deploymentgroups

title	layout	sidebar	permalink	folder
Multi-machine deployments using Azure DevOps	page	vsts2	/labs/vstsextend/deploymentgroups/	/labs/vstsextend/deploymentgroups/

Last updated : {{ "now" | date: "%b %d, %Y" }}.

Overview

In the earlier versions of Azure DevOps, if the application needed to be deployed to multiple servers, the Windows PowerShell remoting had to be enabled manually, the required ports opened and the deployment agent installed on each of the servers. The pipelines had to be managed manually if a roll-out deployment was required.

All the above challenges have been handled seamlessly with the introduction of the Deployment Groups{:target="_blank"}.

The Deployment Group installs a deployment agent on each of the target servers in the configured group and instructs the Release Management to gradually deploy the application to all these servers that belong to the Deployment Group. Multiple pipelines can be created for the roll-out deployments so that the latest version of the application could be provided in a phased manner to the multiple user groups for validating the newly introduced features.

What's covered in this lab?

This lab covers the configuration of the deployment groups and details how the deployment groups could be used in the Azure DevOps.

Prerequisites for the lab

1. Refer to the Getting Started page to know the prerequisites for this lab.

2. Click on the Azure DevOps Demo Generator link and follow the instructions in Getting Started page to provision the project to your Azure DevOps.

Setting up the Environment

The following resources will be provisioned on the Azure using an ARM template:

• Six Virtual Machines (VM) web servers with the IIS configured

• SQL server VM (db server) and

• Azure Network Load Balancer

1. Click on the Deploy to Azure button to initiate the resource provisioning. It takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete the deployment. Provide all the necessary information as is shown.

   {:target="_blank"}

   

2. Once the deployment is successful, the list of all the resources will be displayed on the Azure Portal.

   

3. Click on the DB server VM to view the details.

   

4. Make a note of the DNS name. This value will be required later during an exercise.

   

Exercise 1: Endpoint Creation

Since the connections are not established during the project provisioning, the endpoints need to be configured manually.

1. In the Azure DevOps home page, click on the below Project Settings. Click on the service connections under pipelines, and add a new service connection of type Azure Resource Manager. Specify the Connection name, select the Subscription from the dropdown and click on the OK button. This endpoint will be used to connect Azure DevOps and the Azure.

   

   

2. Create an endpoint of type Azure Repos/Team Foundation Server. Select the Token based authentication option and specify the following details:

   • Connection Name: Provide any name

   • Connection Url: URL of the Azure DevOps organization

   • Personal Access Token: The Azure DevOps organizations Personal Access Token

   The configured endpoint will be used during the agent registration with the deployment groups to provide access to the Azure DevOps project.

   

Exercise 2: Creating Deployment Groups and Configuring Release

The Azure DevOps makes it easier to organize the servers for deploying the applications. A deployment group is a collection of machines with a deployment agent on each of them. Each of the machine interacts with the Azure DevOps to coordinate deployment of the app.

1. From the pipelines, select the Deployment Groups{:target="_blank"} option. Click on the Add deployment group button to configure.

   

2. Provide a Deployment group name, and click on the Create button. The registration script generated will be displayed.

   

   

   The target servers are available in the deployment group for deploying the application. The release definition uses Phases to deploy the application to the target servers.

   A Phase{:target="_blank"} is a logical grouping of the tasks that defines the runtime target on which the tasks will execute. A deployment group phase executes tasks on the machines defined in a deployment group.

3. From the pipelines, click on the Releases option and edit the pipeline.

   

4. You will see the pipeline. Select the environment Dev from the tasks dropdown.

   

5. The tasks will be grouped under the Agent phase, Deployment group phase and IIS Deployment phase.

   

   • Agent Phase: In this phase, the target servers will be associated to the deployment group using the Azure Resource Group Deployment task.

     • Azure Resource Group Deployment: This task will automate the configuration of the deployment group agents to the web and db servers.

       

   • Database deploy phase: This deployment group phase executes tasks on the machines defined in the deployment group. This phase is linked to the db tag.

     • Deploy Dacpac: This task is used to deploy the dacpac file to the DB server.

       

       

   • IIS Deployment phase: In this phase, the application will be deployed to the web servers using the below tasks. This phase is linked to web tag.

     • Azure Network Load Balancer: As the target machines are connected to the NLB, this task will disconnect the machines from the NLB prior to the deployment and reconnect them back to the NLB after the deployment.

     • IIS Web App Manage: The task runs on the deployment target machine(s) registered with the Deployment Group configured for the task/phase. It creates a webapp and application pool locally with the name PartsUnlimited running under the port 80

     • IIS Web App Deploy: The task runs on the deployment target machine(s) registered with the Deployment Group configured for the task/phase. It deploys the application to the IIS server using Web Deploy.

     • The number of concurrent deployments can be controlled by setting the value in the Maximum number of targets in parallel field. For example, in this lab, since there are 6 web servers, setting the target servers to 50% will deploy the build artifacts to 3 web servers in parallel at a time.

       

6. Select the Disconnect Azure Network Load Balancer task and provide the following details:

   • Azure Subscription: An ARM Endpoint created in the Exercise 1

   • Resource Group: Name of the Resource Group which was created while provisioning the environment

   • Load Balancer Name: Select the name from the dropdown

   • Action: Set the action to Disconnect Primary Network Interface

   

7. Select the Connect Azure Network Load Balancer task and provide the following details:

   • Azure Subscription: An ARM Endpoint created in the Exercise 1

   • Resource Group: Name of the Resource Group which was created while provisioning the environment

   • Load Balancer Name: Select the name from the dropdown

   • Action: Set the action to Connect Primary Network Interface

   

8. Click on the Variables tab and select the Process Variables option. Replace the value of the DefaultConnectionString variable with the SQL DNS value noted earlier.

   

9. Click on the Save button and then click on the Create release option.

   

10. Once the release is completed, the deployments will be done to the DB and Web servers. Click on the logs to view the release summary.

    

11. In the Azure Portal, click on the DNS of any web application instance, to access the application.

    {% include important.html content= "The Azure Load Balancer{:target="_blank"} will distribute incoming traffic among healthy instances of servers defined in a load-balanced set. Hence the DNS of all web server instances will be the same." %}

    

    

12. The deployed web application will be launched and the various features can be browsed.

    

Summary

Using Azure DevOps and Azure, the web applications can be easily compiled and deployed to multiple target servers using Deployment Groups.