Azure Functions .NET 5 support

Welcome to a preview of .NET 5 in Azure Functions. .NET 5 functions run in an out-of-process language worker that is separate from the Azure Functions runtime. This allows you to have full control over your application's dependencies as well as other new features like a middleware pipeline.

A .NET 5 function app works differently than a .NET Core 3.1 function app. For .NET 5, you build an executable that imports the .NET 5 language worker as a NuGet package. Your app includes a Program.cs that starts the worker.

If you've built .NET Core 3.1 Azure Functions before, the rest of a .NET 5 Azure Functions app should look quite familiar. Refer to the information in this README for how to get started and for more details about the main differences.

As this is a preview, there may be some breaking changes to be expected.

How to run the sample

Install .NET 5.0

Download .NET 5.0 from here

Install the Azure Functions Core Tools

Please make sure you have Azure Functions Core Tools >= 3.0.3160.

To download, please check out our docs at Azure Functions Core Tools

FunctionApp folder structure

Here are the important artifacts in a .NET 5 Azure Functions app (FunctionApp folder).

local.settings.json

{
  "IsEncrypted": false,
  "Values": {
    "FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME": "dotnet-isolated",
    "AzureWebJobsStorage": ""
  }
}

• FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME - Set this to a value of dotnet-isolated. This is likely to change in the future as this worker is intended for future .NET versions as well.
• AzureWebJobsStorage - Some of the functions in the sample require a Storage account. Set the value of AzureWebJobsStorage to the connection string to a valid Storage account or running Storage Emulator.

FunctionApp.csproj

There are some main differences between a .NET 5 Azure Functions project compared to .NET Core 3.1.

• TargetFramework and OutputType - A .NET 5 Azure Functions app is a .NET 5 executable (console app) that runs in a process that is separate from the Azure Functions host.
• AzureFunctionsVersion - .NET 5 Azure Functions still uses the v3 Azure Functions host.
• _FunctionsSkipCleanOutput - Ensure this is set to prevent the build process from removing important files in the output.

<PropertyGroup>
  <TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
  <LangVersion>preview</LangVersion>
  <AzureFunctionsVersion>v3</AzureFunctionsVersion>
  <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
  <_FunctionsSkipCleanOutput>true</_FunctionsSkipCleanOutput>
</PropertyGroup>

Also note the package references needed for the .NET 5 worker. You can use other .NET 5 compatible packages in your project.

For functions attributes to work, you also need to reference the appropriate WebJobs SDK packages that contain the required types.

Functions

Like .NET Core 3.1 function apps, functions are in C# files. They are currently separated into folders but, like .NET Core 3.1 functions, they can be organized differently if you wish.

One important difference with .NET 5 functions is that "rich bindings", such as Durable Functions or binding to SDK types like Cosmos DB client, are not supported. Use strings and C# objects (POCOs). For HTTP, use HttpRequestData and HttpResponseData objects.

• Function1 - An HTTP trigger with a Blob input and a Queue output.
• Function2 - A Queue trigger with a Blob input.
• Function3 - An HTTP trigger with a Queue output.
• Function4 - A simple HTTP trigger.
• Function5 - An HTTP triggered function that demonstrates dependency injection.

Run the sample locally

In the FunctionApp folder, run func host start [Optional --verbose]. This will preform a build and then run the host.

cd FunctionApp
func host start --verbose

Attaching the debugger

We are working with the Visual Studio and VS Code teams to add support for debugging and deployment. For now, follow these instructions to debug an app.

VS Code

In the "Run" icon in the Activity Bar. The .NET Core Attach launch task should be selected. With the function app running, start the .NET Core Attach launch configuration. It will prompt you for a process to attach to. Select the dotnet process running FunctionApp.dll (your functions project dll).

Ensure you have the C# extension for VS Code installed. For the .NET Core Attach launch config to appear, open VS Code at the repository root where the launch config is defined.

Visual Studio

To debug in Visual Studio, uncomment the Debugger.Launch() statements in Program.cs. The process will attempt to launch a debugger before continuing.

Deploying to Azure

Create the Azure resources

1. To deploy the app, first ensure that you've installed the Azure CLI.

2. Login to the CLI.

   az login

3. If necessary, use az account set to select the subscription you want to use.

4. Create a resource group, Storage account, and Azure Functions app.

   az group create --name AzureFunctionsQuickstart-rg --location westeurope
   az storage account create --name <STORAGE_NAME> --location westeurope --resource-group AzureFunctionsQuickstart-rg --sku Standard_LRS
   az functionapp create --resource-group AzureFunctionsQuickstart-rg --consumption-plan-location westeurope --runtime dotnet --functions-version 3 --name <APP_NAME> --storage-account <STORAGE_NAME>

Deploy the app

1. Ensure you're in your functions project (FunctionApp) folder.

2. Publish the .NET project.

   dotnet publish -c Release

3. Cd into the publish artifacts.

   cd ./bin/Release/net5.0/publish

4. Deploy the app.

   func azure functionapp publish <APP_NAME>

Known issues

• Deployment to Azure is currently limited to Windows plans. Note that some optimizations are not in place in the consumption plan and you may experience longer cold starts.

Feedback

Please create issues in this repo. Thanks!

Contributing

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This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact [email protected] with any additional questions or comments.

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