Deploy a .NET Core Application on Azure App Service Using GitHub Actions CI/CD

Here's a step-by-step guide for deploying a .NET Core application to Azure App Service using GitHub Actions for CI/CD:

Here is the general architecture diagram that we will be deploying.

---

Step 1: Prerequisites

1. Set Up Azure Resources:

   • Log in to the Azure portal.
   • Create an Azure App Service for hosting the application.
   • Create an Azure Container Registry (ACR) to store your container images.

2. Set Up Your GitHub Repository:

   • Ensure your .NET Core application is hosted in a GitHub repository.
   • Include a Dockerfile in the root of your project for containerization (example provided in Step 2).

3. Install Azure CLI (if not already installed):

   • Download and install the Azure CLI.

4. Login to Azure CLI:

   az login

---

Step 2: Add a Dockerfile to Your Project

1. Navigate to the root of your .NET Core application.
2. Create a Dockerfile for containerizing your application:

   FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:6.0 AS base
   WORKDIR /app
   EXPOSE 80
   
   FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:6.0 AS build
   WORKDIR /src
   COPY . .
   RUN dotnet restore
   RUN dotnet publish -c Release -o /app
   
   FROM base AS final
   WORKDIR /app
   COPY --from=build /app .
   ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "YourAppName.dll"]

   Replace YourAppName.dll with the name of your .dll file.

---

Step 3: Push Your Code to GitHub

1. Commit your changes:

   git add .
   git commit -m "Add Dockerfile for containerization"
   git push origin main

---

Step 4: Configure Azure Container Registry (ACR)

1. Log in to Azure ACR:

   az acr login --name <ACR_NAME>

2. Get ACR Details:

   az acr show --name <ACR_NAME> --query "loginServer" --output tsv

   Note down the ACR loginServer.

---

Step 5: Create a GitHub Actions Workflow

1. In your GitHub repository, create a .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml file.
2. Add the following workflow configuration:

   name: CI/CD Pipeline
   
   on:
     push:
       branches:
         - main
   
   jobs:
     build:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - name: Checkout code
           uses: actions/checkout@v3
   
         - name: Log in to Azure Container Registry
           uses: azure/docker-login@v1
           with:
             login-server: <ACR_LOGIN_SERVER>
             username: ${{ secrets.AZURE_ACR_USERNAME }}
             password: ${{ secrets.AZURE_ACR_PASSWORD }}
   
         - name: Build and Push Docker Image
           run: |
             docker build -t <ACR_LOGIN_SERVER>/<IMAGE_NAME>:${{ github.sha }} .
             docker push <ACR_LOGIN_SERVER>/<IMAGE_NAME>:${{ github.sha }}
   
     deploy:
       needs: build
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - name: Deploy to Azure App Service
           uses: azure/webapps-deploy@v2
           with:
             app-name: <APP_SERVICE_NAME>
             slot-name: Production
             images: |
               <ACR_LOGIN_SERVER>/<IMAGE_NAME>:${{ github.sha }}

   Replace placeholders like <ACR_LOGIN_SERVER>, <IMAGE_NAME>, and <APP_SERVICE_NAME> with your actual values.

---

Step 6: Set Up GitHub Secrets

1. In your GitHub repository, go to Settings > Secrets and Variables > Actions.
2. Add the following secrets:
   • AZURE_ACR_USERNAME: Azure Container Registry username.
   • AZURE_ACR_PASSWORD: Azure Container Registry password.
   • AZURE_APP_SERVICE_PUBLISH_PROFILE: Download the publish profile from Azure App Service and paste its contents here.

---

Step 7: Test the Workflow

1. Push a code change to the main branch.
2. Check the Actions tab in GitHub to monitor the CI/CD pipeline.

---

Step 8: Quality Assurance (QA)

1. After the deployment to the DEV environment, test the application.
2. Ensure all QA validations pass.

---

Step 9: Deploy to Production

1. Update the GitHub Actions workflow to include a manual approval step before deployment to production.
2. Add an environment in GitHub (Settings > Environments) named Production and require approvals.

---

Step 10: Monitor and Scale the Application

1. Use the Azure Portal to monitor application performance.
2. Scale the App Service plan as needed for handling production traffic.

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