additional storage for your instance, you can add it in this step. You can choose from a variety of storage alternatives, including Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volumes and instance store volumes.

Step 8: Configure Security Group

The next step is to configure the security group for your instance, which determines the network access to your instance. You can either create a new security group or use an existing one. It is advisable to utilize the default or an existing security group.

Step 9: Review Instance Launch

Before launching your instance, you can review all the configurations to ensure that everything is correct. Once you are satisfied, click the "Launch" button to start the instance.

Step 10: Connect to Your Instance

After you launch your instance, you can connect to it using a remote desktop client or SSH client. You can also use the AWS Management Console to connect to your instance. This is what a functioning instance appears like:

TERMINATING AN INSTANCE

Navigate to the EC2 dashboard.
Select the instance that you want to terminate.
Click the "Actions" button and choose "Instance State" > "Terminate".
Confirm that you want to terminate the instance by clicking "Yes, Terminate".

AWS will request for your confirmation to terminate the instance before proceeding. Once you give the confirmation, AWS will initiate the termination process, which may take a few minutes to finish. Throughout this period, you will be unable to access the instance, and any active tasks or information on the instance will be lost forever.

After the termination process is finished, the instance will be erased permanently from your account, and you won't be billed for its usage beyond the present billing cycle. Nevertheless, you will need to manually delete or clean up associated resources, like Elastic Block Storage(EBS) volumes or security groups, to avoid incurring unwanted charges.