DEV Community: OLALEKAN john Ayansola

How to Deploy a Web App with CI/CD Pipelines on Azure App Service

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 02:24:03 +0000

Azure App Service provides a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling web applications. By leveraging CI/CD pipelines with Azure DevOps, you can automate your build and release processes, ensuring faster and more reliable deployments.

Key Benefits:

Automation: Reduce manual effort and human errors.
Consistency: Achieve repeatable deployments across environments.
Speed: Deploy updates quickly, improving your development lifecycle.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process of deploying a web application to Azure App Service using Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. Whether you’re a developer or a DevOps engineer, this step-by-step guide will help you streamline your deployment process with the power of Azure DevOps.

Prerequisites
Before starting, ensure you have the following:

An Azure account with an active subscription
A web application project
(e.g., Node.js, .NET Core, Python, etc.).
An Azure DevOps account with a project created
Git installed and your code pushed to a repository
(e.g., GitHub, Azure Repos)

Step 1: Set Up Your Azure App Service

Create a New App Service plan
In the search bar, type App Services plan and select it.
Click on + create

Fill in the required details, including:

Subscription: Select your subscription.
Resource Group: Create a new resource group or use an existing one.
Name: Provide a unique name for your app service plan
Select the operating system
Region: Select a region close to your users.

Select the Pricing tier
Click Review + Create and then Create to deploy your App Service.

Click on go to Resource

In the search bar, type App Services and select it.

Click on + Create and choose Web App.

Fill in the required details: (resource group that was created earlier, subscription, web app name, pubish, Runtime stack

Review, and then create

Click on go to resource

Step 2: Set up your local development Environment
Install visual studio code and Github if you don't have any before

Step 3: Initialize Github Repository and create web app in visual studio code
Click on + and select new repository

Click on create new Repository

Initailize Git from Visual studio code terminal Run git init to inittialize a Git repository.

Run git add to stage your files

Run git status

Run git clone url from the repository created earlier

Run nano index php

Enter control X and then press Y follow by enter

Run cat index php

Step 5: Back to azure portal page

Go to your Azure portal mywebapp2020 page.
Navigate to Deployment section, select Deployment center
Select code source, Select Github

Select source as Github
Organization is you Github username
Select the repository Name

Select preview the file

Click on save to setup Deployment

Deployment succesful

Step 6. Deploy the Application

Commit and push: Commit and push your changes to Github. The Github actions workflow will automatically start, build and deploy your application to azure app sevice.
You needed to upgrade from F1 to premium to be able to deploy

Upgrade to premium standard S1 at least

Add slot immediately after the upgrade

Give name to the slot and set the source of clone

Click on add slot

CI/CD runing

Step 7. Monitor Deployment
You can monitor the Deployment progress in action on Github .
Once deployed, your web app should be accessible via azure app service. URL

CONCLUSION

By following these steps, you can set up an automated CI/CD pipeline for your web app, enabling efficient and reliable deployments on Azure App Service.

A technical blog on Git and Github, how to set up git, creating a repository, making commits, pushing,pulling

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 22:39:21 +0000

Git and GitHub are essential tools for developers and anyone working on collaborative coding projects. Git is a distributed version control system that allows you to track changes to your codebase, while GitHub is a cloud-based platform for hosting and managing Git repositories. In this blog, I will cover how to set up Git, create a repository, make commits, push and pull changes, and work with branches.

Step One
Setting Up Git

Download Git from git-scm.com and follow the installation instructions.

Install the git into your system

Step 2: Configure Git

After installation, configure your Git user details.
Type Git bash on search bar, right click on git bash and run as Administrator
Open a terminal and run the following commands:
Set your name
git config --global user.name "Your Name"

Set your email git config --global user.email "youremail@example.com"

You can verify your configuration using: git config --list

Creating a Repository

Step 3: Initialize a New Repository

Navigate to your project directory and initialize a Git repository:
cd Documents

git init

Step 4 : Add a Remote Repository

If you want to link your local repository to GitHub, create a repository on GitHub:
Log in to your GitHub account.
Click on the "+" icon and select New repository.

Name your repository and click Create repository.

Step 5

Copy the repository's URL and link it to your local repository:

touch readme.md

nano read.md Press control X, then press Y then press enter

cat readme.md

git add readme.md

Step 6
Making Commits
When you make changes to your project, Git tracks those changes. However, before the changes are saved in Git’s history, you need to commit them.
Input (git status)

git commit -m "added readme file"

git push -u origin master The -u flag tells Git to track the remote repository, making it easier to push and pull in the future.

cat readme.md

git pull

Pulling Changes from GitHub

cat readme.md

Conclusion
Git and GitHub are indispensable tools for developers, offering robust version control and seamless collaboration. By understanding how to set up Git, create repositories, make commits, push and pull changes, and work with branches, you're well-equipped to manage your codebase and collaborate efficiently with others.

With practice, these fundamental Git commands will become second nature, helping you stay organized and productive in your development journey.

Create a practical IoT Solution using Azure IoT

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 01:33:50 +0000

Practical IoT Solution Using Azure IoT Hub
In this exercise, I will create an IoT solution that involves:

Setting up an Azure IoT Hub to manage IoT devices.
Registering a device with the IoT Hub.
Simulating device telemetry to send data to the IoT Hub.
Sending the telemetry data to Azure Blob Storage for persistent storage.

Steps in creating a practical IoT Hub to manage devices, simulate telemetry data, and store data in Azure Blob Storage

Go to the Azure Portal

Select create a resource, navigate to internet of things and select IoT Hub

Select subscription
Select or create existing resource group
Choose a region
Give your IoT Hub name
Select free in Tier
Click on review +Create to deploy the IoT Hub

Go to resource after the deployment is completed

Click on add Device to add device

Enter the device ID (e.g myiotdevice), leave the rest at default and click save

After the save be sure the IoT device is created

Click on the device and copy the primary connection string

Paste the primary connection string that was copied to connect the simulated device to the IoT Hub and click run

Click on message to device

The message received by the Raspberry simulator

Navigate to the overview page of the IoT Hub setting and click on message routing

Click on +Add a route

Select the endpoint to be storage
Name your Endpoint (myiotendpoint)
Click on pick a container

Click on pick container and navigate to + storage account

Give the storage account name and choose default for the remaining setting then click ok

Select the storage account you just created

Click on + container to create a container

Give the container a name and then create

Choose the new container and click on select

Click on create + next

Create a route, and add a query to filter data before routing it to the endpoint

Open the storage account on a new tab

Click on container

On the IoT hub overview page, navigate to file upload

Select the storage and container created earlier

From the IoT plug and play app that you installed on your phone, upload a file or image and make sure you save file upload changes on the IoT Hub page on the Azure portal, you will notice the file will reflect on the container page

Click on the container to see the default telemetry file created and myiotdevice contain the uploaded file

Double click on myiotdevice then click on edit to view the document

View the image or the file

Conclusion
By following these steps, you've created a practical IoT solution using Azure IoT Hub to manage devices, simulate telemetry data, and store that data in Azure Blob Storage. This solution can be extended by adding more devices, enhancing telemetry data types, or integrating with other Azure services for advanced analytics

Creating an Azure Virtual Network with Four Subnet

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 14:10:10 +0000

Azure Virtual Network (VNet) is a foundational component in Microsoft Azure that enables secure communication between Azure resources, external networks, and on-premises environments. It allows you to create a logically isolated network in the Azure cloud.
To create an Azure virtual Network with four subnets using the address space 192.148.30.0/26, the following steps are required.

Steps to Create a Virtual Network with Four Subnets in Azure Portal

Step 1: Log in to Azure Portal

Navigate to Azure Portal and sign in with your credentials.

Step 2: Create a New Virtual Network

In the search bar at the top, type "Virtual Networks" and select it from the results.

Click on (+ Create) On the Virtual Network page

Step 3: Define Basic Settings

Subscription: Select the subscription to use.
Resource Group: Choose an existing resource group or create a new one.
Virtual Network Name: Provide a name for the VNet.
Region: Select the region where you want the VNet to be created.

Step 4: Define Address Space

Step 5:Click + Add subnet to define each subnet

Subnet 1: Name: Finance Department

Subnet 2: Name: IT Department

Subnet 3: Name: Admin Department
Subnet 4: Name: Accounting Department

Step 6: Review and Create

Click Review + Create.

Click on go to Resource

Click on setting blade and navigate to subnet and see the four Subnet created

CONCLUSION
Using the Azure virtual network, Proper planning of IP address ranges is essential to avoid overlaps and ensure efficient use of resources. This structure enables robust application deployments, fosters compliance with organizational policies, and supports integration with on-premises environments through tools like VPN or ExpressRoute.

HOSTING A STATIC WEBSITE ON AZURE BLOB STORAG

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:18:56 +0000

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based storage solution provided by Microsoft Azure, designed to handle large amounts of unstructured data. "Blob" stands for Binary Large Object, which refers to data like text, images, videos, documents, logs, backups, and other file types that don't follow a fixed schema.
Hosting a static website on Azure Blob Storage is an efficient and cost-effective way to serve static content such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images.
Here's a step-by-step guide
Step 1: Create a Storage Account

Navigate to Storage accounts and click + Create.

Configure the settings

Subscription: Select your subscription.

Resource group: Choose an existing group or create a new one.
Storage account name: Enter a globally unique name.
Region: Choose a region near your audience.
Performance: Choose Standard (default) for cost-effective storage.
Redundancy: Select redundancy based on your needs

Click Review + Create and then Create.

Deployment complete then click on go to resource

Step 2: Enable Static Website Hosting

Open the newly created storage account in the Azure Portal.
In the left-hand menu, find and click Static website under the Data management section.
Enable Static website.
Specify the index document name (e.g., index.html).
Optionally, specify an error document path (e.g., 404.html).
Save the changes.

This action generates a Primary endpoint URL where your website will be accessible.

Step 3: Upload Your Website Files

Navigate to the Containers section in your storage account.
You’ll see a container named $web (created automatically for hosting).
Click on $web and upload your static website files:
Click Upload.
Drag and drop your files or select them manually.
Ensure your files include the index.html file and other required
assets.

Step 4: Test Your Website

Access the Website
Open the primary endpoint URL in a browser to view your website.

Paste in a browser

By following these steps, your website WILL be live and accessible via Azure Blob Storage

Thanks

Creating and Connecting to a Linux Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS)

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:14:33 +0000

INTRODUCTION

Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) in Azure offer an efficient and scalable way to manage multiple virtual machines (VMs). Whether you're deploying a web application, containerized services, or handling data processing workloads, VMSS provides auto-scaling, load balancing, and high availability.

Overview of Virtual Machine Scale Set
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) are a powerful feature in Microsoft Azure that enables you to manage and scale a group of identical virtual machines (VMs) in a consistent and automated way. VMSS is designed to handle large-scale applications, workloads, or services, providing high availability, performance, and resilience.

VMSS automatically scales the number of VMs in response to demand, ensuring that you only pay for the resources you need, while maintaining the performance and availability of your applications.
In this blog, I will guide you through on how to create and connect to a Linux Virtual Machine Scale Set.
Steps in Creating Virtual Machine Scale Set

Step 1: Sign in to azure portal.com
Step2: Create Virtual Machine Scale Set
Click on create Virtual machine scale set

Create subscription for the virtual scale set

Create the Virtual Machine scale set Resource Group

Create virtual machine scale set name

Select the Region for the deployment for the Virtual machine scale set

Select Availability zone

Select orchestration mode

Select the security type

Set scaling mode to autoscaling and click configure

On scaling configuration page click on pencil to edit scaling condition

Make the changes according to choice of the virtual machine scale set you want

Click save and make sure all the changes reflect on the configuration page

On scale in policy choose the virtual mass to be deleted first according to your preference

Click on apply force delete and save

Select image of your choice

Select the size of choice and leave VM architectural at default

At Administrative account Select SSH public key and set username of your choice

Select generate new key pair and choose pair name or leave it at default

Network interface

Click on the pencil at network interface to edit

At network interface page Allow selected port to run ssh and Http and make sure you enable the public IP Address

Allow load balancing and create load balancer if there is none before

Give name to the load balancer and create

Review

Create after the validation pass

Click on download key during deployment

Click on go to resource
Search for network blade on the VM overview page and locate load balancing, click on it

Locate and click on view inbound NAT Rules
Then run command promt with this frontend ip address

Run Command prompt within administaror ssh -i pemkey username@fronted ip -p fronted port ( ssh -i ‪C:\Users\USER\Downloads\G_key.pem azureuser@4.155.27.238 -p 50000)

Update and uprage the Vmss with the following command
sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt gey -y upgrade
To be able to run on nginx
sudo apt-get nginx
Copy the frontend IP address on new browser and enter to welcome to nginx

Conclusion
Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets provide an efficient, scalable, and automated way to manage large groups of VMs, offering benefits such as auto-scaling, load balancing, high availability, and simplified management. VMSS is ideal for applications that require consistent, scalable infrastructure and can be leveraged for a variety of workloads, from web applications to high-performance computing tasks.

By using VMSS, businesses can optimize both the cost and performance of their Azure environments while ensuring their applications are always available and responsive to user demands.

Creating and Connecting to Linux Virtual Machine using a Public Key

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:02:08 +0000

Using SSH keys for authentication is a secure and efficient method to access your Linux VM on Azure. By replacing traditional passwords with key-based authentication, you significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Following these steps ensures that your Azure VM is set up with robust security measures right from the start.

This blog will guide you through the detailed steps to create and connect to a Linux VM on Azure, using SSH key-based authentication.

Steps in creating and connecting to a Linux VM on Azure

Setting up a Linux VM on Azure

Click on the create resources and select virtual machine

Create subscription

Choose your Azure subscription

Create a Resources Group or select from an existing one

Create a name your Virtual Machine

Select the Region you want the Virtual Machine to be deployed

Select the availability option according to your need

Select Security type

Select VM architectural

Select the Size of the VM according to the capacity you like to build

Administrative Account

Create the authentication type

Create a username

Select SSH key type

Select the key pair name

Select inbound ports name

Click Review and then create

Validation pass then create

Download key after the deployment pass

Go to resource after the deployment is completed

Step 2: Connect to the Azure VM

Connect to virtual machine

Get the VM IP Address:
Enter command prompt at the bottom left, then right click the command prompt to run as Administrator

Imput the following commands: ssh -i location/key username@IP Address ‪C:\Users\USER\Downloads\Anuola.pem

Enter yes and sudo apt-get -y update to run the update

Enter sudo apt-get -y install nginx to install

Then copy the the Ip address to a browser, here you are welcome to linux virtual machine.

NOTE
If yours doesn't work you can put http:// before your Ip address and it will work.

CONCLUSION

With this setup, you can confidently manage your VM on Azure, and you may consider adding extra layers of protection, like firewalls, access logging, or configuring network security groups (NSGs) to control traffic. This guide can also be reused or automated for future deployments with tools like Azure CLI or Terraform.
Enjoy working securely in the cloud!

How to Create a window 11 virtual machine on Azure

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:41:19 +0000

Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are part of Microsoft Azure’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) that allows users to run virtualized computing resources in the cloud. They support both Windows and Linux operating systems and are ideal for various tasks, including development, testing, and application hosting.

Key Features:

Scalability
: Adjust the size and quantity of VMs easily according to your needs.
Flexibility
: Choose from a range of VM sizes optimized for different purposes.
Global Reach
: Deploy VMs in data centers around the world to minimize latency.
Managed Environment: Use Azure’s management tools to monitor performance.
Integration
: Seamlessly connect with other Azure services.
Security
: Benefit from multiple layers of security measures.
Cost Management
: Utilize a pay-as-you-go pricing model with options for savings.

- Use Cases:
Development and testing setups
Hosting enterprise-level applications
Backup and disaster recovery strategies Web hosting
A Windows 11 virtual machine (VM) is a software emulation of a physical computer running the Windows 11 operating system. It allows you to run Windows 11 alongside other operating systems on the same hardware. VMs are created using virtualization software, like VMware or VirtualBox, which allocates system resources (CPU, RAM, storage) to the virtual machine. This setup is useful for testing software, running legacy applications, or isolating environments without affecting the host
system.
Creating a Windows 11 virtual machine on Azure involves several steps
Here’s are the steps in creating Azure machine

Step 1: Sign in to Azure Portal

Step 2: Create a virtual machine
Click on create a resource

Subscription: choose your Azure subscription

Create a new resource group

Name your virtual machine

Select a region where you want the virtual machine to be deployed.

Create availability zone

Select the type of security e.g Standard
Select window 11 from the list of available images

Select an appropriate virtual machine size based on your requirement

Configure Administrator account

Create a username for admin account

create password !

Choose a public IP address option

Review and Create

You will see deployment in progress

Validation pass

Create window

Connect to virtual machine window 11

Download RDP file

Welcome to window 11 virtual machine

CONCLUSION
With my above explanation, this is how to create window 11 virtual machine on Azure

Understanding the Core Architectural Components of Microsoft Azure

OLALEKAN john Ayansola — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 21:20:30 +0000

As organizations increasingly embrace cloud computing, Microsoft Azure has emerged as a leading platform, offering a comprehensive suite of services designed to meet diverse business needs. To leverage Azure effectively, it's crucial to understand its core architectural components, which serve as the building blocks for creating scalable, secure, and resilient applications. In this blog, we'll explore these components and their significance in Azure architecture.

Resource Groups:

This is Logical containers for managing related Azure resources, enabling streamlined organization and access control.

Regions and Availability Zones:

Azure’s global infrastructure ensures low-latency access and high availability through isolated zones within regions.

Compute Services:
A variety of options, including Virtual Machines, App Service, and Functions, allow for flexible hosting of applications based on different needs.

Storage Solutions: Robust options like Blob Storage and SQL Database cater to diverse data management requirements, supporting both unstructured and structured data.
Networking:
Tools like Azure VNet, Load Balancer, and Application Gateway enable secure and efficient connectivity among resources.
Identity and Access Management:
Azure Active Directory ensures secure user management and role-based access control.
Monitoring and Management: Services like Azure Monitor provide real-time insights into application performance, enabling proactive issue resolution.

Security:
Azure Security Center and Key Vault protect sensitive data and monitor overall security posture.

Integration Services:
Tools such as Logic Apps and Service Bus facilitate seamless communication and workflow automation between applications.

Devop Tools
Azure Devops supports agile practices and CI/CD, enhancing development efficiency and collaboration.

Serverless Architecture:
Leveraging services like Azure Functions and Azure Logic Apps for event-driven, scalable applications without managing infrastructure.

Microservices Architecture:
Utilizing Azure Kubernetes Service or Azure Service Fabric for building and managing microservices-based applications

Conclusion
All these components collectively work together to enable scalable, secure, and resilient applications on the Azure platform.