{"id":1613,"date":"2014-04-02T01:43:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T01:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/visualstudioalm\/2014\/04\/02\/deploy-automatically-to-virtual-machines-in-windows-azure-using-visual-studio-release-management\/"},"modified":"2022-07-18T01:40:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T09:40:26","slug":"deploy-automatically-to-virtual-machines-in-windows-azure-using-visual-studio-release-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/deploy-automatically-to-virtual-machines-in-windows-azure-using-visual-studio-release-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Deploy automatically to virtual machines in Windows Azure using Visual Studio Release Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visual Studio Release Management can be used to achieve continuous deployment\u00a0to\u00a0virtual machines in Windows Azure. When configured correctly, Release Management is able to deploy to a VM residing on the cloud just as easily as to a VM hosted locally. This article will explain the steps in order to start a VM on the cloud, deploy to it, and stop it once it is not needed anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

When deploying to a VM on the cloud, it might be required that you start or stop the VM. Stopping a VM between releases is useful to avoid consuming Azure’s resources. Starting and stopping an Azure’s VM requires installing a proxy Release Management Deployer and installing Azure’s credentials and tools on the same machine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s first configure the proxy Release Management Deployer. A Release Management Deployer can be installed on any machine that has access to Release Management server. This proxy Deployer will be the one receiving instructions to start (or stop) the VM that resides on the cloud.<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets<\/a>\u00a0is installed and properly configured on the proxy deployer\u00a0(subscription is imported with the right credentials), you can go directly to step 4.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step 1 \u2013 Create Windows Azure Account<\/span><\/h3>\n

In this step, you need to get a Windows Azure account. You can get the Windows Azure 90-days free subscription with no cost or obligations at\u00a0http:\/\/www.windowsazure.com\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Step 2 \u2013 Install Windows Azure SDK for .NET<\/span><\/h3>\n

We now install Windows Azure SDK for .NET on the proxy Deployer machine. It is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You need the .NET Framework 4.5 – available\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Windows Azure Powershell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Step 3 \u2013 Setup credential in Windows Azure PowerShell<\/span><\/h3>\n

Still on the proxy Deployer machine, we now configure the Windows Azure account to be able to execute\u00a0Azure PowerShell Command<\/strong>without specifying credentials when executing commands.<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0Open\u00a0Windows Azure PowerShell\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Execute this commands:<\/span><\/p>\n

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.<\/strong>\u00a0Sign in<\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
3.<\/strong>\u00a0Download and save the\u00a0.publishSettings<\/strong>\u00a0file locally<\/span><\/p>\n
Security note:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0This file contains an encoded management certificate that will serve as your credentials to administer all aspects of your subscriptions and related services. Store this file in a secure location or delete it after you finished these steps.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
4.<\/strong>\u00a0Import the downloaded\u00a0.publishSettings<\/strong>\u00a0file by executing the following command:<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile \"<publishSettings-file>\"<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
5.<\/strong>\u00a0Link the Subscription to Storage Account<\/span><\/p>\n
In order to link the storage Account to the subscription, we need to know the name of the Storage Account created by default for your Windows Azure Account.<\/span><\/p>\n
Go to\u00a0Windows Azure | Storage<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once we know the name of the Storage Account, use this command to link to your subscription:<\/span><\/p>\n
Set-AzureSubscription –CurrentStorageAccount \"<currentStorageAccount>\" –subscriptionName \"<subscriptionName>\"<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
6.<\/strong>\u00a0We also want to set this subscription as the default one.<\/span><\/p>\n
Select-AzureSubscription -Default \"<SubscriptionName>\"<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
7.<\/strong>\u00a0Use this command to get the subscription information.<\/span><\/p>\n
Get-AzureSubscription<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Make sure the\u00a0CurrentStorageAccount<\/strong>\u00a0is set with your\u00a0Storage Account name<\/em>\u00a0and the IsDefault<\/strong>\u00a0attribute is set to\u00a0true<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Your machine is now ready to run\u00a0Windows Azure Powershell<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n
Step 4 \u2013 Configure\u00a0Release Management to\u00a0deploy to virtual machine in Azure<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
We will now configure Release Management to allow deployment to the virtual machine in Azure.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n  1.<\/strong>\u00a0Prerequisites<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  a.<\/strong> Azure’s VM must be started<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  b.<\/strong> Because Windows Azure resides outside your network, you will need to publish the Release Management Server endpoints through your firewall. Release Management supports\u00a0secure connectivity over HTTPS. The easiest way to manage this is to use a Reverse Proxy and let it redirect all incoming HTTPS traffic to the Release Management\u00a0Server endpoints. Internally, Release Management can be configured to run over HTTP. It is the job of the Reverse Proxy to convert all HTTPS traffic to HTTP when\u00a0directing requests to Release Management. Once published, you can configure the Release Management Deployer that lives in your Azure VM to connect to Release Management over this\u00a0public endpoint.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  c.<\/strong> Release Management deployer must be configured in the Azure’s VM (service started with sufficient privileges).<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  2.<\/strong>\u00a0Open Release Management<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  3.<\/strong>\u00a0Create a New Server,\u00a0Configure\u00a0Paths | Manage Servers | New<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  4.\u00a0<\/strong>Enter the name of the VM\u00a0as the server’s Name<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  5.\u00a0<\/strong>Set the\u00a0Drop Location Access<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0Through IR Server over HTTP<\/em>\u00a0so that all files that have to be transferred will be sent through the Release Management Server (in that case, the VM on Azure does not need access to the drop location).<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  6.\u00a0<\/strong>Complete other needed information and Save.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  7.<\/strong>\u00a0Create any number of components that needs to be deployed to Azure through\u00a0Configure Apps | Components | New<\/em><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n  8.<\/strong>\u00a0In the release template, add the components needed to deploy over the Azure’s VM<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
Final configuration of the Release Template could look like similar to this:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n          \u00a0 Development Stage<\/strong><\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n          \u00a0 QA Stage<\/strong><\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/td>\n
\n
\n          \u00a0 Production Stage<\/strong><\/span>\n        <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n        \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span>\n      <\/td>\n\n        \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span>\n      <\/td>\n\n        \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span>\n      <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Things to notice from this configuration:<\/span><\/p>\n
    \n
  • Before installing a component (WebServicesComponent in this case), we make sure the VM is started.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The target server for the actions\u00a0Start VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Stop VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0is always the same proxy server.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The\u00a0Start VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Stop VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0uses\u00a0Configuration Variables<\/strong>\u00a0to indicate which VM to start and stop.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The\u00a0Stop VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0action (through its\u00a0Configuration Variables<\/strong>) always stops the previous stage’s VM. That is why it is turned off in stage\u00a0dev<\/strong>\u00a0(there is no previous stage). Stopping a VM in the next stage\u00a0will allow us to do the installation, then the required testing and turn it off once we deploy to next stage. Note that stopping the VM is optional since concurrent testing may be required on the different stages. It can also be managed manually.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The\u00a0Start VM in Azure<\/strong>\u00a0action of stage prod absent as we assume this VM is never stopped.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    You are now ready to deploy automatically\u00a0to your Azure’s VM.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Visual Studio Release Management can be used to achieve continuous deployment\u00a0to\u00a0virtual machines in Windows Azure. When configured correctly, Release Management is able to deploy to a VM residing on the cloud just as easily as to a VM hosted locally. This article will explain the steps in order to start a VM on the cloud, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":45953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ci","category-devops"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"
    Visual Studio Release Management can be used to achieve continuous deployment\u00a0to\u00a0virtual machines in Windows Azure. When configured correctly, Release Management is able to deploy to a VM residing on the cloud just as easily as to a VM hosted locally. This article will explain the steps in order to start a VM on the cloud, […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}