How to connect Azure SQL database from Python Function App using managed identity or access token
This blog will demonstrate on how to connect Azure SQL database from Python Function App using managed identity or access token. If you are looking for how to implement it in Windows App Service, you may refer to this post: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/apps-on-azure-blog/how-to-connect-azure-sql-database-from-azure-app-service-windows/ba-p/2873397. Note that Azure Active Directory managed identity authentication method was added in ODBC Driver since version 17.3.1.1 for both system-assigned and user-assigned identities. In Azure blessed image for Python Function, the ODBC Driver version is 17.8. Which makes it possible to leverage this feature in Linux App Service. Briefly, this post will provide you a step to step guidance with sample code and introduction on the authentication workflow. Steps: 1. Create a Linux Python Function App from portal 2. Set up the managed identity in the new Function App by enable Identity and saving from portal. It will generate an Object(principal) ID for you automatically. 3. Assign role in Azure SQL database. Search for your own account and save as admin. Note: Alternatively, you can search for the function app's name and set it as admin, then that function app would own admin permission on the database and you can skip step 4 and 5 as well. 4. Got to Query editor in database and be sure to login using your account set in previous step rather than username and password. Or step 5 will fail with below exception. "Failed to execute query. Error: Principal 'xxxx' could not be created. Only connections established with Active Directory accounts can create other Active Directory users." 5. Run below queries to create user for the function app and alter roles. You can choose to alter part of these roles per your demand. CREATE USER "yourfunctionappname" FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER; ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER "yourfunctionappname" ALTER ROLE db_datawriter ADD MEMBER "yourfunctionappname" ALTER ROLE db_ddladmin ADD MEMBER "yourfunctionappname" 6. Leverage below sample code to build your own project and deploy to the function app. Sample Code: Below is the sample code on how to use Azure access token when run it from local and use managed identity when run in Function app. The token part needs to be replaced with your own. Basically, it is using "pyodbc.connect(connection_string+';Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMsi')" to authenticate with managed identity. Also, "MSI_SECRET" is used to tell if we are running it from local or function app, it will be created automatically as environment variable when the function app is enabled with Managed Identity. The complete demo project can be found from: https://github.com/kevin808/azure-function-pyodbc-MI import logging import azure.functions as func import os import pyodbc import struct def main(req: func.HttpRequest) -> func.HttpResponse: logging.info('Python HTTP trigger function processed a request.') server="your-sqlserver.database.windows.net" database="your_db" driver="{ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server}" query="SELECT * FROM dbo.users" # Optional to use username and password for authentication # username = 'name' # password = 'pass' db_token = '' connection_string = 'DRIVER='+driver+';SERVER='+server+';DATABASE='+database #When MSI is enabled if os.getenv("MSI_SECRET"): conn = pyodbc.connect(connection_string+';Authentication=ActiveDirectoryMsi') #Used when run from local else: SQL_COPT_SS_ACCESS_TOKEN = 1256 exptoken = b'' for i in bytes(db_token, "UTF-8"): exptoken += bytes({i}) exptoken += bytes(1) tokenstruct = struct.pack("=i", len(exptoken)) + exptoken conn = pyodbc.connect(connection_string, attrs_before = { SQL_COPT_SS_ACCESS_TOKEN:tokenstruct }) # Uncomment below line when use username and password for authentication # conn = pyodbc.connect('DRIVER='+driver+';SERVER='+server+';DATABASE='+database+';UID='+username+';PWD='+ password) cursor = conn.cursor() cursor.execute(query) row = cursor.fetchone() while row: print(row[0]) row = cursor.fetchone() return func.HttpResponse( 'Success', status_code=200 ) Workflow: Below are the workflow in these two authentication ways, with them in mind, we can understand what happened under the hood. Managed Identity: When we enable the managed identify for function app, a service principal will be generated automatically for it, then it follows the same steps as below to authenticate in database. Function App with managed identify -> send request to database with service principal -> database check the corresponding database user and its permission -> Pass authentication. Access Token: The access toke can be generated by executing ‘az account get-access-token --resource=https://database.windows.net/ --query accessToken’ from local, we then hold this token to authenticate. Please note that the default lifetime for the token is one hour, which means we would need to retrieve it again when it expires. az login -> az account get-access-token -> local function use token to authenticate in SQL database -> DB check if the database user exists and if the permissions granted -> Pass authentication. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it.
Unlocking Application Modernisation with GitHub Copilot
AI-driven modernisation is unlocking new opportunities you may not have even considered yet. It's also allowing organisations to re-evaluate previously discarded modernisation attempts that were considered too hard, complex or simply didn't have the skills or time to do. During Microsoft Build 2025, we were introduced to the concept of Agentic AI modernisation and this post from Ikenna Okeke does a great job of summarising the topic - Reimagining App Modernisation for the Era of AI | Microsoft Community Hub. This blog post however, explores the modernisation opportunities that you may not even have thought of yet, the business benefits, how to start preparing your organisation, empowering your teams, and identifying where GitHub Copilot can help. I’ve spent the last 8 months working with customers exploring usage of GitHub Copilot, and want to share what my team members and I have discovered in terms of new opportunities to modernise, transform your applications, bringing some fun back into those migrations! Let’s delve into how GitHub Copilot is helping teams update old systems, move processes to the cloud, and achieve results faster than ever before. Background: The Modernisation Challenge (Then vs Now) Modernising legacy software has always been hard. In the past, teams faced steep challenges: brittle codebases full of technical debt, outdated languages (think decades-old COBOL or VB6), sparse documentation, and original developers long gone. Integrating old systems with modern cloud services often requiring specialised skills that were in short supply – for example, check out this fantastic post from Arvi LiVigni (@arilivigni ) which talks about migrating from COBOL “the number of developers who can read and write COBOL isn’t what it used to be,” making those systems much harder to update". Common pain points included compatibility issues, data migrations, high costs, security vulnerabilities, and the constant risk that any change could break critical business functions. It’s no wonder many modernisation projects stalled or were “put off” due to their complexity and risk. So, what’s different now (circa 2025) compared to two years ago? In a word: Intelligent AI assistance. Tools like GitHub Copilot have emerged as AI pair programmers that dramatically lower the barriers to modernisation. Arvi’s post talks about how only a couple of years ago, developers had to comb through documentation and Stack Overflow for clues when deciphering old code or upgrading frameworks. Today, GitHub Copilot can act like an expert co-developer inside your IDE, ready to explain mysterious code, suggest updates, and even rewrite legacy code in modern languages. This means less time fighting old code and more time implementing improvements. As Arvi says “nine times out of 10 it gives me the right answer… That speed – and not having to break out of my flow – is really what’s so impactful.” In short, AI coding assistants have evolved from novel experiments to indispensable tools, reimagining how we approach software updates and cloud adoption. I’d also add from my own experience – the models we were using 12 months ago have already been superseded by far superior models with ability to ingest larger context and tackle even further complexity. It's easier to experiment, and fail, bringing more robust outcomes – with such speed to create those proof of concepts, experimentation and failing faster, this has also unlocked the ability to test out multiple hypothesis’ and get you to the most confident outcome in a much shorter space of time. Modernisation is easier now because AI reduces the heavy lifting. Instead of reading the 10,000-line legacy program alone, a developer can ask Copilot to explain what the code does or even propose a refactored version. Rather than manually researching how to replace an outdated library, they can get instant recommendations for modern equivalents. These advancements mean that tasks which once took weeks or months can now be done in days or hours – with more confidence and less drudgery - more fun! The following sections will dive into specific opportunities unlocked by GitHub Copilot across the modernisation journey which you may not even have thought of. Modernisation Opportunities Unlocked by Copilot Modernising an application isn’t just about updating code – it involves bringing everyone and everything up to speed with cloud-era practices. Below are several scenarios and how GitHub Copilot adds value, with the specific benefits highlighted: 1. AI-Assisted Legacy Code Refactoring and Upgrades Instant Code Comprehension: GitHub Copilot can explain complex legacy code in plain English, helping developers quickly understand decades-old logic without scouring scarce documentation. For example, you can highlight a cryptic COBOL or C++ function and ask Copilot to describe what it does – an invaluable first step before making any changes. This saves hours and reduces errors when starting a modernisation effort. Automated Refactoring Suggestions: The AI suggests modern replacements for outdated patterns and APIs, and can even translate code between languages. For instance, Copilot can help convert a COBOL program into JavaScript or C# by recognising equivalent constructs. It also uses transformation tools (like OpenRewrite for Java/.NET) to systematically apply code updates – e.g. replacing all legacy HTTP calls with a modern library in one sweep. Developers remain in control, but GitHub Copilot handles the tedious bulk edits. Bulk Code Upgrades with AI: GitHub Copilot’s App Modernisation capabilities can analyse an entire codebase and generate a detailed upgrade plan, then execute many of the code changes automatically. It can upgrade framework versions (say from .NET Framework 4.x to .NET 6, or Java 8 to Java 17) by applying known fix patterns and even fixing compilation errors after the upgrade. Teams can finally tackle those hundreds of thousand-line enterprise applications – a task that could take multiple years with GitHub Copilot handling the repetitive changes. Technical Debt Reduction: By cleaning up old code and enforcing modern best practices, GitHub Copilot helps chip away at years of technical debt. The modernised codebase is more maintainable and stable, which lowers the long-term risk hanging over critical business systems. Notably, the tool can even scan for known security vulnerabilities during refactoring as it updates your code. In short, each legacy component refreshed with GitHub Copilot comes out safer and easier to work on, instead of remaining a brittle black box. 2. Accelerating Cloud Migration and Azure Modernisation Guided Azure Migration Planning: GitHub Copilot can assess a legacy application’s cloud readiness and recommend target Azure services for each component. For instance, it might suggest migrating an on-premises database to Azure SQL, moving file storage to Azure Blob Storage, and converting background jobs to Azure Functions. This provides a clear blueprint to confidently move an app from servers to Azure PaaS. One-Click Cloud Transformations: GitHub Copilot comes with predefined migration tasksthat automate the code changes required for cloud adoption. With one click, you can have the AI apply dozens of modifications across your codebase. For example: File storage: Replace local file read/writes with Azure Blob Storage SDK calls. Email/Comms: Swap out SMTP email code for Azure Communication Services or SendGrid. Identity: Migrate authentication from Windows AD to Azure AD (Entra ID) libraries. Configuration: Remove hard-coded configurations and use Azure App Configuration or Key Vault for secrets. GitHub Copilot performs these transformations consistently, following best practices (like using connection strings from Azure settings). After applying the changes, it even fixes any compile errors automatically, so you’re not left with broken builds. What used to require reading countless Azure migration guides is now handled in minutes. Automated Validation & Deployment: Modernisation doesn’t stop at code changes. GitHub Copilot can also generate unit tests to validate that the application still behaves correctly after the migration. It helps ensure that your modernised, cloud-ready app passes all its checks before going live. When you’re ready to deploy, GitHub Copilot can produce the necessary Infrastructure-as-Code templates (e.g. Azure Resource Manager Bicep files or Terraform configs) and even set up CI/CD pipeline scripts for you. In other words, the AI can configure the Azure environment and deployment process end-to-end. This dramatically reduces manual effort and error, getting your app to the cloud faster and with greater confidence. Integrations: GitHub Copilot also helps tackle larger migration scenarios that were previously considered too complex. For example, many enterprises want to retire expensive proprietary integration platforms like MuleSoft or Apigee and use Azure-native services instead, but rewriting hundreds of integration workflows was daunting. Now, GitHub Copilot can assist in translating those workflows: for instance, converting an Apigee API proxy into an Azure API Management policy, or a MuleSoft integration into an Azure Logic App. Multi-Cloud Migrations: if you plan to consolidate from other clouds into Azure, GitHub Copilot can suggest equivalent Azure services and SDK calls to replace AWS or GCP-specific code. These AI-assisted conversions significantly cut down the time needed to reimplement functionality on Azure. The business impact can be substantial. By lowering the effort of such migrations, GitHub Copilot makes it feasible to pursue opportunities that deliver big cost savings and simplification. 3. Boosting Developer Productivity and Quality Instant Unit Tests (TDD Made Easy): Writing tests for old code can be tedious, but GitHub Copilot can generate unit test cases on the fly. Developers can highlight an existing function and ask Copilot to create tests; it will produce meaningful test methods covering typical and edge scenarios. This makes it practical to apply test-driven development practices even to legacy systems – you can quickly build a safety net of tests before refactoring. By catching bugs early through these AI-generated tests, teams gain confidence to modernise code without breaking things. It essentially injects quality into the process from the start, which is crucial for successful modernisation. DevOps Automation: GitHub Copilot helps modernise your build and deployment process as well. It can draft CI/CD pipeline configurations, Dockerfiles, Kubernetes manifests, and other DevOps scripts by leveraging its knowledge of common patterns. For example, when setting up a GitHub Actions workflow to deploy your app, GitHub Copilot will autocomplete significant parts (like build steps, test runs, deployment jobs) based on the project structure. This not only saves time but also ensures best practices (proper caching, dependency installation, etc.) are followed by default. Microsoft even provides an extension where you can describe your Azure infrastructure needs in plain language and have GitHub Copilot generate the corresponding templates and pipeline YAML. By automating these pieces, teams can move to cloud-based, automated deployments much faster. Behaviour-Driven Development Support: Teams practicing BDD write human-readable scenarios (e.g. using Gherkin syntax) describing application behaviour. GitHub Copilot’s AI is adept at interpreting such descriptions and suggesting step definition code or test implementations to match. For instance, given a scenario “When a user with no items checks out, then an error message is shown,” GitHub Copilot can draft the code for that condition or the test steps required. This helps bridge the gap between non-technical specifications and actual code. It makes BDD more efficient and accessible, because even if team members aren’t strong coders, the AI can translate their intent into working code that developers can refine. Quality and Consistency: By using AI to handle boilerplate and repetitive tasks, developers can focus more on high-value improvements. GitHub Copilot’s suggestions are based on a vast corpus of code, which often means it surfaces well-structured, idiomatic patterns. Starting from these suggestions, developers are less likely to introduce errors or reinvent the wheel, which leads to more consistent code quality across the project. The AI also often reminds you of edge cases (for example, suggesting input validation or error handling code that might be missed), contributing to a more robust application. In practice, many teams find that adopting GitHub Copilot results in fewer bugs and quicker code reviews, as the code is cleaner on the first pass. It’s like having an extra set of eyes on every pull request, ensuring standards are met. Business Benefits of AI-Powered Modernisation Bringing together the technical advantages above, what’s the payoff for the business and stakeholders? Modernising with GitHub Copilot can yield multiple tangible and intangible benefits: Accelerated Time-to-Market: Modernisation projects that might have taken a year can potentially be completed in a few months, or an upgrade that took weeks can be done in days. This speed means you can deliver new features to customers sooner and respond faster to market changes. It also reduces downtime or disruption since migrations happen more swiftly. Cost Savings: By automating repetitive work and reducing the effort required from highly paid senior engineers, GitHub Copilot can trim development costs. Faster project completion also means lower overall project cost. Additionally, running modernised apps on cloud infrastructure (with updated code) often lowers operational costs due to more efficient resource usage and easier maintenance. There’s also an opportunity cost benefit: developers freed up by Copilot can work on other value-adding projects in parallel. Improved Quality & Reliability: GitHub Copilot’s contributions to testing, bug-fixing, and even security (like patching known vulnerabilities during upgrades) result in more robust applications. Modernised systems have fewer outages and security incidents than shaky legacy ones. Stakeholders will appreciate that with GitHub Copilot, modernisation doesn’t mean “trading one set of bugs for another” – instead, you can increase quality as you modernise (GitHub’s research noted higher code quality when using Copilot, as developers are less likely to introduce errors or skip tests). Business Agility: A modernised application (especially one refactored for cloud) is typically more scalable and adaptable. New integrations or features can be added much faster once the platform is up-to-date. GitHub Copilot helps clear the modernisation hurdle, after which the business can innovate on a solid, flexible foundation (for example, once a monolith is broken into microservices or moved to Azure PaaS, you can iterate on it much faster in the future). AI-assisted modernisation thus unlocks future opportunities (like easier expansion, integrations, AI features, etc.) that were impractical on the legacy stack. Employee Satisfaction and Innovation: Developer happiness is a subtle but important benefit. When tedious work is handled by AI, developers can spend more time on creative tasks – designing new features, improving user experience, exploring new technologies. This can foster a culture of innovation. Moreover, being seen as a company that leverages modern tools (like AI Co-pilots) helps attract and retain top tech talent. Teams that successfully modernise critical systems with Copilot will gain confidence to tackle other ambitious projects, creating a positive feedback loop of improvement. To sum up, GitHub Copilot acts as a force-multiplier for application modernisation. It enables organisations to do more with less: convert legacy “boat anchors” into modern, cloud-enabled assets rapidly, while improving quality and developer morale. This aligns IT goals with business goals – faster delivery, greater efficiency, and readiness for the future. Call to Action: Embrace the Future of Modernisation GitHub Copilot has proven to be a catalyst for transforming how we approach legacy systems and cloud adoption. If you’re excited about the possibilities, here are next steps and what to watch for: Start Experimenting: If you haven’t already, try GitHub Copilot on a sample of your code. Use Copilot or Copilot Chat to explain a piece of old code or generate a unit test. Seeing it in action on your own project can build confidence and spark ideas for where to apply it. Identify a Pilot Project: Look at your application portfolio for a candidate that’s ripe for modernisation – maybe a small legacy service that could be moved to Azure, or a module that needs a refactor. Use GitHub Copilot to assess and estimate the effort. Often, you’ll find tasks once deemed “too hard” might now be feasible. Early successes will help win support for larger initiatives. Stay Tuned for Our Upcoming Blog Series: This post is just the beginning. In forthcoming posts, we’ll dive deeper into: Setting Up Your Organisation for Copilot Adoption: Practical tips on preparing your enterprise environment – from licensing and security considerations to training programs. We’ll discuss best practices (like running internal awareness campaigns, defining success metrics, and creating Copilot champions in your teams) to ensure a smooth rollout. Empowering Your Colleagues: How to foster a culture that embraces AI assistance. This includes enabling continuous learning, sharing prompt techniques and knowledge bases, and addressing any scepticism. We’ll cover strategies to support developers in using Copilot effectively, so that everyone from new hires to veteran engineers can amplify their productivity. Identifying High-Impact Modernisation Areas: Guidance on spotting where GitHub Copilot can add the most value. We’ll look at different domains – code, cloud, tests, data – and how to evaluate opportunities (for example, using telemetry or feedback to find repetitive tasks suited for AI, or legacy components with high ROI if modernised). Engage and Share: As you start leveraging Copilot for modernisation, share your experiences and results. Success stories (even small wins like “GitHub Copilot helped reduce our code review times” or “we migrated a component to Azure in 1 sprint”) can build momentum within your organisation and the broader community. We invite you to discuss and ask questions in the comments or in our tech community forums. Take a look at the new App Modernisation Guidance—a comprehensive, step-by-step playbook designed to help organisations: Understand what to modernise and why Migrate and rebuild apps with AI-first design Continuously optimise with built-in governance and observability Modernisation is a journey, and AI is the new compass and co-pilot to guide the way. By embracing tools like GitHub Copilot, you position your organisation to break through modernisation barriers that once seemed insurmountable. The result is not just updated software, but a more agile, cloud-ready business and a happier, more productive development team. Now is the time to take that step. Empower your team with Copilot, and unlock the full potential of your applications and your developers. Stay tuned for more insights in our next posts, and let’s modernise what’s possible together!
Tutorial:A graceful process to develop and deploy Docker Containers to Azure with Visual Studio Code
Creating and deploying Docker containers to Azure resources manually can be a complicated and time-consuming process. This tutorial outlines a graceful process for developing and deploying a Linux Docker container on your Windows PC, making it easy to deploy to Azure resources. This tutorial emphasizes using the user interface to complete most of the steps, making the process more reliable and understandable. While there are a few steps that require the use of command lines, the majority of tasks can be completed using the UI. This focus on the UI is what makes the process graceful and user-friendly. In this tutorial, we will use a Python Flask application as an example, but the steps should be similar for other languages such as Node.js. Prerequisites: Before you begin, you'll need to have the following prerequisites set up: WSL 2 installation WSL provides a great way to develop your Linux application on a Windows machine, without worrying about compatibility issues when running in a Linux environment. We recommend installing WSL 2 as it has better support with Docker. To install WSL 2, open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode, enter below command: wsl --install And then restart your machine. You'll also need to install the WSL extension in your Visual Studio Code. Python 3 installation Run “wsl” in your command prompt. Then run following commands to install python 3.10 (if you use Python 3.5 or a lower version, you may need to install venv by yourself): sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt install python3.10 Docker for Linux You'll need to install Docker in your Linux environment. For Ubuntu, please refer to below official documentation: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/ Docker for Windows To create an image for your application in WSL, you'll need Docker Desktop for Windows. Download the installer from below Docker website and run the downloaded file to install it. https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/ Steps for Developing and Deployment 1. Connect Visual Studio Code to WSL To develop your project in Visual Studio Code in WSL, you need to click the bottom left blue button: Then select “Connect to WSL” or “Connect to WSL using Distro”: 2. Install some extensions for Visual Studio Code Below two extensions have to be installed after you connect Visual Studio Code to WSL. The Docker extension can help you create Dockerfile automatically and highlight the syntax of Dockerfile. Please search and install via Visual Studio Code Extension. To deploy your container to Azure in Visual Studio Code, you also need to have Azure Tools installed. 3. Create your project folder Click "Terminal" in menu, and click "New Terminal": Then you should see a terminal for your WSL. I use a quick simple Flask application here for example, so I run below command to clone its git project: git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/msdocs-python-flask-webapp-quickstart 4. Python Environment setup (optional) After you install Python 3 and create project folder. It is recommended to create your own project python environment. It makes your runtime and modules easy to be managed. To setup your Python Environment in your project, you need to run below commands in the terminal: cd msdocs-python-flask-webapp-quickstart python3 -m venv .venv Then after you open the folder, you will be able to see some folders are created in your project: Then if you open the app.py file, you can see it used the newly created python environment as your python environment: If you open a new terminal, you also find the prompt shows that you are now in new python environment as well: Then run below command to install the modules required in the requirement.txt: pip install -r requirements.txt 5. Generate a Dockerfile for your application To create a docker image, you need to have a Dockerfile for your application. You can use Docker extension to create the Dockerfile for you automatically. To do this, enter ctrl+shift+P and search "Dockerfile" in your Visual Studio Code. Then select “Docker: Add Docker Files to Workspace” You will be required to select your programming languages and framework(It also supports other language such as node.js, java, node). I select “Python Flask”. Firstly, you will be asked to select the entry point file. I select app.py for my project. Secondly, you will be asked the port your application listens on. I select 80. Finally, you will be asked if Docker Compose file is included. I select no as it is not multi-container. A Dockefile like below is generated: Note: If you do not have requirements.txt file in the project, the Docker extension will create one for you. However, it DOES NOT contain all the modules you installed for this project. Therefore, it is recommended to have the requirements.txt file before you create the Dockerfile. You can run below command in the terminal to create the requirements.txt file: pip freeze > requirements.txt After the file is generated, please add “gunicorn” in the requirements.txt if there is no "gunicorn" as the Dockerfile use it to launch your application for Flask application. Please review the Dockerfile it generated and see if there is anything need to modify. You will also find there is a .dockerignore file is generated too. It contains the file and the folder to be excluded from the image. Please also check it too see if it meets your requirement. 6. Build the Docker Image You can use the Docker command line to build image. However, you can also right-click anywhere in the Dockefile and select build image to build the image: Please make sure that you have Docker Desktop running in your Windows. Then you should be able to see the docker image with the name of the project and tag as "latest" in the Docker extension. 7. Push the Image to Azure Container Registry Click "Run" for the Docker image you created and check if it works as you expected. Then, you can push it to the Azure Container Registry (ACR). Click "Push" and select "Azure". You may need to create a new registry if there isn't one. Answer the questions that Visual Studio Code asks you, such as subscription and ACR name, and then push the image to the ACR. 8. Deploy the image to Azure Resources Follow the instructions in the following documents to deploy the image to the corresponding Azure resource: Azure App Service or Azure Container App: Deploy a containerized app to Azure (visualstudio.com) Opens in new window or tab Container Instance: Deploy container image from Azure Container Registry using a service principal - Azure Container Instances | Microsoft Learn Opens in new window or tab
Performance Profiling for Python application running in Linux App Service
py-spy is a sampling profiler for Python programs. It lets you visualize what your Python program is spending time on without restarting the program or modifying the code in any way. py-spy is extremely low overhead: it is written in Rust for speed and doesn't run in the same process as the profiled Python program. This means py-spy is safe to use against production Python code. py-spy works on Linux, OSX, Windows and FreeBSD, and supports profiling all recent versions of the CPython interpreter (versions 2.3-2.7 and 3.3-3.9). This article shows a demonstration of how to use py-spy to run sampling profiler for your Python application running in Linux App Service. Step 1: Install py-spy for your Python application In your Python application project, find your requirements.txt file. Add "py-spy" in the file. This is the only change we need to make. No other code changes are required. Step 2: Deploy your application to Azure Web App. When deploying the code, Azure orxy build will help us install the py-spy package. Step 3: Run live performance monitor for your application Py-spy allow us attach to a running Python process, and monitor its performance. The tool is similar to the Unix top command, it shows a live view of what functions are taking the most time in your python program, . Running py-spy with: Login to your Linux App Service WEBSSH, https://<webapp-name>.scm.azurewbsites.net/ First use "ps aux | grep python" command to find your python process ID. Run "py-spy top --pid <python process id>" Here is my sample Python code. When I access http://<webapp-name>.azurewebsites.net/test2, I can see a lot cpu time consumed by my runjob2() function. import time from flask import Flask app = Flask(__name__) @app.route("/") def hello(): runjob() return "Hello Azure, from Flask!" @app.route("/test1") def test1(): return "Hello Test1!" @app.route("/test2") def test2(): runjob2() return "Hello Test2!" def runjob(): counter = [] for i in range(0,5): test() counter.append(i) print (counter) def runjob2(): for i in range(0,10): i = i+1 time.sleep(1) def test(): print(">>>>>start test") time.sleep(1) print("<<<<<<<done") Step 3: Use record command to record profiles to a flame graph file Run the following command in your WEBSSH root@a029b609b0ab:~# py-spy record -o /home/profile.svg --pid 38 It will start profiling record: Run tests in your web browser For example, access different web pages, http://<webapp-name>.azurewebsites.net/test1 and http://<webapp-name>.azurewebsites.net/test2 Use Control-C to exit the performance profiling. The recorded svg file will be found in the path you defined in the "py-spy record" command Go to your App Service File manager to download the .svg file https://<webapp-name>.scm.azurewebsites.net/newui/fileManager# Open the downloaded .svg file in any of web browser in your local machine. You will see the flame graph of your python application. Flame graphs are a visualization of profiled software, allowing the most frequent code-paths to be identified quickly and accurately.
