.Net 9 as well as sidecar extensibility are GA on App Service. See the Phi-3 small language model working with existing web applications and more!
Learn about the GA of sidecar extensibility on Linux and see team members demonstrating the latest tools for AI assisted web application migration and modernization as well as the latest updates to Java JBoss EAP on Azure App Service. Team members will also demonstrate integrating the Phi-3 small language model with a web application via the new sidecar extensibility using existing App Service hardware!
Also new for this year’s Ignite, many topics that attendees see in App Service related sessions are also available for hands-on learning across multiple hands-on labs (HoLs). Don’t just watch team members demonstrating concepts on-stage, drop by one of the many HoL sessions and test drive the functionality yourself!
Azure App Service team members will also be in attendance at the Expert Meetup area on the third floor in the Hub – drop by and chat if you are attending in-person! Additional demos, presentations and hands-on labs covering App Service are listed at the end of this blog post for easy reference.
Sidecar Extensibility GA for Azure App Service on Linux
Sidecar extensibility for Azure App Service on Linux is now GA! Linux applications deployed from source-code as well as applications deployed using custom containers can take advantage of sidecar extensibility. Sidecars enable developers to attach additional capabilities like third-party application monitoring providers, in-memory caches, or even local SLM (small language model) support to their applications without having to bake that functionality directly into their applications.
Developers can configure up to four sidecar containers per application, with each sidecar being associated with its own container registry and (optional) startup command.
Examples of configuring an OpenTelemetry collector sidecar are available in the documentation for both container-based applications and source-code based applications.
There are also several recent blog posts demonstrating additional sidecar scenarios. One example walks through using a Redis cache sidecar as an in-memory cache to accelerate data retrieval in a web application (sample code here). Another example demonstrates adding a sidecar containing the Phi-3 SLM to a custom container web application (sample code here). Once the web app is running with the SLM sidecar, Phi-3 processes text prompts directly on the web server without the need to call remote LLMs or host models on scarce GPU hardware.
Similar examples for source deployed applications are available in the Ignite 2024 hands on lab demonstrating sidecars. Exercise three walks through attaching an OTel sidecar to a source-code based application, and exercise four shows how to attach a Phi-3 sidecar to a source-code based application.
Looking ahead to the future, App Service will be adding “curated sidecars” to the platform to make it easier for developers to integrate common sidecar scenarios. Development is already underway to include options for popular third-party application monitoring providers, Redis cache support, as well as a curated sidecar encapsulating the Phi-3 SLM example mentioned earlier. Stay tuned for these enhancements in the future!
If you are attending Microsoft Ignite 2024 in person, drop by the theater session “Modernize your apps with AI without completely rewriting your code” (session code: THR 614) which demonstrates using sidecar extensibility to add Open Telemetry monitoring as well as Phi-3 SLM support to applications on App Service for Linux!
.NET 9 GA, JBoss EAP and More Language Updates!
With the recent GA of .NET 9 last week developers can deploy applications running .NET 9 GA on both Windows and Linux variants of App Service! Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions all support building and deploying .NET 9 applications onto App Service. Start a new project using .NET 9 or upgrade your existing .NET applications in-place and take advantage of .NET 9!
For JBoss EAP on App Service for Linux, customers will soon be able to bring their existing JBoss licenses with them when moving JBoss EAP workloads onto App Service for Linux. This change will make it easier and more cost effective than ever for JBoss EAP customers to migrate existing workloads to App Service, including JBoss versions 7.3, 7.4 and 8.0! As a quick reminder, last month App Service also announced reduced pricing for JBoss EAP licenses (for net-new workloads) as well as expanded hardware support (both memory-optimized and Free tier are now supported for JBoss EAP applications).
App Service is planning to release both Node 22 and Python 3.13 onto App Service for Linux with expected availability in December! Python 3.13 is the latest stable Python release which means developers will be able to leverage this version with confidence given long term support runs into 2029. Node 22 is the latest active LTS release of Node and is a great version for developers to adopt with its long-term support lasting into 2026.
A special note for Linux Python developers, App Service now supports “auto-instrumentation” in public preview for Python versions 3.8 through 3.12. This makes it trivial for source-code based Python applications to enable Application Insights monitoring for their applications by simply turning the feature “on” in the Azure Portal.
If you ever thought to yourself that it can be a hassle setting up application monitoring and hence find yourself procrastinating, this is the monitoring feature for you!
Looking ahead just a few short weeks until December, App Service also plans to release PHP 8.4 for developers on App Service for Linux. This will enable PHP developers to leverage the latest fully supported PHP release with an expected support cycle stretching into 2028.
For WordPress customers Azure App Service has added support for managed identities when connecting to MySQL database as well as storage accounts. The platform has also transitioned WordPress from Alpine Linux to Debian, aligning with App Service for Linux to offer a more secure platform. Looking ahead, App Service is excited to introduce some new features by the end of the year, including an App Service plugin for WordPress! This plugin will enable users to manage WordPress integration with Azure Communication Services email, set up Single Sign-On using Microsoft Entra ID, and diagnose performance bottlenecks. Stay tuned for upcoming WordPress announcements!
End-to-End TLS & Min TLS Cipher Suite are now GA
End-to-end TLS encryption for public multi-tenant App Service is now GA! When E2E TLS is configured, traffic between the App Service frontends and individual workers is secured using a platform supplied TLS certificate. This additional level of security is available for both Windows and Linux sites using Standard SKU and above as well as Isolatedv2 SKUs.
You can enable this feature easily in the Azure Portal by going to your resource, clicking the “Configuration” blade and turning the feature “On” as shown below:
Configuration of the minimum TLS cipher suite for a web application is also GA! With this feature developers can choose from a pre-determined list of cipher suites. When a minimum cipher suite is selected, the App Service frontends will reject any incoming requests that use a cipher suite weaker than the selected minimum cipher suite. This feature is supported for both Windows and Linux applications using Basic SKU and higher as well as Isolatedv2 SKUs.
You configure a minimum TLS cipher suite in the Azure Portal by going to the “Configuration” blade for a website and selecting “Change” for the Minimum Inbound TLS Cipher Suite setting. In the resulting blade (shown below) you can select the minimum cipher suite for your application:
To learn more about these and other TLS features on App Service, please refer to the App Service TLS overview.
AI-Powered Conversational Diagnostics
Building on the Conversational Diagnostics AI-powered tool and the guided decision making path introduced in Diagnostic Workflows, the team has created a new AI-driven natural language-based diagnostics solution for App Service on Linux.
The new solution brings together previous functionality to create an experience that comprehends user intent, selects the appropriate Diagnostic Workflow, and keeps users engaged by providing real-time updates and actionable insights through chat.
Conversational Diagnostics also provides the grounding data that the generative AI back-end uses to produce recommendations thus empowering users to check the conclusions.
The integration of Conversational Diagnostics and Diagnostic Workflows marks a significant advancement in the platform’s diagnostic capabilities. Stay tuned for more updates and experience the transformative power of Generative AI-driven diagnostics firsthand!
App Service Migration and Modernization
The team just recently introduced new architectural guidance around evolving and modernizing web applications with the Modern Web Application pattern for .NET and Java! This guidance builds on the Reliable Web App pattern for .NET and Java as well as the Azure Migrate application and code assessment tool.
With the newly released Modern Web Application guidance, there is a well-documented path for migrating web applications from on-premises/VM deployments using the application and code assessment tool, iterating and evolving web applications with best practices using guidance from the Reliable Web App pattern, and subsequently going deeper on modernization and re-factoring following guidance from the Modern Web Application pattern. Best of all customers can choose to “enter” this journey at any point and progress as far down the modernization path as needed based on their unique business and technical requirements!
As a quick recap on the code assessment tool, it is a guided experience inside of Visual Studio with GitHub Copilot providing actionable guidance and feedback on recommended changes needed to migrate applications to a variety of Azure services including Azure App Service.
Combined with AI-powered Conversational Diagnostics (mentioned earlier), developers now have AI-guided journeys supporting them from migration all the way through deployment and runtime operation on App Service!
Networking and ASE Updates
As of November 1, 2024, we are excited to announce that App Service multi-plan subnet join is generally available across all public Azure regions! Multi-plan subnet join eases network management by reducing subnet sprawl, enabling developers to connect multiple app service plans to a single subnet.
There is no limit to the number of app service plans that connect to a single subnet. However, developers should keep in mind the number of available IPs since tasks such as changing the SKU for an app service plan will temporarily double the number of IP addresses used in a connected subnet. For more information as well as examples on using multi-plan subnet join see the documentation!
App Service also recently announced GA of memory optimized options for Isolatedv2 on App Service Environment v3. The new memory-optimized options range from two virtual cores with 16 GB RAM in I1mv2 (compared to two virtual cores, 8 GB RAM in I1v2) all the way up to 32 virtual cores with 256 GB RAM in I5mv2. The new plans are available in most regions. Check back regularly to see if your preferred region is supported. For more details on the technical specifications of these plans, as well as information on the complete range of tiers and plans for Microsoft Azure App Service, visit our pricing page.
Using services such as Application Gateway and Azure Front Door with App Service as entry points for client traffic is a common scenario that many of our customers implement. However, when using these services together, there are integration challenges around the default cookie domain for HTTP cookies, including the ARRAffinity cookie used for session affinity. App Service collaborated with the Application Gateway team to introduce a simple solution that addresses the session affinity problem.
App Service introduced a new session affinity proxy configuration setting in October which tells App Service to always set the hostname for outbound cookies based on the upstream hostname seen by Application Gateway or Azure Front Door. This simplifies integration with a single-click experience for App Service developers who front-end their websites using one of Azure’s reverse proxies, and it solves the challenge of round-tripping the ArrAffinity cookie when upstream proxies are involved.
Looking ahead to early 2025, App Service will shortly be expanding support for IPv6 to include both inbound and outbound connections (currently only inbound connections are supported). The current public preview includes dual-stack support for both IPv4 and IPv6, allowing for a smooth transition and compatibility with existing systems. Read more about the latest status of the IPv6 public preview on App Service here !
Lastly, the new application naming and hostname convention that was rolled out a few months earlier for App Service is now GA for App Service. The platform has also extended this new naming convention to Azure Functions where it is now available in public preview for newly created functions. To learn more about the new naming convention and the protection it provides against subdomain takeover take a look at the introductory blog post about the unique default hostname feature.
Upcoming Availability Zone Improvements
New Availability Zone features are currently rolling out that will make zone redundant App Service deployments more cost efficient and simpler to manage in early 2025!
The platform will be changing the minimum requirement for enabling Availability Zones to two instances instead of three, while still maintaining a 99.99% SLA. Many existing app service plans with two or more instances will also automatically become capable of supporting Availability Zones without requiring additional setup.
Additionally, the zone redundant setting will be mutable throughout the life of an app service plan. This upcoming improvement will allow customers on Premium V2, Premium V3, or Isolated V2 plans, to toggle zone redundancy on or off as needed. Customers will also gain enhanced visibility into Availability Zone information, including physical zone placement and counts. As a sneak peek into the future, the screenshot below shows what the new experience will look like in the Azure Portal:
Stay tuned for Availability Zone updates coming to App Service in early 2025!
Next Steps
Developers can learn more about Azure App Service at Getting Started with Azure App Service. Stay up to date on new features and innovations on Azure App Service via Azure Updates as well as the Azure App Service (@AzAppService) X feed. There is always a steady stream of great deep-dive technical articles about App Service as well as the breadth of developer focused Azure services over on the Apps on Azure blog.
Azure App Service (virtually!) attended the recently completed November .Net Conf 2024. App Service functionality was featured showing a .NET 9.0 app using Azure Sql’s recently released native vector data type support that enables developers to perform hybrid text searches on Azure Sql data using vectors generated via Azure OpenAI embeddings!
And lastly take a look at Azure App Service Community Standups hosted on the Microsoft Azure Developers YouTube channel. The Azure App Service Community Standup series regularly features walkthroughs of new and upcoming features from folks that work directly on the product!
Ignite 2024 Session Reference
(Note: some sessions/labs have more than one timeslot spanning multiple days).
(Note: all times below are listed in Chicago time - Central Standard Time).
Modernize your apps with AI without completely rewriting your code
Modernize your apps with AI without completely rewriting your code
[Note: this session includes a demonstration of the Phi-3 sidecar scenario]
Wednesday, November 20th 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM Central Standard Time
Theater Session – In-Person Only (THR614)
McCormick Place West Building – Level 3, Hub, Theater C
Unlock AI: Assess your app and data estate for AI-powered innovation
Unlock AI: Assess your app and data estate for AI-powered innovation
Wednesday, November 20th 1:15 PM – 2:00 PM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 1, Room W183c
Breakout and Recorded Session (BRK137)
Modernize and scale enterprise Java applications on Azure
Modernize and scale enterprise Java applications on Azure
Thursday, November 21st 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 1, Room W183c
Breakout and Recorded Session (BRK147)
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Tuesday, November 19th 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 4, Room W475
Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB408)
Integrate GenAI capabilities into your .NET apps with minimal code changes
Integrate GenAI capabilities into your .NET apps with minimal code changes
[Note: Lab participants will be able to try out the Phi-3 sidecar scenario in this lab.]
Wednesday, November 20th 8:30 AM - 9:45 AM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 4, Room W475
Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB411)
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Wednesday, November 20th 6:30 PM - 7:45 PM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 4, Room W470b
Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB408-R1)
Integrate GenAI capabilities into your .NET apps with minimal code changes
Integrate GenAI capabilities into your .NET apps with minimal code changes
[Note: Lab participants will be able to try out the Phi-3 sidecar scenario in this lab.]
Thursday, November 21st 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 1, Room W180
Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB411-R1)
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Assess apps with Azure Migrate and replatform to Azure App Service
Friday, November 22nd 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM Central Time
McCormick Place West Building – Level 4, Room W474
Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB408-R2)
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