Keep Your Azure Functions Up to Date: Identify Apps Running on Retired Versions
Running Azure Functions on retired language versions can lead to security risks, performance issues, and potential service disruptions. While Azure Functions Team notifies users about upcoming retirements through the portal, emails, and warnings, identifying affected Function Apps across multiple subscriptions can be challenging. To simplify this, we’ve provided Azure CLI scripts to help you: ✅ Identify all Function Apps using a specific runtime version ✅ Find apps running on unsupported or soon-to-be-retired versions ✅ Take proactive steps to upgrade and maintain a secure, supported environment Read on for the full set of Azure CLI scripts and instructions on how to upgrade your apps today! Why Upgrading Your Azure Functions Matters Azure Functions supports six different programming languages, with new stack versions being introduced and older ones retired regularly. Staying on a supported language version is critical to ensure: Continued access to support and security updates Avoidance of performance degradation and unexpected failures Compliance with best practices for cloud reliability Failure to upgrade can lead to security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and unsupported workloads that may eventually break. Azure's language support policy follows a structured deprecation timeline, which you can review here. How Will You Know When a Version Is Nearing its End-of-Life? The Azure Functions team communicates retirements well in advance through multiple channels: Azure Portal notifications Emails to subscription owners Warnings in client tools and Azure Portal UI when an app is running on a version that is either retired, or about to be retired in the next 6 months Official Azure Functions Supported Languages document here To help you track these changes, we recommend reviewing the language version support timelines in the Azure Functions Supported Languages document. However, identifying all affected apps across multiple subscriptions can be challenging. To simplify this process, I've built some Azure CLI scripts below that can help you list all impacted Function Apps in your environment. Linux* Function Apps with their language stack versions: az functionapp list --query "[?siteConfig.linuxFxVersion!=null && siteConfig.linuxFxVersion!=''].{Name:name, ResourceGroup:resourceGroup, OS:'Linux', LinuxFxVersion:siteConfig.linuxFxVersion}" --output table *Running on Elastic Premium and App Service Plans Linux* Function Apps on a specific language stack version: Ex: Node.js 18 az functionapp list --query "[?siteConfig.linuxFxVersion=='Node|18'].{Name:name, ResourceGroup:resourceGroup, OS: 'Linux', LinuxFxVersion:siteConfig.linuxFxVersion}" --output table *Running on Elastic Premium and App Service Plans Windows Function Apps only: az functionapp list --query "[?!contains(kind, 'linux')].{Name:name, ResourceGroup:resourceGroup, OS:'Windows'}" --output table Windows Function Apps with their language stack versions: az functionapp list --query "[?!contains(kind, 'linux')].{name: name, resourceGroup: resourceGroup}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object { $appSettings = az functionapp config appsettings list -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "[?name=='FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' || name=='WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION']" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $siteConfig = az functionapp config show -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "{powerShellVersion: powerShellVersion, netFrameworkVersion: netFrameworkVersion, javaVersion: javaVersion}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $runtime = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' }).value $version = switch($runtime) { 'node' { ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION' }).value } 'powershell' { $siteConfig.powerShellVersion } 'dotnet' { $siteConfig.netFrameworkVersion } 'java' { $siteConfig.javaVersion } default { 'Unknown' } } [PSCustomObject]@{ Name = $_.name ResourceGroup = $_.resourceGroup OS = 'Windows' Runtime = $runtime Version = $version } } | Format-Table -AutoSize Windows Function Apps running on Node.js runtime: az functionapp list --query "[?!contains(kind, 'linux')].{name: name, resourceGroup: resourceGroup}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object { $appSettings = az functionapp config appsettings list -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "[?name=='FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' || name=='WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION']" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $runtime = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' }).value if ($runtime -eq 'node') { $version = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION' }).value [PSCustomObject]@{ Name = $_.name ResourceGroup = $_.resourceGroup OS = 'Windows' Runtime = $runtime Version = $version } } } | Format-Table -AutoSize Windows Function Apps running on a specific language version: Ex: Node.js 18 az functionapp list --query "[?!contains(kind, 'linux')].{name: name, resourceGroup: resourceGroup}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object { $appSettings = az functionapp config appsettings list -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "[?name=='FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' || name=='WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION']" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $runtime = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' }).value $nodeVersion = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION' }).value if ($runtime -eq 'node' -and $nodeVersion -eq '~18') { [PSCustomObject]@{ Name = $_.name ResourceGroup = $_.resourceGroup OS = 'Windows' Runtime = $runtime Version = $nodeVersion } } } | Format-Table -AutoSize All windows Apps running on unsupported language runtimes: (as of March 2025) az functionapp list --query "[?!contains(kind, 'linux')].{name: name, resourceGroup: resourceGroup}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json | ForEach-Object { $appSettings = az functionapp config appsettings list -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "[?name=='FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' || name=='WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION']" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $siteConfig = az functionapp config show -n $_.name -g $_.resourceGroup --query "{powerShellVersion: powerShellVersion, netFrameworkVersion: netFrameworkVersion}" -o json | ConvertFrom-Json $runtime = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME' }).value $version = switch($runtime) { 'node' { $nodeVer = ($appSettings | Where-Object { $_.name -eq 'WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION' }).value if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($nodeVer)) { 'Unknown' } else { $nodeVer } } 'powershell' { $siteConfig.powerShellVersion } 'dotnet' { $siteConfig.netFrameworkVersion } default { 'Unknown' } } # Check if runtime version is unsupported $isUnsupported = switch($runtime) { 'node' { $ver = $version -replace '~','' [double]$ver -le 16 } 'powershell' { $ver = $version -replace '~','' [double]$ver -le 7.2 } 'dotnet' { $ver = $siteConfig.netFrameworkVersion $ver -notlike 'v7*' -and $ver -notlike 'v8*' } default { $false } } if ($isUnsupported) { [PSCustomObject]@{ Name = $_.name ResourceGroup = $_.resourceGroup OS = 'Windows' Runtime = $runtime Version = $version } } } | Format-Table -AutoSize Take Action Now By using these scripts, you can proactively identify and update Function Apps before they reach end-of-support status. Stay ahead of runtime retirements and ensure the reliability of your Function Apps. For step-by-step instructions to upgrade your Function Apps, check out the Azure Functions Language version upgrade guide. For more details on Azure Functions' language support lifecycle, visit the official documentation. Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below!
What's New in Azure App Service at Ignite 2024
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 20 th 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 20 th 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 21 st 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 19 th 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 20 th 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 20 th 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 21 st 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 22 nd 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM Central Time McCormick Place West Building – Level 4, Room W474 Hands on Lab – In-Person Only (LAB408-R2)Superfast using Web App and Managed Identity to invoke Function App triggers
TOC Introduction Setup References 1. Introduction Many enterprises prefer not to use App Keys to invoke Function App triggers, as they are concerned that these fixed strings might be exposed. This method allows you to invoke Function App triggers using Managed Identity for enhanced security. I will provide examples in both Bash and Node.js. 2. Setup 1. Create a Linux Python 3.11 Function App 1.1. Configure Authentication to block unauthenticated callers while allowing the Web App’s Managed Identity to authenticate. Identity Provider Microsoft Choose a tenant for your application and it's users Workforce Configuration App registration type Create Name [automatically generated] Client Secret expiration [fit-in your business purpose] Supported Account Type Any Microsoft Entra Directory - Multi-Tenant Client application requirement Allow requests from any application Identity requirement Allow requests from any identity Tenant requirement Use default restrictions based on issuer Token store [checked] 1.2. Create an anonymous trigger. Since your app is already protected by App Registration, additional Function App-level protection is unnecessary; otherwise, you will need a Function Key to trigger it. 1.3. Once the Function App is configured, try accessing the endpoint directly—you should receive a 401 Unauthorized error, confirming that triggers cannot be accessed without proper Managed Identity authorization. 1.4. After making these changes, wait 10 minutes for the settings to take effect. 2. Create a Linux Node.js 20 Web App and Obtain an Access Token and Invoke the Function App Trigger Using Web App (Bash Example) 2.1. Enable System Assigned Managed Identity in the Web App settings. 2.2. Open Kudu SSH Console for the Web App. 2.3. Run the following commands, making the necessary modifications: subscriptionsID → Replace with your Subscription ID. resourceGroupsID → Replace with your Resource Group ID. application_id_uri → Replace with the Application ID URI from your Function App’s App Registration. https://az-9640-faapp.azurewebsites.net/api/test_trigger → Replace with the corresponding Function App trigger URL. # Please setup the target resource to yours subscriptionsID="01d39075-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX" resourceGroupsID="XXXX" # Variable Setting (No need to change) identityEndpoint="$IDENTITY_ENDPOINT" identityHeader="$IDENTITY_HEADER" application_id_uri="api://9c0012ad-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX" # Install necessary tool apt install -y jq # Get Access Token tokenUri="${identityEndpoint}?resource=${application_id_uri}&api-version=2019-08-01" accessToken=$(curl -s -H "Metadata: true" -H "X-IDENTITY-HEADER: $identityHeader" "$tokenUri" | jq -r '.access_token') echo "Access Token: $accessToken" # Run Trigger response=$(curl -s -o response.json -w "%{http_code}" -X GET "https://az-9640-myfa.azurewebsites.net/api/my_test_trigger" -H "Authorization: Bearer $accessToken") echo "HTTP Status Code: $response" echo "Response Body:" cat response.json 2.4. If everything is set up correctly, you should see a successful invocation result. 3. Invoke the Function App Trigger Using Web App (nodejs Example) I have also provide my example, which you can modify accordingly and save it to /home/site/wwwroot/callFunctionApp.js and run it cd /home/site/wwwroot/ vi callFunctionApp.js npm init -y npm install azure/identity axios node callFunctionApp.js // callFunctionApp.js const { DefaultAzureCredential } = require("@azure/identity"); const axios = require("axios"); async function callFunctionApp() { try { const applicationIdUri = "api://9c0012ad-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX"; // Change here const credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(); console.log("Requesting token..."); const tokenResponse = await credential.getToken(applicationIdUri); if (!tokenResponse || !tokenResponse.token) { throw new Error("Failed to acquire access token"); } const accessToken = tokenResponse.token; console.log("Token acquired:", accessToken); const apiUrl = "https://az-9640-myfa.azurewebsites.net/api/my_test_trigger"; // Change here console.log("Calling the API now..."); const response = await axios.get(apiUrl, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`, }, }); console.log("HTTP Status Code:", response.status); console.log("Response Body:", response.data); } catch (error) { console.error("Failed to call the function", error.response ? error.response.data : error.message); } } callFunctionApp(); Below is my execution result: 3. References Tutorial: Managed Identity to Invoke Azure Functions | Microsoft Learn How to Invoke Azure Function App with Managed Identity | by Krizzia 🤖 | Medium Configure Microsoft Entra authentication - Azure App Service | Microsoft Learn
Azure App Service Auto-Heal: Capturing Relevant Data During Performance Issues
Introduction Azure App Service is a powerful platform that simplifies the deployment and management of web applications. However, maintaining application performance and availability is crucial. When performance issues arise, identifying the root cause can be challenging. This is where Auto-Heal in Azure App Service becomes a game-changer. Auto-Heal is a diagnostic and recovery feature that allows you to proactively detect and mitigate issues affecting your application’s performance. It enables automatic corrective actions and helps capture vital diagnostic data to troubleshoot problems efficiently. In this blog, we’ll explore how Auto-Heal works, its configuration, and how it assists in diagnosing performance bottlenecks. What is Auto-Heal in Azure App Service? Auto-Heal is a self-healing mechanism that allows you to define custom rules to detect and respond to problematic conditions in your application. When an issue meets the defined conditions, Auto-Heal can take actions such as: Recycling the application process Collecting diagnostic dumps Logging additional telemetry for analysis Triggering a custom action By leveraging Auto-Heal, you can minimize downtime, improve reliability, and reduce manual intervention for troubleshooting. Configuring Auto-Heal in Azure App Service To set up Auto-Heal, follow these steps: Access Auto-Heal Settings Navigate to the Azure Portal. Go to your App Service. Select Diagnose and Solve Problems. Search for Auto-Heal or go to Diagnostic tools tile and select Auto-Heal. Define Auto-Heal Rules Auto-Heal allows you to define rules based on: Request Duration: If a request takes too long, trigger an action. Memory Usage: If memory consumption exceeds a certain threshold. HTTP Status Codes: If multiple requests return specific status codes (e.g., 500 errors). Request Count: If excessive requests occur within a defined time frame. Configure Auto-Heal Actions Once conditions are set, you can configure one or more of the following actions: Recycle Process: Restart the worker process to restore the application. Log Events: Capture logs for further analysis. Custom Action: You can do the following: Run Diagnostics: Gather diagnostic data (Memory Dump, CLR Profiler, CLR Profiler with Threads Stacks, Java Memory Dump, Java Thread Dump) for troubleshooting. Run any Executable: Run scripts to automate corrective measures. Capturing Relevant Data During Performance Issues One of the most powerful aspects of Auto-Heal is its ability to capture valuable diagnostic data when an issue occurs. Here’s how: Collecting Memory Dumps Memory dumps provide insights into application crashes, high CP or high memory usage. These can be analyzed using WinDbg or DebugDiag. Enabling Logs for Deeper Insights Auto-Heal logs detailed events in Kudu Console, Application Insights, and Azure Monitor Logs. This helps identify patterns and root causes. Collecting CLR Profiler traces CLR Profiler traces capture call stacks and exceptions, providing a user-friendly report for diagnosing slow responses and HTTP issues at the application code level. In this article, we will cover the steps to configure an Auto-Heal rule for the following performance issues: To capture a .NET Profiler/CLR Profiler trace for Slow responses. To capture a .NET Profiler/CLR Profiler trace for HTTP 5XX Status codes. To capture Memory dump for a High Memory usage. Auto-Heal rule to capture .NET Profiler trace for Slow response: 1. Navigate to your App Service on Azure Portal, and click on Diagnose and Solve problems: 2. Search for Auto-Heal or go to Diagnostic tools tile and select Auto-Heal: 3. Click on 'On': 4. Select Request Duration and click on Add Slow Request rule: 5. Add the following information with respect to how much slowness you are facing: After how many slow requests you want this condition to kick in? - After how many slow requests you want this Auto-Heal rule to start writing/capturing relevant data. What should be minimum duration (in seconds) for these slow requests? - How many seconds should the request take to be considered as a slow request. What is the time interval (in seconds) in which the above condition should be met? - In how many seconds, the above defined slow request should occur. What is the request path (leave blank for all requests)? - If there is a specific URL which is slow, you can add that in this section or leave it as blank. In the below screenshot, the rule is set for this example "1 request taking 30 seconds in 5 minutes/300 seconds should trigger this rule" Add the values in the text boxes available and click "Ok" 6. Select Custom Action and select CLR Profiler with Thread Stacks option: 7. The tool options provide three choices: CollectKillAnalyze: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data, analyze and generate the report and recycle the process. CollectLogs: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data only. It will not analyze and generate the report and recycle the process. Troubleshoot: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data and analyze and generate the report, but it will not recycle the process. Select the option, according to your scenario: Click on "Save". 8. Review the new settings of the rule: Clicking on "Save" will cause a restart as this is a configuration level change and for this to get in effect a restart is required. So, it is advised to make such changes in non-business hours. 9. Click on "Save". Once you click on Save, the app will get restarted and the rule will become active and monitor for Slow requests. Auto-Heal rule to capture .NET Profiler trace for HTTP 5XX Status code: For this scenario, Steps 1, 2, 3 will remain the same as above (from the Slow requests scenario). There will be following changes: 1. Select Status code and click on Add Status Code rule 2. Add the following value with respect to what Status code or range of status code you want this rule to be triggered by: Do you want to set this rule for a specific status code or a range of status codes? - Is it single status code you want to set this rule for or a range of status code. After how many requests you want this condition to kick in? - After how many requests throwing the concerned status code you want this Auto-Heal rule to start writing/capturing relevant data. What should be the status code for these requests? - Mention the status code here. What should be the sub-status code for these requests? - Mention the sub-status code here, if any, else you can leave this blank. What should be the win32-status code for these requests? - Mention the win32-status code here, if any, else you can leave this blank. What is the time interval (in seconds) in which the above condition should be met? - In how many seconds, the above defined status code should occur. What is the request path (leave blank for all requests)? - If there is a specific URL which is throwing that status code, you can add that in this section or leave it as blank. Add the values according to your scenario and click on "Ok" In the below screenshot, the rule is set for this example "1 request throwing HTTP 500 status code in 60 seconds should trigger this rule" After adding the above information, you can follow the Steps 6, 7 ,8, 9 from the first scenario (Slow Requests) and the Auto-Heal rule for the status code will become active and monitor for this performance issue. Auto-Heal rule to capture Memory dump for High Memory usage: For this scenario, Steps 1, 2, 3 will remain the same as above (from the Slow requests scenario). There will be following changes: 1. Select Memory Limit and click on Configure Private Bytes rule: 2. According to your application's memory usage, add the Private bytes in KB at which this rule should be triggered: In the below screenshot, the rule is set for this example "The application process using 2000000 KB (~2 GB) should trigger this rule" Click on "Ok" 3. In Configure Actions, select Custom Action and click on Memory Dump: 4. The tool options provide three choices: CollectKillAnalyze: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data, analyze and generate the report and recycle the process. CollectLogs: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data only. It will not analyze and generate the report and recycle the process. Troubleshoot: If this option is selected, the tool will collect the data and analyze and generate the report, but it will not recycle the process. Select the option, according to your scenario: 5. For the memory dumps/reports to get saved, you will have to select either an existing Storage Account or will have to create a new one: Click on Select: Create a new one or choose existing: 6. Once the storage account is set, click on "Save". Review the rule settings and click on "Save". Clicking on "Save" will cause a restart as this is a configuration level change and for this to get in effect a restart is required. So, it is advised to make such changes in non-business hours. Best Practices for Using Auto-Heal Start with Conservative Rules: Avoid overly aggressive auto-restarts to prevent unnecessary disruptions. Monitor Performance Trends: Use Azure Monitor to correlate Auto-Heal events with performance metrics. Regularly Review Logs: Periodically analyze collected logs and dumps to fine-tune your Auto-Heal strategy. Combine with Application Insights: Leverage Application Insights for end-to-end monitoring and deeper diagnostics. Conclusion Auto-Heal in Azure App Service is a powerful tool that not only helps maintain application stability but also provides critical diagnostic data when performance issues arise. By proactively setting up Auto-Heal rules and leveraging its diagnostic capabilities, you can minimize downtime and streamline troubleshooting efforts. Have you used Auto-Heal in your application? Share your experiences and insights in the comments! Stay tuned for more Azure tips and best practices!Capture .NET Profiler Trace on the Azure App Service platform
Summary The article provides guidance on using the .NET Profiler Trace feature in Microsoft Azure App Service to diagnose performance issues in ASP.NET applications. It explains how to configure and collect the trace by accessing the Azure Portal, navigating to the Azure App Service, and selecting the "Collect .NET Profiler Trace" feature. Users can choose between "Collect and Analyze Data" or "Collect Data only" and must select the instance to perform the trace on. The trace stops after 60 seconds but can be extended up to 15 minutes. After analysis, users can view the report online or download the trace file for local analysis, which includes information like slow requests and CPU stacks. The article also details how to analyze the trace using Perf View, a tool available on GitHub, to identify performance issues. Additionally, it provides a table outlining scenarios for using .NET Profiler Trace or memory dumps based on various factors like issue type and symptom code. This tool is particularly useful for diagnosing slow or hung ASP.NET applications and is available only in Standard or higher SKUs with the Always On setting enabled. In this article How to configure and collect the .NET Profiler Trace How to download the .NET Profiler Trace How to analyze a .NET Profiler Trace When to use .NET Profilers tracing vs. a memory dump The tool is exceptionally suited for scenarios where an ASP.NET application is performing slower than expected or gets hung. As shown in Figure 1, this feature is available only in Standard or higher Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) and Always On is enabled. If you try to configure .NET Profiler Trace, without both configurations the following messages is rendered. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems blade in the Azure Portal error messages Error – This tool is supported only on Standard, Premium, and Isolated Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) only with AlwaysOn setting enabled to TRUE. Error – We determined that the web app is not "Always-On" enabled and diagnostic does not work reliably with Auto Heal. Turn on the Always-On setting by going to the Application Settings for the web app and then run these tools. How to configure and collect the .NET Profiler Trace To configure a .NET Profiler Trace access the Azure Portal and navigate to the Azure App Service which is experiencing a performance issue. Select Diagnose and solve problems and then the Diagnostic Tools tile. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems blade in the Azure Portal Select the "Collect .NET Profiler Trace" feature on the Diagnostic Tools blade and the following blade is rendered. Notice that you can only select Collect and Analyze Data or Collect Data only. Choose the one you prefer but do consider having the feature perform the analysis. You can download the trace for offline analysis if necessary. Also notice that you need to **select the instance** on which you want to perform the trace. In the scenario, there is only one, so the selection is simple. However, if your app runs on multiple instances, either select them all or if you identify a specific instance which is behaving slowly, select only that one. You realize the best results if you can isolate a single instance enough so that the request you sent is the only one received on that instance. However, in a scenario where the request or instance is not known, the trace adds value and insights. Adding a thread report provides list of all the threads in the process is also collected at the end of the profiler trace. The thread report is useful especially if you are troubleshooting hung processes, deadlocks, or requests taking more than 60 seconds. This pauses your process for a few seconds until the thread dump is generated. CAUTION: a thread report is NOT recommended if you are experiencing High CPU in your application, you may experience issues during trace analysis if CPU consumption is high. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace blade in the Azure Portal There are a few points called out in the previous image which are important to read and consider. Specifically the .NET Profiler Trace will stop after 60 seconds from the time that it is started. Therefore, if you can reproduce the issue, have the reproduction steps ready before you start the profiling. If you are not able to reproduce the issue, then you may need to run the trace a few times until the slowness or hang occurs. The collection time can be increased up to 15 minutes (900 seconds) by adding an application setting named IIS_PROFILING_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS with a value of up to 900. After selecting the instance to perform the trace on, press the Collect Profiler Trace button, wait for the profiler to start as seen here, then reproduce the issue or wait for it to occur. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace status starting window After the issue is reproduced the .NET Profiler Trace continues to the next step of stopping as seen here. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace status stopping window Once stopped, the process continues to the analysis phase if you selected the Collect and Analyze Data option, as seen in the following image, otherwise you are provided a link to download the file for analysis on your local machine. The analysis can take some time, so be patient. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace status analyzing window After the analysis is complete, you can either view the Analysis online or download the trace file for local development. How to download the .NET Profiler Trace Once the analysis is complete you can view the report by selecting the link in the Reports column, as seen here. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace status complete window Clicking on the report you see the following. There is some useful information in this report, like a list of slow requests, Failed Requests, Thread Call stacks, and CPU stacks. Also shown is a breakdown of where the time was spent during the response generation into categories like Application Code, Platform, and Network. In this case, all the time is spent in the Application code. Azure App Service Diagnose and solve problems, Collect .NET Profiler Trace review the Report To find out specifically where in the Application Code this request performs the analysis of the trace locally. How to analyze a .NET Profiler Trace After downloading the network trace by selecting the link in the Data column, you can use a tool named Perf View which is downloadable on GitHub here. Begin by opening Perf View and double-clicking on the ".DIAGSESSION" file, after some moments expand it to render the Event Trace Log (ETL) file, as shown here. Analyze Azure App Service .NET Profiler Trace with Perf View Double-click on the Thread Time (with startStop Activities) Stacks which open up a new window similar to shown next. If your App Service is configured as out-of-process select the dotnet process which is associated to your app code. If your App Service is in-process select the w3wp process. Analyze Azure App Service .NET Profiler Trace with Perf View, dotnet out-of-process Double-click on dotnet and another window is rendered, as shown here. From the previous image, .NET Profiler Trace reviews the Report, it is clear where slowness is coming from, find that in the Name column or search for it by entering the page name into the Find text box. Analyze Azure App Service .NET Profiler Trace with Perf View, dotnet out-of-process, method, and class discovery Once found right-click on the row and select Drill Into from the pop-up menu, shown here. Select the Call Tree tab and the reason for the issue renders showing which request was performing slow. Analyze Azure App Service .NET Profiler Trace with Perf View, dotnet out-of-process, root cause This example is relatively. As you analyze more performance issues using Perf View to analyze a .NET Profiler Trace your ability to find the root cause of more complicated performance issues can be realized. When to use .NET Profilers tracing vs. a memory dump That same issue is seen in a memory dump, however there are some scenarios where a .NET Profile trace would be best. Here is a table, Table 1, which describes scenarios for when to capture a .NET profile trace or to capture a memory dump. Issue Type Symptom Code Symptom Stack Startup Issue Intermittent Scenario Performance 200 Requests take 500 ms to 2.5 seconds, or takes <= 60 seconds ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No No Profiler Performance 200 Requests take > 60 seconds & < 230 seconds ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No No Dump Performance 502.3/500.121/503 Requests take >=120 to <= 230 seconds ASP.NET No No Dump, Profiler Performance 502.3/500.121/503 Requests timing out >=230 ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core Yes/No Yes/No Dump Performance 502.3/500.121/503 App hangs or deadlocks (ex: due to async anti-pattern) ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core Yes/No Yes/No Dump Performance 502.3/500.121/503 App hangs on startup (ex: caused by nonasync deadlock issue) ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No Yes/No Dump Performance 502.3/500.121 Request timing out >=230 (time out) ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No No Dump Availability 502.3/500.121/503 High CPU causing app downtime ASP.NET No No Profiler, Dump Availability 502.3/500.121/503 High Memory causing app downtime ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No No Dump Availability 500.0[121]/503 SQLException or Some Exception causes app downtime ASP.NET No No Dump, Profiler Availability 500.0[121]/503 App crashing due to fatal exception at native layer ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core Yes/No Yes/No Dump Availability 500.0[121]/503 App crashing due to exit code (ex: 0xC0000374) ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core Yes/No Yes/No Dump Availability 500.0 App begin nonfatal exceptions (during a context of a request) ASP.NET No No Profiler, Dump Availability 500.0 App begin nonfatal exceptions (during a context of a request) ASP.NET/ASP.NET Core No Yes/No Dump Table 1, when to capture a .NET Profiler Trace or a Memory Dump on Azure App Service, Diagnose and solve problems Use this list as a guide to help decide how to approach the solving of performance and availability applications problems which are occurring in your application source code. Here are some descriptions regarding the column heading. - Issues Type – Performance means that a request to the app is responding or processing the response but not at a speed in which it is expected to. Availability means that the request is failing or consuming more resources than expected. - Symptom Code – the HTTP Status and/or sub status which is returned by the request. - Symptom – a description of the behavior experienced while engaging with the application. - Stack – this table targets .NET, specifically ASP.NET, and ASP.NET Core applications. - Startup Issue – if "No" then the Scenario can or should be used, "No" represents that the issue is not at startup. If "Yes/No" it means the Scenario is useful for troubleshooting startup issues. - Intermittent – if "No" then the Scenario can or should be used, "No" means the issue is not intermittent or that it can be reproduced. If "Yes/No" it means the Scenario is useful if the issue happens randomly or cannot be reproduced. Meaning that the tool can be set to trigger on a specific event or left running for a specific amount of time until the exception happens. - Scenario – "Profiler" means that the collection of a .NET Profiler Trace would be recommended. "Dump" means that a memory dump would be your best option. If both are provided, then both can be useful when the given symptoms and system codes are present. You might find the videos in Table 2 useful which instruct you how to collect and analyze a memory dump or .NET Profiler Trace. Product Stack Hosting Symptom Capture Analyze Scenario App Service Windows in High CPU link link Dump App Service Windows in High Memory link link Dump App Service Windows in Terminate link link Dump App Service Windows in Hang link link Dump App Service Windows out High CPU link link Dump App Service Windows out High Memory link link Dump App Service Windows out Terminate link link Dump App Service Windows out Hang link link Dump App Service Windows in High CPU link link Dump Function App Windows in High Memory link link Dump Function App Windows in Terminate link link Dump Function App Windows in Hang link link Dump Function App Windows out High CPU link link Dump Function App Windows out High Memory link link Dump Function App Windows out Terminate link link Dump Function App Windows out Hang link link Dump Azure WebJob Windows in High CPU link link Dump App Service Windows in High CPU link link .NET Profiler App Service Windows in Hang link link .NET Profiler App Service Windows in Exception link link .NET Profiler App Service Windows out High CPU link link .NET Profiler App Service Windows out Hang link link .NET Profiler App Service Windows out Exception link link .NET Profiler Table 2, short video instructions on capturing and analyzing dumps and profiler traces Here are a few other helpful videos for troubleshooting Azure App Service Availability and Performance issues: View Application EventLogs Azure App Service Add Application Insights To Azure App Service Prior to capturing and analyzing memory dumps, consider viewing this short video: Setting up WinDbg to analyze Managed code memory dumps and this blog post titled: Capture memory dumps on the Azure App Service platform. Question & Answers - Q: What are the prerequisites for using the .NET Profiler Trace feature in Azure App Service? A: To use the .NET Profiler Trace feature in Azure App Service, the application must be running on a Standard or higher Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) with the Always On setting enabled. If these conditions are not met, the tool will not function, and error messages will be displayed indicating the need for these configurations. - Q: How can you extend the default collection time for a .NET Profiler Trace beyond 60 seconds? A: The default collection time for a .NET Profiler Trace is 60 seconds, but it can be extended up to 15 minutes (900 seconds) by adding an application setting named IIS_PROFILING_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS with a value of up to 900. This allows for a longer duration to capture the necessary data for analysis. - Q: When should you use a .NET Profiler Trace instead of a memory dump for diagnosing performance issues in an ASP.NET application? A: A .NET Profiler Trace is recommended for diagnosing performance issues where requests take between 500 milliseconds to 2.5 seconds or less than 60 seconds. It is also useful for identifying high CPU usage causing app downtime. In contrast, a memory dump is more suitable for scenarios where requests take longer than 60 seconds, the application hangs or deadlocks, or there are issues related to high memory usage or app crashes due to fatal exceptions. Keywords Microsoft Azure, Azure App Service, .NET Profiler Trace, ASP.NET performance, Azure debugging tools, .NET performance issues, Azure diagnostic tools, Collect .NET Profiler Trace, Analyze .NET Profiler Trace, Azure portal, Performance troubleshooting, ASP.NET application, Slow ASP.NET app, Azure Standard SKU, Always On setting, Memory dump vs profiler trace, Perf View analysis, Azure performance diagnostics, .NET application profiling, Diagnose ASP.NET slowness, Azure app performance, High CPU usage ASP.NET, Azure app diagnostics, .NET Profiler configuration, Azure app service performance
Building new AI skills for developers
For this post, we’re focusing on learning new AI skills. We explore resources that will help developers take their AI skills (and their applications) to the next level. Whether you’re new to AI and don’t know where to get started, or you’re experienced but want to advance your skillset with some new tools and capabilities, we have resources that will get you there. Join a challenge, find a Microsoft Learn path, get info on the latest tools and updates, watch in-depth videos, join a live event for hands-on learning, and more. How to develop AI Apps and Agents in Azure: A Visual Guide Move beyond proof-of-concept and build production-ready AI apps and agents in Azure. This visual guide walks you through the essential steps and decisions for building intelligent apps in Azure. Join the Powerful Devs Challenge and level up your Power Platform skills Join the Powerful Devs Challenge and take your developer skills to the next level! Learn how to build, extend, secure, and deploy enterprise-ready solutions with Power Platform. Now through March 28, 2025. Microsoft: Reactor: Python + AI Use Python to build applications that support Gen AI. Join Python + AI—a live 6-part Reactor series—to learn how. Sessions will include live examples and code samples. Sessions are live throughout March and available on demand. Generative AI for Beginners .NET Edition The “Generative AI for Beginners .NET" course on GitHub is designed to help .NET developers dive into the world of Gen AI. It features short 5-10 minute videos and code samples, offering an easy way to start adding GenAI to your .NET projects. GitHub Copilot Agent Mode: Build an iOS App in Minutes Discover the power of Agent Mode in VS Code Insiders. Watch to see how you can build a fully functional iOS app from scratch in minutes. Let AI handle everything from generating code to fixing build errors. Start your AI learning journey Ready to get started with AI but don’t know where to begin? The AI learning hub from Microsoft Learn is packed with skilling resources, organized around roles, to help you build practical skills you can use right away. Let's Learn .NET: GitHub Copilot Discover the power of Copilot and .NET. Watch this Let’s Learn .NET workshop on demand to learn about GitHub Copilot, Copilot Chat, and AI-powered coding. Master the basics of Copilot, explore prompt engineering. and learn essential best practices. Bells and whistles: Building with Microsoft Copilot Studio Don’t know how to start building an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio? Watch the Building with Copilot Studio series to explore the different capabilities of building agents with Copilot Studio. Get Started with GitHub Copilot in VS Code Use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code to write better code faster. This video will show you how. AI Agents for Beginners AI agents for beginners! This free 10-part course on GitHub will get you started building AI agents from concept to code. Evolve with generative AI: Operationalize your AI solutions with fine-tuning and prompt flow This Microsoft Learn Plan will guide you through the process of managing and evolving your Gen AI solutions. Learn how to use a prompt flow, collaborate with others through hubs and projects, and integrate fine-tuned models. Sip and Sync with Azure Explore real AI and cloud use cases in the Sip and Sync with Azure video series. Watch to learn how customers use AI and cloud solutions to solve real-world business problems. Official plan: Accelerate gen AI model selection and evaluation with Azure AI Foundry This Official Plan from Microsoft Learn is designed to guide you through the process of selecting and applying the best Gen AI models for your needs using Azure AI Foundry. Work through this structured learning journey at your pace and build critical skills. A look at the new Copilot Next Edit Suggestions preview GitHub Copilot has 3 exciting new preview capabilities: Next Edit Suggestions, Agent Mode for Copilot Edits, and vision support. Take a closer look at Next Edit Suggestions and learn about the latest step in intelligent code completions. Microsoft Reactor: Model Mondays How well do you know your AI models? With thousands available, how do you choose the best one for your project? Model Mondays can help. Each week, this series will dig into a different model with the experts who know it best. Architecture Recipes for AI-Powered Applications Build intelligent apps at a live Reactor event near you. Explore practical examples and best practices as you learn how to integrate machine learning models, data pipelines, and cloud services. GitHub Copilot for Azure: 6 Must-Try features Supercharge your Azure game right within GitHub Copilot? Watch these short videos to quickly learn about 6 must-try features in GitHub Copilot for Azure. RAG Time: Ultimate Guide to Mastering RAG Become a master of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). This new series for developers will help you unlock the full potential of RAG with exert level discussions breaking along with code samples and step-by-step guides. New episodes on Wednesdays, March 5 - April 2. Microsoft Learn Collection: Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility Want to extend Microsoft 365 Copilot? This collection of resources from Microsoft Learn has everything you need to know to extend Microsoft 365 Copilot with agents, Microsoft Graph connectors, and more. Find a learning path and get started. Introducing the Adaptive Cards documentation hub and new Adaptive Cards updates Learn about the latest Adaptive Cards updates and the new Adaptive Cards documentation hub. Discover how Adaptive Cards can transform your apps with interactive experiences that streamline workflows. Use DeepSeek R1 on your GPU to power custom engine agents Learn how to use the DeepSeek R1 (hosted locally on your GPU) to power a custom engine agent built with Teams Toolkit and Teams AI Library. POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2025 schedule announced Get details about POSETTE, a free digital developer event organized by the Postgres team at Microsoft. Check out the schedule and speakers for this year’s event, taking place June 10-12, 2025. JDConf 2025: Code the Future with AI Get ready for JDConf 2025, Microsoft's annual event for Java developers. Learn about building modern apps in the cloud, integrating AI, using AI-assisted dev tools, and more. This year’s event will take place April 9-10, 2025. VS Code + GitHub Copilot Release Party Join the VS Code + GitHub Copilot release party (April 16, 2025). Join the Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot teams for a deep dive into the latest features and Q&A about the March release. More News and Resources from around Microsoft Introducing Copilot Next Edit Suggestions (preview) in VS Code New: Semantic Ranker Solution Accelerator for PostgreSQL New: GraphRAG Solution Accelerator for PostgreSQL Preview: Azure AI Agent Service Startup Spotlight Get Started with Copilot Free in VS Code Raising the bar for RAG excellence: New performance benchmarks Automate Dev Environments with Microsoft Dev Box and Teams Customizations Dev Proxy: Simulate APIs Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Microsoft Copilot Studio: Enabling agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Do more with Copilot and agents
For February, we’re delving deep into Copilots and AI agents. We have live events and learning resources that will help developers get started and do more so you can take your productivity to a new level. Learn about tools for creating agents, find out how to use GitHub Copilot to develop apps more quickly, build intelligent apps with .NET, start creating customized experiences for Microsoft Teams, and more. GitHub Copilot Bootcamp Join the GitHub Copilot Bootcamp to deep dive into the tools and skills you need to supercharge your development productivity and with GitHub Copilot. This is a 4-part live series happening February 4–13, 2025. AI agents — what they are, and how they’ll change the way we work What are AI agents? Discover what agents are, how they work autonomously around-the-clock, and how you can build agents specific to your business needs. Microsoft 365 Copilot Developer Camp Start building agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Watch Microsoft 365 Copilot Developer Camp videos on demand, work through guided hands-on labs, and explore more resources to help you learn how to build your own agents. Getting started with AI Agents Azure AI Agent Service lets you build software that will work to achieve a specified goal without you knowing exactly what steps it will take. Join this session to learn how you can automate tasks that were previously too complex to be easily automated. Preview the GitHub Copilot extension for Teams Toolkit Discover a more powerful way to build Microsoft Teams apps and customize Microsoft 365 Copilot. Introducing the GitHub Copilot for Teams Toolkit (preview)—your new companion in VS Code, Visual Studio, and GitHub.com. Find practical resources on the Copilot learning hub on Microsoft Learn We’ve got curated content on Microsoft Copilot for technical professionals. Learn how to use AI technology, create custom experiences, and increase productivity. Generative AI Level Up Explore the cutting edge of app development with the Microsoft Reactor “Generative AI Level Up Tuesdays” series. Delve into the basics of Gen AI, learn about building AI agents, find out how responsible AI tooling helps mitigate risks, and more. Simplify development with the new Microsoft 365 Agents SDK Want to simplify your agent development? The Microsoft 365 Agents SDK brings together core components making it easier to build agents and publish them to Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, the web, and other channels. Learn, collaborate, and build your skills with Microsoft Fabric experts and peers The Microsoft Fabric Community Conference (FabCon) returns to Las Vegas March 31 to April 2, 2025, packed with breakout sessions and technical deep dives covering data, analytics, and AI. Sign up now with code MCUST to save $150. Introducing the new .NET AI Applications page Have you seen the new .NET AI Applications page? Explore videos, documentation, SDKs, AI libraries and other essential resources to help you build intelligent solutions using C#, OpenAI, and Azure. AI learning hub Visit the AI learning hub, a place to learn new AI skills. Get started with curated plans and resources designed around business and technical roles. Build AI agents, learn best practices, explore basic concepts, and dig into more advanced topics. Build AI Agents & Apps FAST with Azure AI Foundry Looking for a fast way to start building AI agents and applications? This video shows how to use Azure AI Foundry for super fast results. Learn about AI Foundry, AI app templates, the decision tree, and how to get started. What is Azure AI Agent Service? Learn about Azure AI Agent Service, a fully managed service designed for securely building, deploying, and scaling AI agents without needing to manage compute and storage resources. Discover what you can do with just a few lines of code. AI agents in Azure Cosmos DB Explore conceptual overviews and detailed implementation samples for AI agents. This Microsoft Learn article offers a deep-dive overview, looking at types of agents, frameworks, and code samples. Microsoft JDConf 2025 Register for JDConf 2025 and get ready to code the future with AI. Microsoft's annual event for Java developers will take place April 9-10, offering three separate live streams to cover different regions. Explore tools and skills for building modern apps in the cloud and integrating AI. Other news and resources from around Microsoft Architecture Recipes for AI-Powered Applications https://aka.ms/DevCal_Feb25_05 What’s new in AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code January 2025 Updates https://aka.ms/DevCal_Feb25_18 On demand webinar: Secure Software Development from Code to Cloud with DevSecOps and AI https://aka.ms/DevCal_Feb25_17Custom scaling on Azure Container Apps based on Redis Streams
ACA's autoscaling feature internally leverages KEDA and gives you the ability to configure the number of replicas to deploy based on rules (event triggers). Apart from HTTP and TCP rule based scaling, container apps also support custom rules giving it the flexibility and opening up a lot more configuration options since all of KEDA's event-based scalers are supported.Enhancing Security for Azure Container Apps with Aqua Security
Azure Container Apps (ACA) is a developer-first serverless platform that allows you to run scalable containerized workloads at any scale. Being serverless provides inherent security benefits by reducing the attack surface, but it also presents some unique challenges for any security solution. Hence, we’re happy to announce that our partner, Aqua has just certified Azure Container Apps for their suite of security solutions. Azure Container Apps: Built-In Security Features Due to its purpose-built nature ACA offers several built-in security features that help protect your containerized applications: Isolation: ACA runs your workload without the need for root access to the underlying host. Additionally, it’s trivial and requires minimal overhead to isolate different teams in their own environments without the need to painfully cordon off each team via Kubernetes namespaces. Network Security: ACA supports virtual network integration, allowing you to control inbound and outbound traffic to your applications on a both a per app basis as well as for an entire environment all at once. Additionally, we provide protection against common layer-7 vulnerabilities such as redirection attacks. Managed Identity: ACA integrates with Azure Active Directory, enabling secure access to other Azure services without managing credentials. While these features provide a solid foundation, securing containerized workloads requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the entire lifecycle of your applications. This is where Aqua’s suite of tools excels. Elevating ACA's Security Posture using Aqua Aqua Security is a certified security solution for ACA, offering a full-lifecycle approach to securing your containerized applications. Here’s how Aqua enhances ACA's security capabilities: Supply Chain Security: Aqua scans container images for tampering and potential supply chain attacks, ensuring that only verified and secure images are deployed. Comprehensive Image Scanning: Aqua scans container images in Azure Container Registry (ACR) and CI/CD pipelines for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, malware, and embedded secrets, enabling developers to address issues early. Image Assurance Policies: Aqua enforces policies to ensure that only compliant images are deployed, minimizing risks and ensuring adherence to security and compliance standards. Agentless Discovery and Scanning: Aqua automatically discovers and scans all running services and assets, providing broad visibility into your ACA workloads. Runtime Protection with MicroEnforcer: Aqua's MicroEnforcer provides non-invasive runtime security, detecting and preventing threats such as cryptocurrency mining, reverse shell execution, and unauthorized access. By leveraging Aqua's security solutions, organizations can confidently meet the most stringent security requirements for their ACA workloads. For more information on how to use Aqua's tooling with ACA, visit the Aqua blog: Securing Azure Container AppsLearn New Skills in the New Year
New year’s resolution: Start writing better code faster in 2025. Kick off the new year by learning new developer skills and elevate your career to the next level. In this post, we explore learning resources and live events that will help you build critical skills and get started with cutting-edge technologies. Learn how to build custom agents, code intelligent apps with familiar tools, discover new possibilities in .NET 9, use Copilot for testing and debugging, and more. Plus, get details about using GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code—for free! New AI for Developers page Check out the new AI for Developers page. It's packed with free GitHub courses on building apps, machine learning, and mastering GitHub Copilot for paired programming. Learn your way and skill up for what's next in AI. Use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code for free Did you hear the news? You can now use GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code for free. Get details about the new Copilot Free plan and add Copilot to your developer toolbox. What is Copilot Studio? Have questions about Copilot Studio? This article from Microsoft Learn covers all the basics you need to know about Copilot Studio—the low-code tool for easily building agents and extending Microsoft 365 Copilot. From C# to ChatGPT: Build Generative AI Solutions with Azure Combine your C# skills with the cutting-edge power of ChatGPT and Azure OpenAI Service. This free learning path introduces you to building GenAI solutions, using REST APIs, SDKs, and Azure tools to create more intelligent applications. Register for the Powerful Devs Conference + Hackathon Register for the Powerful Devs Conference + Hackathon (February 12-28, 2025) and get more out of Power Platform. This one-day online conference is followed by a 2-week hackathon focused on building intelligent applications with less effort. Code the future with Java and AI: RSVP for Microsoft JDConf 2025 today Get ready for the JDConf 2025—Microsoft's annual event for Java developers. Taking place April 9-10, this year’s event will have three separate live streams to cover different regions. Join to explore tools and skills for building modern apps in the cloud and integrating AI. Build custom agents for Microsoft Teams Learn how to build custom agents for Microsoft Teams. This free learning path will teach you about different copilot stacks, working with Azure OpenAI, building a custom engine agent. Start building intelligent Microsoft Teams apps using the LLMs and AI components. Microsoft Learn: Debug your app with GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Debug more efficiently using GitHub Copilot. This Microsoft Learn article shows you how. Discover how Copilot will answer detailed questions about your code and provide bug fixes. Make Azure AI Real: Watch Season 2 Elevate your AI game with Make Azure AI Real on demand. Season 2 digs into the latest Azure AI advancements, with practical demos, code samples, and real-world use cases. GitHub Copilot Bootcamp Streamline your workflow with GitHub Copilot—craft more effective prompts and automate repetitive tasks like testing. This GitHub Copilot Bootcamp is a 4-part live streaming series that will help you master GitHub Copilot. 10 Days of GenAI – Gift Guide Edition Start building your own Gen AI application. These short videos outline 10 steps for creating your app—choose a model, add functions, fine tune responses, and more. Extend Microsoft 365 Copilot with declarative agents using Visual Studio Code Check out this new learning path from Microsoft Learn to discover how you can extend Microsoft 365 Copilot with declarative agents using VS Code. Learn about declarative agents and how they work. Developer's guide to building your own agents Want to build your own agents? Watch this Ignite session on demand for a look at the new agent development tools. Find out how to create agents built on Microsoft 365 Copilot or your custom AI engine. Master distributed application development with .NET Aspire Get started with .NET Aspire—an opinionated, cloud-ready stack for building distributed applications with .NET. This series covers everything from setup to deployment. Start your journey toward mastering distributed app development. Learn: What's new in .NET 9 Discover what's new in .NET 9. Learn about new features for AI, improvements for building cloud-native apps, performance enhancements, updates to C#, and more. Read the overview and get started with .NET 9. Become a .NET AI engineer using the OpenAI library for .NET Use your .NET skills to become an AI engineer. With the OpenAI library, .NET developers can quickly master critical AI skills and apply them to real world apps. Read the blog to learn more about the OpenAI library for .NET. Test like a pro with Playwright and GitHub Copilot Supercharge your testing using Playwright and GitHub Copilot. Watch this in-depth demo and discover how you can easily create end-to-end tests using Playwright's powerful built-in code generator. Other news and resources from around Microsoft · Microsoft Learn: Why and how to adopt AI in your organization · Microsoft Learn: Learn to use Copilot in Microsoft Fabric · AI Toolkit for Visual Studio Code: Update highlights · Teams Toolkit for Visual Studio Code update · RAG Deep Dive: Live streams · Learn Together: SQL database in Fabric · Become an AI security expert using OpenAI with Azure Managed Identity · Deploy, monitor, and manage development resources with Microsoft Dev Box · Microsoft Playwright testing · Introduction to artificial intelligence and Azure AI services · Azure AI-900 Fundamentals Training event series · Leveraging cloud-native infra for your intelligent apps · Platform engineering with GitHub · Extend declarative agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot with API plugins using Visual Studio Code · Introducing the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK · Azure Live Q&A events · Get started with multimodal parsing for RAG using GPT-4o, Azure AI Search, and LlamaParse
