Exercise - Manage app deployments from Eclipse

  • 10 minutes

In the previous unit, you learned that the Azure Explorer in the Azure Toolkit for Eclipse enables you to manage and configure Azure web apps. In this exercise, you'll see how to use Azure Explorer to stop and restart the SampleWebApp Azure web app.

Next, you'll modify the web app by using Azure Explorer to add a pair of properties to the configuration. You'll modify the web app to read the value of these properties and use them in the web app logic. You'll then redeploy the web app and verify that it functions as expected.

Finally, you'll use Azure Explorer to delete the web app and remove it from Azure.

Stop and restart the web app

  1. Start Eclipse if it isn't already running, and open the SampleWebApp project.

  2. In the Azure Toolkit for Eclipse toolbar, click Show Azure Explorer.

  3. If you aren't currently signed in to Azure, follow the procedure described in the previous exercise to sign in to your Azure account and select your subscription.

  4. In the Azure Explorer window, expand Web Apps, right-click your web app, and then click Stop.

    Screenshot of the context menu for the web app in the Azure Explorer window.

  5. Right-click your web app again, and then click Open in Browser. The web browser should display an HTTP 403 message indicating that the web app isn't currently running.

    Screenshot of the web browser displaying the HTTP 403 message.

  6. Leave the web browser open and return to Eclipse.

  7. In the Azure Explorer window, right-click the web app once, and then click Start.

  8. Return to the web browser, and refresh the display. The web app should be running again.

  9. Close the web browser and return to Eclipse.

Add configuration properties to the web app

  1. In the Azure Explorer window, right-click the web app, and then click Show Properties. The properties window for the web app should appear:

    Screenshot of the properties window for the web app.

  2. In the properties window, click New to add a new property key and value.

  3. In the Key column of the new property, enter the name Delay, and then press Enter.

  4. Click Edit, and in the Value column for the property, type the value 2, and then press Enter.

  5. In the properties window, click New again.

  6. Add another property named Iterations, with the value 10.

    Screenshot of the properties window for the web app showing the new properties and values.

  7. Click Save.

  8. When the Properties updated message box appears, click OK.

Modify the web app to use the properties

  1. In the Project Explorer window, expand SampleWebApp, expand WebContent, and then double-click index.jsp.

  2. In the body section of the code for the web page, change the code as shown below:

    <body>
    <%! int delayms = Integer.valueOf(System.getenv("Delay")) * 1000;
        int iterations = Integer.valueOf(System.getenv("Iterations"));
        DateFormat fmt = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yy HH:mm:ss"); %>
    <%  for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
        Thread.sleep(delayms); %>
        <p>Today's date is <%= fmt.format(new Date()) %></p>
    <% } %>
    <p>Your IP address is <%= request.getRemoteAddr() %></p>
</body>

    This code reads the values of both properties – they are exposed as environment variables for the web app runtime. The code displays the date and time at Delay seconds intervals, looping Iterations times.

    Note

    In this example, the code runs synchronously when it generates the output. This means it will take up to 20 seconds for the page to appear.

  3. On the File menu, click Save.

  4. In the Project Explorer window, right-click SampleWebApp, select Azure, and then click Publish as Azure Web App.

  5. In the Deploy Web App window, accept the default settings – this action will overwrite the existing web app with the new version – then click Deploy.

    Note

    If you want to preserve the original version of the web app until the new version has been fully tested, deploy the new web app to a new deployment slot, using the options at the bottom of the Deploy Web App window.

  6. In the Azure Activity Log window, wait until the progress column indicates that the web app has been successfully deployed.

  7. Click the Published link in the Azure Activity Log window. A new browser window will open. After 20 seconds, the messages displaying the time at two-second intervals will appear, followed by the IP address of the client computer.

    Screenshot of the web browser running the new version of the web app.

  8. Leave the browser window open, and return to Eclipse.

  9. In the Azure Explorer window, right-click the web app, and then click Show Properties.

  10. In the properties window, select the Delay property, and click Edit. Change the value to 1.

  11. Select the Iterations property, click Edit, and change the value to 5.

  12. Click Save.

  13. In the Properties updated message box, click OK.

  14. Switch back to the web browser and refresh the display. This time, the page will display the time at one-second intervals, repeated only five times. Notice that you didn't need to redeploy the web app.

  15. Close the web browser and return to Eclipse.

Delete the web app

  1. In the Azure Explorer window, right-click the web app, and then click Delete.

  2. In the Azure Explorer message box that prompts you to make sure this is really what you want to do, click OK.

    Screenshot of the message box confirming that the user wants to delete the web app.

  3. When the web app has been deleted, it will disappear from the Web Apps folder in Azure Explorer.

Important

Deleting the web app using the Azure Toolkit for Eclipse doesn't delete the app service plan, but you can remove the plan using the Azure portal. To do so, navigate to the appropriate resource group, select the app service plan, and then click Delete, as shown in the image below:

Screenshot of the Azure portal. The user is deleting the app service plan.