Announcing the new Azure App Service

In a mobile first, cloud first world, every business needs to deliver great mobile and web experiences that engage and connect with their customers, and which enable their employees to be even more productive.  These apps need to work with any device, and to be able to consume and integrate with data anywhere.

I'm excited to announce the release of our new Azure App Service today - which provides a powerful new offering to deliver these solutions.  Azure App Service is an integrated service that enables you to create web and mobile apps for any platform or device, easily integrate with SaaS solutions (Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Salesforce, Twilio, etc), easily connect with on-premises applications (SAP, Oracle, Siebel, etc), and easily automate businesses processes while meeting stringent security, reliability, and scalability needs.

Azure App Service

Azure App Service includes the Web App + Mobile App capabilities that we previously delivered separately (as Azure Websites + Azure Mobile Services).  It also includes powerful new Logic/Workflow App and API App capabilities that we are introducing today for the very first time - along with built-in connectors that make it super easy to build logic workflows that integrate with dozens of popular SaaS and on-premises applications (Office 365, SalesForce, Dynamics, OneDrive, Box, DropBox, Twilio, Twitter, Facebook, Marketo, and more). 

All of these features can be used together at one low price.  In fact, the new Azure App Service pricing is exactly the same price as our previous Azure Websites offering.  If you are familiar with our Websites service you now get all of the features it previously supported, plus additional new mobile support, plus additional new workflow support, plus additional new connectors to dozens of SaaS and on-premises solutions at no extra charge. 

Web + Mobile + Logic + API Apps

Azure App Service enables you to easily create Web + Mobile + Logic + API Apps:

image

You can run any number of these app types within a single Azure App Service deployment.  Your apps are automatically managed by Azure App Service and run in managed VMs isolated from other customers (meaning you don't have to worry about your app running in the same VM as another customer).  You can use the built-in AutoScaling support within Azure App Service to automatically increase and decrease the number of VMs that your apps use based on the actual resource consumption of them. 

This provides an incredibly cost-effective way to build and run highly scalable apps that provide both Web and Mobile experiences, and which contain automated business processes that integrate with a wide variety of apps and data sources.

Below are additional details on the different app types supported by Azure App Service.  Azure App Service is generally available starting today for Web apps, with the Mobile, Logic and API app types available in public preview:

Web Apps

The Web App support within Azure App Service includes 100% of the capabilities previously supported by Azure Websites.  This includes:

  • Support for .NET, Node.js, Java, PHP, and Python code
  • Built-in AutoScale support (automatically scale up/down based on real-world load)
  • Integrated Visual Studio publishing as well as FTP publishing
  • Continuous Integration/Deployment support with Visual Studio Online, GitHub, and BitBucket
  • Virtual networking support and hybrid connections to on-premises networks and databases
  • Staged deployment and test in production support
  • WebJob support for long running background tasks

Customers who have previously deployed an app using the Azure Website service will notice today that they these apps are now called "Web Apps" within the Azure management portals.  You can continue to run these apps exactly as before - or optionally now also add mobile + logic + API app support to your solution as well without having to pay anything more.

Mobile Apps

The Mobile App support within Azure App Service provides the core capabilities we previously delivered using Azure Mobile Services.  It also includes several new enhancements that we are introducing today including:

  • Built-in AutoScale support (automatically scale up/down based on real-world load)
  • Traffic Manager support (geographically scale your apps around the world)
  • Continuous Integration/Deployment support with Visual Studio Online, GitHub, and BitBucket
  • Virtual networking support and hybrid connections to on-premises databases
  • Staged deployment and test in production support
  • WebJob support for long running background tasks

Because we have an integrated App Service offering, you can now run both Web and Mobile Apps using a single Azure App Service deployment.  This allows you to avoid having to pay for a separate web and mobile backend - and instead optionally pool your resources to save even more money.

Logic Apps

The Logic App support within Azure App Services is brand new and enables you to automate workflows and business processes.  For example, you could configure a workflow that automatically runs every time your app calls an API, or saves data within a database, or on a timer (e.g. once a minute) - and within your workflows you can do tasks like create/retrieve a record in Dynamics CRM or Salesforce, send an email or SMS message to a sales-rep to follow up on, post a message on Facebook or Twitter or Yammer, schedule a meeting/reminder in Office 365, etc. 

Constructing such workflows is now super easy with Azure App Services.  You can define a workflow either declaratively using a JSON file (which you can check-in as source code) or using the new Logic/Workflow designer introduced today within the Azure Portal.  For example, below I've used the new Logic designer to configure an automatically recurring workflow that runs every minute, and which searches Twitter for tweets about Azure, and then automatically send SMS messages (using Twilio) to have employees follow-up on them:

image 

Creating the above workflow is super easy and takes only a minute or so to do using the new Logic App designer.  Once saved it will automatically run within the same VMs/Infrastructure that the Web Apps and Mobile Apps you've built using Azure App Service use as well.  This means you don't have to deploy or pay for anything extra - if you deploy a Web or Mobile App on Azure you can now do all of the above workflow + integration scenarios at no extra cost. 

Azure App Service today includes support for the following built-in connectors that you can use to construct and automate your Logic App workflows:

image

Combined the above connectors provide a super powerful way to build and orchestrate tasks that run and scale within your apps.  You can now build much richer web and mobile apps using it.

Watch this Azure Friday video about Logic Apps with Scott Hanselman and Josh Twist to learn more about how to use it.

API Apps

The API Apps support within Azure App Service provides additional support that enables you to easily create, consume and call APIs - both APIs you create (using a framework like ASP.NET Web API or the equivalent in other languages) as well as APIs from other SaaS and cloud providers.

API Apps enable simple access control and credential management within your applications, as well as automatic SDK generation support that enables you to easily expose and integrate APIs across a wide-variety of languages.  You can optionally integrate these APIs with Logic Apps.

Getting Started

Getting started with Azure App Service is easy.  Simply sign-into the Azure Preview Portal and click the "New" button in the bottom left of the screen.  Select the "Web + Mobile" sub-menu and you can now create Web Apps, Mobile Apps, Logic Apps, and API Apps:

image 

You can create any number of Web, Mobile, Logic and API apps and run them on a single Azure App Service deployment at no additional cost. 

Learning More

I'll be hosting a special Azure App Service launch event online on March 24th at 11am PDT which will contain more details about Azure App Service, a great demo from Scott Hanselman, and talks by several customers and analytics talking about their experiences.  You can watch the online event for free here.

Also check out our new Azure Friday App Service videos with Scott Hanselman that go into detail about all of the new capabilities, and show off how to build Web, Mobile, Logic and API Apps using Azure App Service:

Then visit our documentation center to learn more about the service and how to get started with it today.  Pricing details are available here.

Summary

Today’s Microsoft Azure release enables a ton of great new scenarios, and makes building great web and mobile applications hosted in the cloud even easier.

If you don’t already have a Azure account, you can sign-up for a free trial and start using all of the above features today.  Then visit the Microsoft Azure Developer Center to learn more about how to build apps with it.

Hope this helps,

Scott

P.S. In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at:twitter.com/scottgu

72 Comments

  • Congrats on the launch of the service! Awesome to see Azure App Service - literally another -aaS no less! Definitely going to check out the automation (especially the agility & scalability) and the orchestration (the workflow engine & UX) as well as the API ecosystem, which looks like it will play well with my big data analytics hobby projects :)

    - @KongYang

  • Does this release include any changes regarding support for wildcard hostnames on web apps? Like the support that exists on azure cloud services?

  • Still doesn't replace LightSwitch. Can we get an update on LightSwitch please?

  • I'm unable to provision an API App - I Click Create and it "thinks" for a bit, then times out. with no error in notifications. Looking at network traffic reveals a 403 error. I've tried it with multiple accounts/subscriptions. Is the service temporarily down (but without notice on the status board), or is something "off" in my account? I am able to create a Logic app, but see nothing in the Gallery - it tells me I must provision an API App first...

  • Great advancement. What will happen with previous investments in Mobile Services with the Node.JS backend? Are these easily upgradable? Do you still provide the same structure and APIs?

  • Does this mean Websites and WebJobs will be phased out at some point in favor of these new project types? Or is it the same set of services going through a systematic renaming?

  • How does web roles/cloud services now fit with this new App Services. It doesn't seem like there is much different between them, but they are still treated as a separate entity. When should we use one over the other?

  • was going to see the live cast but the web site is asking for flash and I con not install flash on my work pc.
    why still use flash ? my browser could do html 5 if you let it.

  • Daniel, when you create an API App please create a new resource group to put it in. This is a temporary limitation that will go away in the next hour or so but it could be blocking you right now.

  • @Dan Vanderboom - for Websites and WebJobs nothing changes, they are just renamed to Web Apps. All your existing Websites and WebJobs will continue to run as-is. In the portal they will show up under the "Web Apps" label.

  • @Djon, App Services Mobile App feature is in preview and only provides server side SDK for .NET. Before we GA App Service Mobile App, we will provide Node.js support at parity with Mobile Services. While your Mobile Services investments are safe and continue to be supported, we will ensure migration experience from Mobile Services Node.js to App Service is smooth, so that you can take advantage of the new capabilities in App Service.

  • I have been working on some node.js backed mobile services for last several months with a website which uses mobile services api. Now, do I have to recreate these two apps on App service platform? or is there an easy way to port them over if I have to.

  • @Will, it will be easy, just give us a bit more time to add first class Node.js support to App Service Mobile Apps.

  • @Dan Vanderboom Web Apps (formally Websites) is strictly limited to changing the name of Websites to Web Apps. With App Service you can run any app in a App Service Plan, which is the way Websites used to manage VM. You can read more here: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-changes-existing-services/

  • @akasarto You can configure custom domain to any app using App Service. App Service supports wildcard for both SNI. More details http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-sites-custom-domain-name/

  • Congratulations Scott, and Scott, i loved the announcement and cant want to grow my solutions with it

    @Vishalishere

  • I tried a Logic App, just to play with it. It would be nice to be able to drag connectors around to reorder them. Also, I expected to see control-of-flow items, like IF/ELSE. I'm either missing the point, or these types of things are coming later.

  • Does this change affects azure worker role?
    I am planning to start worker role project.
    Thanks

  • I tried to configure the MicrosoftSQLConnector API App with a SQL VM in Azure, but could not get it to work correctly. Is this connector supported in that way?

    It would be nice to get a document for that connector similar to https://github.com/Azure/azure-content/blob/master/articles/app-service-logic-connector-http.md

  • @Michael - thanks for the feedback. Yes, we'll absolutely add these enhancements in the future. Actually we already have if and repeat logic available today. See here for more information: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/app-service-logic-use-logic-app-features/

    Thanks again and do please register your ideas and requests on UserVoice: http://feedback.azure.com/forums/287593-logic-apps

    Thanks!

  • Does it support long running workflow? Like BPM?

  • Have Logic App's been provisioned in Australia? Every time i try and create one in Australia I cannot go into the Triggers and Actions screen. All the connectors are missing and the UI looks broken.

    If i create a new App Service in the US (only region i tried) then everything works as expected.

  • Question: What is the difference between the API App and API Management? I'm confused if they complement each other, when to choose one/ other etc. The API App seems to encompass much of the Management and more, but not some of the things. Are they meant to be used together?

  • @Jamy Aaron Ryals - the remaining connector docs will be coming very soon. Watch this space!

  • How do you write API apps using NancyFX ?

  • Cool stuff, but definitely not ready for prime time. In fact, I don't think it's ready for beta. Not one thing I've tried works all the way through.

  • I actually thought Microsoft was getting somewhere when Mobile Services was a true PaaS service and priced $x per x transaction/requests. Even the network bandwidth was included.

    Now we're back to buying dedicated VM's CPU & Memory or CPU minutes per day in a shared model.

    Might as well use AWS!!

  • Will there be options for larger VMs (ones with more than 7 GB memory) for Websites/App Services?

  • Congrats on this, but Scott - seriously - you guys need an entirely new team of UX designers. Immediately. These screen captures look like childrens' games.

  • Superb. It makes life more easy :)

  • so does the price also include Visual Studio Professional 2013 since one of the screenshots shows a link to download it?

  • screenshot is on the URL here http://azure.microsoft.com/blog/2015/03/24/announcing-azure-app-service

  • Sounds great. You mention Dynamics CRM in your text, but in the connector picture it isn't mentioned. So is there support for it?

  • When I create a Logic app and add the Outlook Connecter, configured to poll an inbox, then add another Outlook Connecter configured to send an email based on an input from the 1st event, when the event is triggered the logic app fails with the following error.

    {"code":"InvalidTemplate","message":"Unable to process template language expressions for action 'office365connector0' at line '1' and column '11': 'Template language expression can not be evaluated: the property 'outputs' can not be selected.'."}

    It seems like using an input from an event in any action always fails regardless of the API App.

    Also when I click the Authorize button on the Salesforce connecter, it errors before prompting me to sign in with the following message...

    "Error fetching swagger api definition. Please try again"

  • What is your strategy relating to the BizTalk Services? Seems the App Services have the same functionality as BizTalk Services.
    Are you going to close the BizTalk Service project? How long are you going to support it? Are you going to announce this?
    And thank you for great new product!

  • @Manuel,
    Dynamics CRM connector is coming shortly, we'll update the status here when it's published.

  • I always read "easily integrate with SaaS solutions (Office 365, Dynamics CRM, Salesforce, Twilio, etc)" ....... but where is the Dynamics CRM connector??

  • sry your answer and my question overlapped

  • @Kirill
    Thanks. Another question:
    As far as I know this service will also be available on premise through azure pack. When can we expect this approx? :)

  • Congrats, Nice Offering. I am glad to see Connectors/APIS in Azure Cloud. This was something missing and new API fills up thd GAP
    Kudous to the team Who introduce connectors.

    My Wish List for Connectors/ Api's
    1) Google Calender API./ Maps/ -
    2) WhatsApp, WeChat, API
    3) Microsoft Lync Message Sender , Status check etc)
    3) Connector API Framework - So that Community Developers can make their API Connectors and Sell them in APP Market / Developer Eco System.

  • Shockingly confusing! I am a long-time software developer but new to Azure. As far as I can work out, a Mobile App is not a mobile phone app but rather a service that runs in the cloud. It seem to be written to run a single ToDo app (whatever that is). When I try and add a client to this "mobile" service, I get taken to a screen that says "Follow these steps to create a simple Todo app that connects to your mobile app.". What?

    Web+Mobile, rather than allowing me to create a single universal Web/Mobile phone app as one would imagine, takes me to a screen that includes a variety of apps including (it would seem) desktop apps. All in all I am guessing this will be a huge turn-off for those new to Azure. We need a document that basically shows how Azure works, especially in relation to the badly named Mobile App (maybe call it Azure data Services)..

  • Thanks for this collection :) it always help to make new creative ideas and designs

  • Totally confused, cannot even find the Logic Apps add option now. Has this been renamed, moved, removed. Why is it that all the documentation seems to be wrong. New to Azure, has the interface just changed or something? Trying to do a simple logic app but now totally lost. Thanks
    Steve

  • Ok, figured it out. Seems I was using an old portal interface for some reason.

    Thanks in advance.

  • So Logic app is using Swagger. Why not oData? Please clarify.

  • @Anthony,
    sorry we managed to confuse you - that was not the intent:). When you create a New Mobile App in the portal, you're creating a backend for your mobile app. "todo list" application is just an interactive tutorial to get you started. The sentence you quote from the quickstart is indeed confusing - we'll fix it.

    If by "Web + Mobile" you're referring to the "Web + Mobile" section in the gallery - these are all various connectors/services relevant to building Web + Mobile apps. Let us see what we can do to make it clearer.

    thanks for the feedback!

  • Still confused..

    When I create a mobile app, it is pinned to my start screen as "MOBILESERVICE" - hence my confusion? (see http://1drv.ms/1HOvQXS). When I click this I get taken to a mobile app screen (promising!) which contains a panel for (apparently) retrieving my app code (yesterday this panel was giving an error and my download was that of the service, so you can see why I was confused). When I click this I get told you are working on it - how disappointing. Fair enough I guess and I am liking what I see will be Azure once the confusion vanishes.

    Sill not sure what Web + Mobile means. Lots of Apps there, not just Web and Mobile. In any case , the Mobile App states that it is a backend - in other words the old Mobile Service. I do want a universal app that combines a web and a mobile app (doesn't seem to be one, boo hoo) and this is why Web +_ Mobile is not a good name.

  • Will API Apps have Virtual Network support?

  • Thanks @Anthony, the name of the part on the start screen should be "mobile app" - thanks for reporting, the fix is underway.

    Mobile App blade allows you to navigate to push, auth, and mobile app code management blades. Mobile App Code runs in the same container as your web apps - you can publish there any project you used to publish to WebSites. This way you can co-host your web app and your mobile backend APIs (after all, the latter are just API controllers)

    If I understand correctly, once you click on mobile app code part of the mobile app blade, the "mobile app code" blade is taking a long time to show up. Could you email us at mobileservices@microsoft.com ? We'd love to investigate the perf issue here.

  • Pity I can't post pictures.

    "Mobile App blade allows you to navigate to push, auth, and mobile app code management blades. Mobile App Code runs in :). the same container as your web apps ... etc. " might as well be hieroglyphics to me :). You need to talk in language someone new to Azure would understand. In any case, the Mobile App blade (what appears when you click on Mobile App in Web + Mobile) states "Mobile App (new line) New Mobile App".

    In the Web + Mobile blade, the Mobile App states "Mobile App A scalable and secure backend that can be used to power apps on any platform – iOS, Android, ...". This is a description of the old Mobile Service isn't it? No wonder I am confused as it would seem there are many at Microsoft who are in a similar state.

    Ditch Mobile App totally and call it Mobile Phone App (if that is what it is - still not sure!). And fix its description.

    If have no idea what Mobile App Code blade is all about. I would guess it is about downloading a VS solution, but that does not seem to be the case (i downloads a file for me called TestMobileApp-code.PublishSettings). No help in the blade is a huge, huge oversight.

    Another problem for me has been that I am being charged ($10) for the creation of a Web app. It is a preview isn't it (it states this on the start page)? I have since deleted the Website but the panel it used to occupy on the start page says "Something went wrong".

    ps your capitas are hard to read

  • Thank you @Anthony,
    could you reach out to us on mobileservices@microsoft.com? We're working on the new experience (where you can just add mobile backend capabilities to the Web App) and other improvements that hopefully will address some of these issues, would love to run it by you.

    The Web App is just renamed Web Sites, it is generally available. We'll look into why the pinned part on the start menu does not disappear.
    thanks again!

  • Recently I have registered for Azure for Dreamspark and I'm some experiencing problems.
    When I try to create new app only Web Apps are available, although as I understand at least Mobile, Logic and API should be available too.
    When I tried to create Web App it fails, stating that I don't have active subscription. However, subscription status in service management is "Active".
    Has anyone experienced similar problems, what might be the cause?

  • @Maciej Grzybek - apologies for inconvenience. Azure for Dreamspark only allows Web Apps today. We will be adding support for Mobile, Logic and API Apps in future.

    When was the last time your tried to create the WebApp and it failed? Which WebApp did you try and deploy?

    Can you please share your subscription ID with me at "apurvajo at Microsoft dot com" and we will investigate what is going on with your account.

    Thanks
    AJ

  • Currently using Cloud Services (Web Role and Worker Role). Can you describe for me concisely the basic difference between Cloud Services and App Services? We host a WebSite (with an MVC component and a REST/WebApi component) and also have a mobile app developed in Xamarin. Why would we choose to stay with Cloud Services? Why would we choose to move to App Services?

    Thanks.

  • I just want to clarify my last comment. We don't have an Azure WebSite. We have a WebRole and a WorkerRole. I should have said web site, not WebSite, since that means something in Azure parlance.

    Thanks again.

  • Is SSL and custom domains supported on the Azure Website (Shared)? On the pricing page the Service Capabilities section indicates that both are not supported, but further down in Pricing Details/Free and Shared it says that both are supported. Can someone please confirm whether or not these features are available in the Shared tier?

    Thanks

  • article providing best information about azure app, I am regular reader of your blog. before couple day I registered on azure and i found only web app is available here..

    Regards
    Kamal Rana

  • Great post - new Azure App Service sounds exciting!

  • Congrats on this and thanks for your post, but Scott seriously: will API apps have virtual network support.
    Thanks again

  • Excellent features are provided by Microsoft Azure..Hope it makes the task of creating apps easier....

  • Why is there no VNET or Hybrid Connection support for the API APP? Only Web App and Mobile App seems to support this.

  • Where is the SDK Automated generation ?

  • I am having a great deal of trouble getting a sql connector working for a database which is on an Azure VM (SQL Server 2012). I have configured the hybrid connection and installed the on-premise configuration, and now have a BizTalk connection present in the old portal view. When I select the Hybrid Connection tile from within the Sql Connector blade, It shows the hybrid connection under 'use existing...'
    When I select that, it gives me the 'Connected' message after about 30 seconds or so. When I try to use the connector in a logic app, I get an error message that the swagger is not valid.

    Am I missing something? I'm also wondering why there is no indication of the name given to a sql connector in the designer even though one is entered when configuring the connector. When you have multiple sql connectors, how do you tell them apart?

    Thanks,

    Mike

  • I'm really surprised and a little confused by the fact that such a fantastic new feature has been added to Azure, but as yet there is no API Apps available for any of the Dynamics family? What are Microsoft thinking when they release connectors for Salesforce, SAP and Oracle, but no Dynamics CRM, NAV, AX or GP?? I know they are trying to open up Azure to the bigger marketplace, but your own platforms should not be forgotten while doing this!

  • Features of Microsoft Azure seems to be unique and different. Hoping that creating Mobile Apps would be easier.

  • I have an existing Asp.Net app using Asp.net identity that I want to port over to Azures. Also I want to build a mobile application that will leverage Azure mobile service push notifications. How do I merge the Asp.net identity with Azure Mobile
    services such that a user that registers on the web site can use the same credentials to retrieve data / notifications via azure mobile services.
    All the examples I have seen so far regarding authentication on Azure Mobile services have used Facebook/Google/Twitter credentials and this doesn't work for my scenario.

    any advice is appreciated..

  • Hello, is there any guidance on troubleshooting API apps? It seems almost everything regarding documentation redirects you to the azure app services overview page. I keep getting an "Error fetching swagger api definition. Please try again." error when adding the Oracle Database Connector. There is no way to "try again" other than to delete it and then re-add it. Is there any guidance on how to troubleshoot such errors?

  • Hello,I have tried creating a Logic App in the Standard tier with region as North Central US (since it dint work with region Southeast Asia).Im using the Facebook and Dropbox connector here.I have set the trigger for Facebook connector on "New post on User Timeline" with interval as per minute.Further in my Dropbox connector,I have set the Upload file value as "/facebook.txt" and Content value as "@triggers().outputs.body.post" since the option I selected was "New Post on User Timeline Message Text".
    On running the trigger for the first time manually,I get this error:
    '{"code":"InvalidTemplate","message":"Unable to process template language expressions for action 'mydropboxconnector' at line '1' and column '11': 'Template language expression can not be evaluated: the property 'outputs' can not be selected.'."}'.
    Can you please let me know if I have missed anything. Appreciate your help.

  • One more problem that I faced is while creating an SQL Connector.After creating the connector,the status shown is 'Error'.Please can you explain in brief the procedure to create an SQL connector.

  • Questions on mobile services with auth with providers:
    1. Doesn't this just let anyone access your service if they download your app and login with one of the providers.(the app key is hardcoded into your mobile app yes?).

    2. If I wanted to use this service to allow my customers to login using a mobile app I would need to be able to link their google (or other provider) account to their customer account in my database so that they are only presented with their data, any advice on how I would go about this or should I use different services/technology for this?

    Would love to use mobile services, so any advice on this appreciated. Thanks

  • Hey this is wonderful, I have created by first API App and was trying to publish it but getting the below error, any pointers would help -
    ResourceDeploymentFailure: The resource operation completed with terminal provisioning state 'Failed'.
    Azure API App provisioning failed

  • App Service includes all the capabilities from Azure Mobile Services, which is an mBaaS. Azure also has an API Management service that can be easily connected to the APIs created in App Service, offering full API management capabilities to them.

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