Learn how to create, deploy and verify Azure Container Apps

Creating, deploying, and verifying Azure Container Apps (ACA) involves several steps, from setting up the environment to deploying your containerized application and verifying its deployment.

Here's a step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Set Up Prerequisites

Before you create an Azure Container App, ensure you have the following prerequisites in place:

1. Azure Subscription: You need an Azure account with a valid subscription. If you don't have one, you can create a free account here.

2. Azure CLI: Install the Azure CLI on your local machine if you haven't already. You can download it from here.

3. Docker: If you're building your own container, ensure Docker is installed to build and push container images. You can download Docker here.

4. Azure Container Registry (ACR) (Optional): If you plan to store your container images in a private registry, you can use Azure Container Registry.

Step 2: Log in to Azure

First, log in to your Azure account using the Azure CLI:

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az login

Follow the prompts to authenticate.

Step 3: Create a Resource Group

Azure Container Apps requires a resource group to organize your resources.

You can create a new one using the Azure CLI:

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az group create \
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--name MyResourceGroup \
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--location eastus

Replace MyResourceGroup with your desired name, and eastus with your preferred Azure region.

Step 4: Create Azure Container App Environment

Azure Container Apps requires an environment to run your containers.

This environment provides the underlying infrastructure for your app and supports scaling.

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az containerapp env create \
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--name MyAppEnvironment \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--location eastus

Replace MyAppEnvironment with your preferred environment name.

Step 5: Build or Choose Your Container Image

Build a Docker Container

If you have a custom application, you can create a Docker container.

Here’s an example of how to build and push a container image to Azure Container Registry (ACR):

1. Create ACR (if you don’t have one):

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az acr create \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--name MyContainerRegistry \
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--sku Basic

2. Login to ACR:

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az acr login \
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--name MyContainerRegistry

3. Build and tag your Docker image:

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docker build -t mycontainerapp:v1 .

4. Tag your image to ACR:

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docker tag mycontainerapp:v1 MyContainerRegistry.azurecr.io/mycontainerapp:v1

5. Push your image to ACR:

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docker push MyContainerRegistry.azurecr.io/mycontainerapp:v1

Replace MyContainerRegistry and mycontainerapp with your own registry name and app name.

Use a Public Image

If you want to deploy a publicly available container image (e.g., NGINX or Node.js), you can use Docker Hub or any public container registry.

Step 6: Create Azure Container App

Now that you have your container image ready (either from ACR or Docker Hub), you can create and deploy an Azure Container App.

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az containerapp create \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--environment MyAppEnvironment \
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--image MyContainerRegistry.azurecr.io/mycontainerapp:v1 \
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--cpu 0.5 --memory 1.0Gi \
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--target-port 80 \
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--ingress external

Explanation of parameters:

1. --name MyContainerApp: The name of your container app.

2. --resource-group MyResourceGroup: The resource group where your app will be created.

3. --environment MyAppEnvironment: The environment where the container app will run (the environment created earlier).

4. --image MyContainerRegistry.azurecr.io/mycontainerapp:v1: The image URL from Azure Container Registry (or Docker Hub).

5. --cpu 0.5 --memory 1.0Gi: The CPU and memory allocated for your container.

6. --target-port 80: The port the app listens on (use the appropriate port for your app).

7. --ingress external: Exposes the app to external traffic. If you want to restrict it to internal traffic, you can use --ingress internal.

Step 7: Verify the Deployment

Once your container app is deployed, you can verify its deployment in several ways:

1. Check the Status via Azure CLI

You can check the status of your container app with the following command:

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az containerapp show \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup

This command will return details about the app, including its state, URL, and logs.

2. View the Public URL

If you have set up external ingress (--ingress external), the app will be publicly accessible.

You can get the URL with:

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az containerapp show \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--query "properties.configuration.ingress.fqdn"

This will output the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for your container app, like mycontainerapp.<region>.azurecontainerapps.io.

You can visit this URL in your browser to verify that the app is running.

3. Check Logs

To view logs for your container app, use the following command:

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az containerapp logs show \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup

This command shows the logs of your container app to help debug or confirm that your application is functioning properly.

Step 8: Scaling the Application

Azure Container Apps can scale based on traffic or other events.

To enable auto-scaling, you can set up scaling rules, like scaling based on CPU usage or the number of requests.

Here's an example of setting up CPU-based auto-scaling.

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az containerapp scale set \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--min-replicas 1 \
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--max-replicas 5 \
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--cpu 0.5 --memory 1.0Gi

This command ensures that the app can scale between 1 and 5 replicas depending on the CPU load.

Step 9: Delete the Container App (if needed)

If you want to remove the container app once you've finished testing or using it, you can delete it with:

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az containerapp delete \
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--name MyContainerApp \
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--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
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--yes

This deletes the app from your resource group.

Summary

By following these steps, you can quickly create, deploy, and verify your Azure Container Apps on the Azure platform.

1. Set up prerequisites (Azure CLI, Docker, ACR).

2. Create a resource group and container app environment.

3. Build or pull a container image (from ACR or Docker Hub).

4. Deploy the container app using the Azure CLI.

5. Verify the deployment (check status, logs, public URL).

Optionally, set up auto-scaling to scale the app based on traffic or load.

6. Delete the app when finished to clean up resources.