From Dockerfile to Production : Azure

Spin up a production-ready pipeline with GitHub Actions, and about 30 minutes of elbow grease.

1 · Prerequisites & Quick Overview

Architecture at a glance

GitHub → ACR → App Service (Linux Container) ⟷ Azure SQL Database
                          ↘︎  App Insights  ↙︎

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2 · Provision Azure SQL Database

2.1 Create SQL Server

Azure Portal → Create a resource → “SQL Server” → Review + Create.

2.2 Create StocksDb Database

1. Open your new SQL Server → Databases → + New Database

2. Tier 🡒 Basic, 5 DTUs, 2 GB.

2.3 Networking / Firewall

2.4 Get Connection String

SQL DB → Connection strings → copy ADO.NET string → replace {user} / {password}.

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3 · Create App-Service Resources

3.1 App Service Plan

3.2 Azure Container Registry (ACR)

3.3 Web App for Containers

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4 · Configure Web-App Settings

1. Configuration → Application settings

   • ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT = Production

2. Connection strings

   • Name DefaultConnection

   • Paste SQL string

   • Type SQLAzure

3. Save & Restart.

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5 · Generate & Store Secrets

5.1 Service Principal (AZURE_CREDENTIALS)

az login
SUBID=$(az account show --query id --output tsv)

az ad sp create-for-rbac \
  --name "github-actions" \
  --role contributor \
  --scopes /subscriptions/$SUBID/resourceGroups/stocks-api-rg \
  --sdk-auth

Copy the JSON output → save as AZURE_CREDENTIALS secret.

5.2 ACR Credentials

Portal → ACR → Access keys → copy:

5.3 DB Connection

Add all secrets under Repo → Settings → Secrets → Actions.

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6 · Step 5 — GitHub Actions Workflow

Build and Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: Set up .NET
      uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v3
      with:
        dotnet-version: '8.0.x'

    - run: dotnet tool install -g dotnet-ef

    - run: dotnet restore
    - run: dotnet build --no-restore -c Release
    - run: dotnet test --no-build -c Release

    - name: Update Database
      if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
      run: dotnet ef database update -c Release
      env:
        ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection: ${{ secrets.DB_CONNECTION_STRING }}

    - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2

    - name: Login to ACR
      uses: docker/login-action@v2
      with:
        registry: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_LOGIN_SERVER }}
        username: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_USERNAME }}
        password: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}

    - name: Build & Push Image
      uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
      with:
        context: .
        push: true
        tags: |
          ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_LOGIN_SERVER }}/stocks-api:${{ github.sha }}
          ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_LOGIN_SERVER }}/stocks-api:latest

    - name: Azure Login
      uses: azure/login@v1
      with:
        creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}

    - name: Deploy to Web App
      uses: azure/webapps-deploy@v2
      with:
        app-name: stocks-api-<unique>
        images: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_LOGIN_SERVER }}/stocks-api:${{ github.sha }}

    - run: az logout

🔑 Don’t forget: Dockerfile must expose port 80

ENV ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://+:80
EXPOSE 80

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7 · Ship & Verify

git add .
git commit -m "CI/CD: Azure SQL + ACR deploy"
git push origin main

1. GitHub → Actions → watch the build.

2. Upon success, open:

https://stocks-api-<unique>.azurewebsites.net/swagger/index.html

Test endpoints — your API is live!

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8 · Observability with App Insights

1. Web App → Application Insights → Turn on.

2. Live Metrics, traces, and failure sampling appear automatically.

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9 · Troubleshooting Playbook