Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure SDK

Article
08/09/2024

This article shows how to use the Azure SDK to create an Azure Cloud Services (extended support) deployment that has multiple roles (WebRole and WorkerRole). It also covers how to use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) extension. Cloud Services (extended support) is a deployment model of Azure Cloud Services based on Azure Resource Manager.

Prerequisites

Review the deployment prerequisites for Cloud Services (extended support) and create the required resources.

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support)

To deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the SDK:

Install the Azure Compute SDK NuGet package and initialize the client by using a standard authentication method:

    public class CustomLoginCredentials : ServiceClientCredentials
    {
        private string AuthenticationToken { get; set; }
        public override void InitializeServiceClient<T>(ServiceClient<T> client)
        {
            var authenticationContext = new AuthenticationContext("https://login.chinacloudapi.cn/{tenantID}");
            var credential = new ClientCredential(clientId: "{clientID}", clientSecret: "{clientSecret}");
            var result = authenticationContext.AcquireTokenAsync(resource: "https://management.core.chinacloudapi.cn/", clientCredential: credential);
            if (result == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to obtain the JWT token");
            AuthenticationToken = result.Result.AccessToken;
        }
        public override async Task ProcessHttpRequestAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            if (request == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("request");
            if (AuthenticationToken == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Token Provider Cannot Be Null");
            request.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", AuthenticationToken);
            request.Headers.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
            //request.Version = new Version(apiVersion);
            await base.ProcessHttpRequestAsync(request, cancellationToken);
        }
    }

    var creds = new CustomLoginCredentials();
    m_subId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID");
    ResourceManagementClient m_ResourcesClient = new ResourceManagementClient(creds);
    NetworkManagementClient m_NrpClient = new NetworkManagementClient(creds);
    ComputeManagementClient m_CrpClient = new ComputeManagementClient(creds);
    StorageManagementClient m_SrpClient = new StorageManagementClient(creds);
    m_ResourcesClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_NrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_CrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_SrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;

Create a new resource group by installing the Azure Resource Manager NuGet package:

var resourceGroups = m_ResourcesClient.ResourceGroups;
var m_location = “East US”;
var resourceGroupName = "ContosoRG";//provide existing resource group name, if created already
var resourceGroup = new ResourceGroup(m_location); 
resourceGroup = await resourceGroups.CreateOrUpdateAsync(resourceGroupName, resourceGroup);

Create a storage account and container where you store the package (.cspkg or .zip) file and configuration (.cscfg) file for the deployment. Install the Azure Storage NuGet package. This step is optional if you're using an existing storage account. The storage account name must be unique.

string storageAccountName = “ContosoSAS”
var stoInput = new StorageAccountCreateParameters
   {
        Location = m_location,
        Kind = Microsoft.Azure.Management.Storage.Models.Kind.StorageV2,
        Sku = new Microsoft.Azure.Management.Storage.Models.Sku(SkuName.StandardRAGRS),
    };
        StorageAccount storageAccountOutput = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.Create(rgName,
        storageAccountName, stoInput);
        bool created = false;
        while (!created)
           {
                Thread.Sleep(600);
                var stos = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.ListByResourceGroup(rgName);
                created =
                stos.Any(
                    t =>
                    StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase.Equals(t.Name, storageAccountName));
            }

StorageAccount storageAccountOutput = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.GetProperties(rgName, storageAccountName);.
var accountKeyResult = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.ListKeysWithHttpMessagesAsync(rgName, storageAccountName).Result;
CloudStorageAccount storageAccount = new CloudStorageAccount(new StorageCredentials(storageAccountName, accountKeyResult.Body.Keys.FirstOrDefault(). Value), useHttps: true);

var blobClient = storageAccount.CreateCloudBlobClient();
CloudBlobContainer container = blobClient.GetContainerReference("sascontainer");
container.CreateIfNotExistsAsync().Wait();
sharedAccessBlobPolicy sasConstraints = new SharedAccessBlobPolicy();
sasConstraints.SharedAccessStartTime = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(-1);
sasConstraints.SharedAccessExpiryTime = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(2);
sasConstraints.Permissions = SharedAccessBlobPermissions.Read | SharedAccessBlobPermissions.Write;

Upload the package (.cspkg or .zip) file to the storage account. The package URL can be a shared access signature (SAS) URI from any storage account.

CloudBlockBlob cspkgblockBlob = container.GetBlockBlobReference(“ContosoApp.cspkg”);
cspkgblockBlob.UploadFromFileAsync(“./ContosoApp/ContosoApp.cspkg”). Wait();

//Generate the shared access signature on the blob, setting the constraints directly on the signature.
string cspkgsasContainerToken = cspkgblockBlob.GetSharedAccessSignature(sasConstraints);

//Return the URI string for the container, including the SAS token.
string cspkgSASUrl = cspkgblockBlob.Uri + cspkgsasContainerToken;

Upload the configuration (.cscfg) file to the storage account. Specify the service configuration as either string XML or URL format.

CloudBlockBlob cscfgblockBlob = container.GetBlockBlobReference(“ContosoApp.cscfg”);
cscfgblockBlob.UploadFromFileAsync(“./ContosoApp/ContosoApp.cscfg”). Wait();

//Generate the shared access signature on the blob, setting the constraints directly on the signature.
string sasCscfgContainerToken = cscfgblockBlob.GetSharedAccessSignature(sasConstraints);

//Return the URI string for the container, including the SAS token.
string cscfgSASUrl = cscfgblockBlob.Uri + sasCscfgContainerToken;

Create a virtual network and subnet. Install the Azure Network NuGet package. This step is optional if you're using an existing network and subnet.

VirtualNetwork vnet = new VirtualNetwork(name: vnetName) 
   { 
        AddressSpace = new AddressSpace 
           { 
                AddressPrefixes = new List<string> { "10.0.0.0/16" } 
           }, 
                Subnets = new List<Subnet> 
                { 
                    new Subnet(name: subnetName) 
                    { 
                        AddressPrefix = "10.0.0.0/24" 
                    } 
                }, 
                Location = m_location 
           }; 
m_NrpClient.VirtualNetworks.CreateOrUpdate(resourceGroupName, “ContosoVNet”, vnet);

Create a public IP address and set the DNS label property of the public IP address. Cloud Services (extended support) supports only a Basic SKU public IP address. Standard SKU public IP addresses do not work with Cloud Services (extended support).

If you use a static IP address, you must reference it as a reserved IP address in the configuration (.cscfg) file.

 PublicIPAddress publicIPAddressParams = new PublicIPAddress(name: “ContosIp”) 
    { 
         Location = m_location, 
         PublicIPAllocationMethod = IPAllocationMethod.Dynamic, 
         DnsSettings = new PublicIPAddressDnsSettings() 
            { 
                 DomainNameLabel = “contosoappdns” 
            } 
    }; 
 PublicIPAddress publicIpAddress = m_NrpClient.PublicIPAddresses.CreateOrUpdate(resourceGroupName, publicIPAddressName, publicIPAddressParams);

Create a network profile object and associate the public IP address with the front end of the load balancer. The Azure platform automatically creates a Classic SKU load balancer resource in the same subscription as the deployment. The load balancer resource is read-only in Azure Resource Manager. You can update the resource only via the Cloud Services (extended support) configuration (.cscfg) file and definition (.csdef) file.

LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration feipConfiguration = new LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration() 
    { 
        Name = “ContosoFe”, 
        Properties = new LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfigurationProperties() 
            { 
            PublicIPAddress = new CM.SubResource() 
                { 
                    Id = $"/subscriptions/{m_subId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/{publicIPAddressName}", 
                } 
            } 
    }; 

CloudServiceNetworkProfile cloudServiceNetworkProfile = new CloudServiceNetworkProfile() 
    { 
        LoadBalancerConfigurations = new List<LoadBalancerConfiguration>() 
            { 
                new LoadBalancerConfiguration() 
                   { 
                    Name  = 'ContosoLB', 
                    Properties = new LoadBalancerConfigurationProperties() 
                        { 
                        FrontendIPConfigurations = new List<LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration>() 
                            { 
                            feipConfig 
                            } 
                        } 
                    } 
            } 
    };

Create a key vault. This key vault stores certificates that are associated with the Cloud Services (extended support) roles. The key vault must be in the same region and subscription as the Cloud Services (extended support) resource and have a unique name. For more information, see Use certificates with Cloud Services (extended support).
```
New-AzKeyVault -Name "ContosKeyVault” -ResourceGroupName “ContosoOrg” -Location “East US”
```

Update the key vault's access policy and grant certificate permissions to your user account:

Set-AzKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName 'ContosKeyVault' -ResourceGroupName 'ContosoOrg' -UserPrincipalName 'user@domain.com' -PermissionsToCertificates create,get,list,delete

Alternatively, set the access policy via object ID (which you can get by running Get-AzADUser):

Set-AzKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName 'ContosKeyVault' -ResourceGroupName 'ContosOrg' -ObjectId 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx' -PermissionsToCertificates create,get,list,delete

The following example adds a self-signed certificate to a key vault. The certificate thumbprint must be added in the configuration (.cscfg) file for Cloud Services (extended support) roles.

$Policy = New-AzKeyVaultCertificatePolicy -SecretContentType "application/x-pkcs12" - SubjectName "CN=contoso.com" -IssuerName "Self" -ValidityInMonths 6 -ReuseKeyOnRenewal 
Add-AzKeyVaultCertificate -VaultName "ContosKeyVault" -Name "ContosCert" -CertificatePolicy $Policy

Create an OS profile object. The OS profile specifies the certificates that are associated with Cloud Services (extended support) roles. You use the same certificate that you created in the preceding step.

CloudServiceOsProfile cloudServiceOsProfile = 
    new CloudServiceOsProfile 
       { 
            Secrets = new List<CloudServiceVaultSecretGroup> 
               { 
                    New CloudServiceVaultSecretGroup { 
                    SourceVault = <sourceVault>, 
                    VaultCertificates = <vaultCertificates> 
                    } 
               } 
       };

Create a role profile object. A role profile defines role-specific properties for a SKU, such as name, capacity, and tier.

This example defines two roles: ContosoFrontend and ContosoBackend. Role profile information must match the role defined in the configuration (.cscfg) file and definition (.csdef) file.

CloudServiceRoleProfile cloudServiceRoleProfile = new CloudServiceRoleProfile()
   {
        Roles = new List<CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties>();

            // foreach role in cloudService
            roles.Add(new CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties()
                {
                    Name = 'ContosoFrontend',
                    Sku = new CloudServiceRoleSku
                    {
                        Name = 'Standard_D1_v2',
                        Capacity = 2,
                        Tier = 'Standard'
                    }
                );

            roles.Add(new CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties()
                {
                    Name = 'ContosoBackend',
                    Sku = new CloudServiceRoleSku
                    {
                        Name = 'Standard_D1_v2',
                        Capacity = 2,
                        Tier = 'Standard'
                    }
                );

                }
                }

(Optional) Create an extension profile object to add to your Cloud Services (extended support) deployment. This example adds a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) extension:

string rdpExtensionPublicConfig = "<PublicConfig>" +
    "<UserName>adminRdpTest</UserName>" +
    "<Expiration>2021-10-27T23:59:59</Expiration>" +
    "</PublicConfig>";
    string rdpExtensionPrivateConfig = "<PrivateConfig>" +
    "<Password>VsmrdpTest!</Password>" +
    "</PrivateConfig>";

    Extension rdpExtension = new Extension
            {
                Name = name,
                Properties = new CloudServiceExtensionProperties
                {
                    Publisher = "Microsoft.Windows.Azure.Extensions",
                    Type = "RDP",
                    TypeHandlerVersion = "1.2.1",
                    AutoUpgradeMinorVersion = true,
                    Settings = rdpExtensionPublicConfig,
                    ProtectedSettings = rdpExtensionPrivateConfig,
                    RolesAppliedTo = [“*”],
                }
            };

CloudServiceExtensionProfile cloudServiceExtensionProfile = new CloudServiceExtensionProfile
    {
        Extensions = rdpExtension
    };

Create the Cloud Services (extended support) deployment:

CloudService cloudService = new CloudService
    {
        Properties = new CloudServiceProperties
            {
                RoleProfile = cloudServiceRoleProfile
                Configuration = < Add Cscfg xml content here>,
                // ConfigurationUrl = <Add your configuration URL here>,
                PackageUrl = <Add cspkg SAS url here>,
                ExtensionProfile = cloudServiceExtensionProfile,
                OsProfile= cloudServiceOsProfile,
                NetworkProfile = cloudServiceNetworkProfile,
                UpgradeMode = 'Auto'
            },
                Location = m_location
            };

CloudService createOrUpdateResponse = m_CrpClient.CloudServices.CreateOrUpdate(“ContosOrg”, “ContosoCS”, cloudService);

Review frequently asked questions for Cloud Services (extended support).
Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, an ARM template, or Visual Studio.
Visit the Cloud Services (extended support) samples repository.

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure SDK

Prerequisites

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support)

Related content

Additional resources