Azure Cloud Service Staging Slot

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The previous parts of the Microsoft Azure Cloud Services series covered the basics to get your first Cloud Services up and running. From now on we’ll start to get our hands dirty and dive into the details of Cloud Services. In this part we’ll be taking a closer look at the Service Package which we talked about in the previous parts of the. You can directly deploy to the production slot of a Azure Cloud Service. If you have more than one role instance (you are running multiple role instances to get the stated SLA right?), Azure will automatically upgrade each role instance independently of one another.

Consider you have an Azure App Service Web App that handles a large amount of traffic and accesses a database, with an architecture similar to that shown in Figure 1. When you make a deployment you would not want to take the risk of deploying bugs or having significant downtime when you deploy a new release, this is what you would want to have a Deployment Slot. A deployment slot is an additional Azure App Service Web App instance (W3WP) which is ~bound to your production Azure App Service Web App of the same name and runs on the same App Service Plan (ASP) that I discuss here. This development slot lets you deploy you test or non-production ready code for testing prior to the release to the live Web App. The beauty of the deployment slot is that you can slick a button and the deployment slot which contains the new version is swapped with the production, and bang, the new version is live, with just a click.

Notice in Figure 1 there is a SQL Server which has 2 SQL Azure databases on it, one called stickyslot-pro and the other stickyslot-tst. Additionally, there is an App Service Plan (ASP) called STICKYSLOT-ASP that runs an Azure App Service Web App called stickyslot with a deployment slot named testing. All of which are contained within a Resource Group called STICKSLOT-RG.

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Figure 1, best case, App Service architecture diagramHere is a very good article that discusses sticky slots.

In this article I am concerned with the swapping of the Azure App Service Web App deployment slots from PRO (production) to TST (a testing instances). The thing is, by default, App Settings and database connection strings are NOT sticky to the slot and will follow the Web App when the test slot is swapped with the production slot. In this scenario, it means that when I swap my testing deployment slot, which is, by the way, getting its data from the stickslot-tst database, to production, the then swapped Web App will be pointing to the stickyslot-tst database instead of the stickyslot-pro database. Therefore, I need a way to swap the Web App development slots but keep the database connection string of the current production Web App pointing to production and the testing pointing to the testing database. This is achieved by making the setting ‘sticky to the slot’.

Assume that for my production Web App, I have 2 values I want to remain ‘production’ when I perform a swap. See Figure 2.

Figure 2, sticky slot settings that remain in production even when swapped with a testing slot

Notice there is a App setting with the name STICKSLOT with a Value = ProductionEnvironment and a Connection string called StickySlotConnectionString that contains the production database name, user is and password, for example. Most importantly, notice that the Slot setting check box is selected which means that is remains with this Web App and is not moved when swapped. Notice also that in the testing development slot, see Figure 3, I have the same App Setting and Connection string (Key and Name), but they have different values, also with the Slot setting checkbox checked so it remains on the testing Web App, no way do I want my testing Web App to ever point to the production environment.

Figure 3, sticky slot settings that remain in testing even when swapped with a production slot

I have added an additional App setting, MoveWhenSwapped, which I have not made sticky, I.e. this one will move with the swap. Therefore, when I swap production and test, then that App setting will be in the production Web App configuration and not in the testing one. Let’s see, when everything is all tested and ready for production on the testing environment, navigate to the testing Web App and click the Swap link, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4, swap Azure App Service Web App between slots, sticky slots

There is a feature called “swap with preview” which has a nice write here. Basically, this feature let’s you point your testing environment to production just to make sure everything is working as expected before you begin to route the real traffic. Make sure you either complete the swap or roll it back as you wouldn’t want to keep your testing pointing to production for very log. This may not work in all scenarios if there is a database structure change which may break the production environment if deployed and the testing instance doesn’t run on the exiting production database without upgrade. However, give it s shot JIC. Nonetheless, make the swap and then check the production Web App to confirm the App Settings and the Connection string are the expected result. Indeed they are as show in Figure 5.

Figure 5, sticky slots Azure App Service Web App App Settings and Connection strings

The values remained as expected and the MoveWhenSwapped moved from the testing to the production Web App process. Also note that the MoveWhenSwapped moved, which means it no longer exists on the testing Web App. This means, if you want to swap your Web App and want the connection string to remain as is, then mark the setting as sticky by selecting the Slot setting check box and you are all set.

Some questions I had:

  • How do I access Connection string and App Settings from my code
  • What happens if I have a connection string in my web.config file and what happens if I have both

Let’s answer those questions.

To access the connection string from either the value configured in the portal or in the web.config you use the following code. Poker room at atlantis bahamas casino.

Pass the name of the connection string and the value is returned.

To access the app setting value, use the following.

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Nothing really, as long as the name is unique. Watch out that you do not have the same name for any connection string or app setting. If this happens, then, when I tested it, the values configured in the portal were the values accessed by the code. Therefore, if you have a connection string called StickySlotConnectionString configured in both the portal and a web.config, then changes you make to the value in the web.config will be ignored.

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This article includes frequently asked questions about deployment issues for Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. You can also consult the Cloud Services VM Size page for size information.

If your Azure issue is not addressed in this article, visit the Azure forums on MSDN and Stack Overflow. You can post your issue in these forums, or post to @AzureSupport on Twitter. You also can submit an Azure support request. To submit a support request, on the Azure support page, select Get support.

Why does deploying a cloud service to the staging slot sometimes fail with a resource allocation error if there is already an existing deployment in the production slot?

If a cloud service has a deployment in either slot, the entire cloud service is pinned to a specific cluster. This means that if a deployment already exists in the production slot, a new staging deployment can only be allocated in the same cluster as the production slot.

Allocation failures occur when the cluster where your cloud service is located does not have enough physical compute resources to satisfy your deployment request.

For help with mitigating such allocation failures, see Cloud Service allocation failure: Solutions.

Why does scaling up or scaling out a cloud service deployment sometimes result in allocation failure?

When a cloud service is deployed, it usually gets pinned to a specific cluster. This means scaling up/out an existing cloud service must allocate new instances in the same cluster. If the cluster is nearing capacity or the desired VM size/type is not available, the request may fail.

For help with mitigating such allocation failures, see Cloud Service allocation failure: Solutions.

Azure web app staging slot

Why does deploying a cloud service into an affinity group sometimes result in allocation failure?

A new deployment to an empty cloud service can be allocated by the fabric in any cluster in that region, unless the cloud service is pinned to an affinity group. Deployments to the same affinity group will be attempted on the same cluster. If the cluster is nearing capacity, the request may fail.

For help with mitigating such allocation failures, see Cloud Service allocation failure: Solutions.

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Why does changing VM size or adding a new VM to an existing cloud service sometimes result in allocation failure?

The clusters in a datacenter may have different configurations of machine types (for example, A series, Av2 series, D series, Dv2 series, G series, H series, etc.). But not all the clusters would necessarily have all the kinds of VMs. For example, if you try to add a D series VM to a cloud service that is already deployed in an A series-only cluster, you will experience an allocation failure. This will also happen if you try to change VM SKU sizes (for example, switching from an A series to a D series).

For help with mitigating such allocation failures, see Cloud Service allocation failure: Solutions.

To check the sizes available in your region, see Microsoft Azure: Products available by region.

Why does deploying a cloud service sometime fail due to limits/quotas/constraints on my subscription or service?

Deployment of a cloud service may fail if the resources that are required to be allocated exceed the default or maximum quota allowed for your service at the region/datacenter level. For more information, see Cloud Services limits.

You could also track the current usage/quota for your subscription at the portal: Azure portal => Subscriptions => <appropriate subscription> => “Usage + quota”.

Resource usage/consumption-related information can also be retrieved via the Azure Billing APIs. See Azure Resource Usage API (Preview).

How can I change the size of a deployed cloud service VM without redeploying it?

You cannot change the VM size of a deployed cloud service without redeploying it. The VM size is built into the CSDEF, which can only be updated with a redeploy.

Staging Slots Azure

For more information, see How to update a cloud service.

Why am I not able to deploy Cloud Services through Service Management APIs or PowerShell when using Azure Resource Manager Storage account?

Since the Cloud Service is a Classic resource that is not directly compatible with the Azure Resource Manager model, you can't associate it with the Azure Resource Manager Storage accounts. Here are few options:

  • Deploying through REST API.

    When you deploy through Service Management REST API, you could get around the limitation by specifying a SAS URL to the blob storage, which will work with both Classic and Azure Resource Manager Storage account. Read more about the 'PackageUrl' property here.

  • Deploying through Azure portal.

    This will work from the Azure portal as the call goes through a proxy/shim that allows communication between Azure Resource Manager and Classic resources.

Why does Azure portal require me to provide a storage account for deployment?

Cloud

Azure Cloud Service Staging Slot Software

In the classic portal, the package was uploaded to the management API layer directly, and then the API layer would temporarily put the package into an internal storage account. This process causes performance and scalability problems because the API layer was not designed to be a file upload service. In the Azure portal (Resource Manager deployment model), we have bypassed the interim step of first uploading to the API layer, resulting in faster and more reliable deployments.

As for the cost, it is very small and you can reuse the same storage account across all deployments. You can use the storage cost calculator to determine the cost to upload the service package (CSPKG), download the CSPKG, then delete the CSPKG.

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