DEV Community: Amadi Chimeremma

A Step-by-Step Guide to Linking and Deploying a Node.js Web App to Azure App Services and Connecting it to an SQL Database

Amadi Chimeremma — Sun, 21 May 2023 22:31:49 +0000

Introduction:
In today's digital era, deploying web applications to the cloud has become increasingly popular due to its scalability and ease of management. Azure App Services, coupled with Node.js and an SQL database, offers a powerful combination for hosting and running your web applications. In this blog, I will walk you through the process of linking and deploying a Node.js web app to Azure App Services and connecting it to an SQL database.

Prerequisites:
Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites in place:

An Azure account: Sign up for an Azure account at click.
Node.js and npm: Install Node.js and npm on your local machine. You can download them from click here.
Azure CLI: Install Azure CLI on your machine. You can find installation instructions at https://docs.microsoft.com/cli/azure/install-azure-cli.

Step 1: Create an Azure App Service

Log in to the Azure portal click here using your Azure account credentials.
Click on "Create a resource" and search for "App Service."
Select "Web App" from the search results and click "Create."
Provide a unique name for your app, choose your preferred subscription, resource group, and operating system.
Configure the runtime stack to Node.js and choose the desired version.
Click "Review + Create" and then "Create" to provision the App Service.

Step 2: Set up your Node.js Web App

Open a terminal or command prompt and navigate to your project's directory.
Initialize a new Node.js project by running the command: npm start.
Install the necessary dependencies for your web app using npm run build.
Test your application locally using the command: npm run start. I am using windows, so this will open on local host 3000.

Step 3: Connect to an SQL Database

In the Azure portal, go to your App Service's "Overview" page.
Under "Settings," click on "Configuration."
Add a new connection string by clicking on the "New connection string" button.
Enter a name for the connection string and select the SQL database provider.
Provide the necessary details, including the server name, database name, username, and password.
Click "OK" to save the connection string.

Step 4: Deploy the Node.js Web App to Azure

In the Azure portal, navigate to your App Service's "Overview" page.
Under "Deployment," select "Deployment Center."
Choose the deployment method that suits your project (e.g., Local Git, GitHub, Bitbucket, etc.).
Follow the instructions to link your repository and configure the deployment settings.
Once configured, trigger a deployment to deploy your Node.js web app to Azure.

Step 5: Verify and Test

Once the deployment is complete, navigate to your Azure App Service's URL.
Test your web app's functionality and ensure that it connects to the SQL database successfully.
Monitor the application's logs and Azure portal's metrics to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Conclusion:
In Summary, we have explored the process of linking and deploying a Node.js web app to Azure App Services and connecting it to an SQL database. By following these steps, you can take advantage of Azure's robust infrastructure and scalability, allowing you to focus on building and maintaining your application without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Microsoft Azure: Building My First Azure Static Web App.

Amadi Chimeremma — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 14:09:24 +0000

Creating and deploying a static web app on Azure using GitHub involves several steps, which are:

Create a GitHub repository: Create a new GitHub repository or use an existing one to host the code for your static web app.

Create an Azure account: If you don't have an Azure account, create one at portal.azure.com
Create a new static web app in Azure: In the Azure portal, navigate to "Static Web Apps" and click on the "Add" button to create a new static web app.
Configure your static web app: Configure your static web app by providing details such as the name of the app, the source code repository URL, build settings, etc.
Connect your GitHub repository to your Azure account: In the "Deployment Center" tab of your Azure static web app, connect your GitHub repository by providing the required access and authentication details.

Enable continuous deployment: Enable continuous deployment by selecting the option to deploy changes automatically whenever new changes are pushed to the GitHub repository.
Deploy your static web app: Deploy your static web app by pushing the code changes to your GitHub repository. Azure will automatically build and deploy the changes to your static web app.
Verify the deployment: Verify that your static web app is deployed and running correctly by navigating to the URL of the app provided in the Azure portal.
Update your static web app: Whenever you need to make changes to your static web app, simply make the changes in your code and push them to your GitHub repository. Azure will automatically build and deploy the changes to your static web app. Following these steps will allow you to create and deploy a static web app on Azure using GitHub.

How to create an elastic compute cloud 2 (EC2)(Microsoft Windows Server 2022 base) and connect with open SSH on PEM.

Amadi Chimeremma — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 13:02:37 +0000

Yaay!! Welcome you to my very first article. I am super excited to do this.
So, I will be showing us simple steps to create, connect and terminate your own EC2 instance on an AWS cloud.
Leggooo!!!

Step 1: Log in to your AWS Management Console and navigate to the EC2 dashboard.

By this, I'm sure you have already created your AWS account and are now logged into your account. Please click on the link below to signup if you haven't already.click here to sign up

Step 2: Click on the "Launch Instance" button to start the instance creation process.

Step 3: Begin your instance configuration and choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for your instance.
Enter the name you want to give your VM, then choose the appropriate operating system for your machine. The AMI is essentially the operating system that your instance will run on.

Step 4: Choose an instance type.
This determines the hardware specifications of your instance, such as CPU, RAM, and storage. Usually, you just want to go for the free tier if you are just starting.

Step 5: Configure the instance details, such as the number of instances, network settings, and storage options.

I usually leave things the way they are here by applying the default settings.

Step 6: Select an existing key pair or create a new one to securely connect to your instance.

At the Keypair section, click on the right icon which reads, create new keypair- you can create your keypair by typing a name for it and selecting the .PEM option. This will come in handy later on so don't forget.

Step 7: Review your instance details and launch the instance.

Step 8: Wait for your instance to launch, and then connect to it securely using the key pair you selected.

Now, your instance is up and running smoothly, make sure its selected or checked, then you click on connect on the upper tab to connect to your virtual machine.

Step 9: connect to instance using RDP Client.

Once the connection tab opens, select the RDP client, click on get password and enter your .PEM keypair in the box shown.
Step 10: Connection.

Copy your password as generated in the public DNS, click on download remote desktop file, Open it, attach copied password on the space for administrator password , connect.
Step 11: Connection successful.

connect and load open your VM instance on your computer, VOILA!!

TERMINATION OF INSTANCE

Essentially, there is need to terminate your instance when not in use to avoid accruing unnecessary charges. To do this go back to the launch instance terminal and terminate.

*That's it! You now know how to create a fully functional EC2 instance running in the AWS cloud, connect successfully as well as terminate it.
*
ciao!