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In part 1 of this Using Azure Arc for Apps series, we explored Azure Arc and Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters. In this post, we'll be exploring App Services on Azure Arc. More specifically, these application services run on an Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes cluster, which is a pre-requisite for us to progress. At time of writing, this approach is in public preview, so we may see certain limitations / features that are not yet available.

At Microsoft //Build 2021, Microsoft announced a series of updates relating to Cloud Native Applications anywhere. In summary, those updates refer to running Azure Services (such as App Services, Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Event Grid and API Management) in any Kubernetes cluster which is managed by Azure Arc. That means you could have Azure App Services running in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or in your on-premises Kubernetes deployment. This is a significant update, so I've decided that I'll be writing a series of blog posts on the topic - as one post would not do the topic justice!

On the first AZ Community Roundtable show, James Cook introduces himself for the first time as the host. After guest speakers Chris and Martin introduce themselves, James discusses Microsoft Build news on App Services adopting Cloud Native approach using Kubernetes so it can be used on other platforms. Martin talks about how infrastructure as Code is being adopted and it's place currently in organisations. Chris brings up what individuals are looking for in DevOps tools, the features we enjoy and a quick talk on the Azure DevOps vs GitHub hot topic on social media.

Setting some context I recently encountered a scenario that I wanted to spend some time writing up. Imagine that you have a requirement to deploy a new web …

Weekly Vlog #22 is a dedicated Microsoft Build 2021 recap led by the landmark announcement of Azure Arc for Application Services, enabling App Service, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid, and API Management to run on any Kubernetes cluster across Azure, AWS, GCP, or on-premises. Chris also presented at Build alongside Dean Brian and Carol Logan, demonstrating friction-free development with Blazor, GitHub Codespaces, and GitHub Actions while spotlighting UK developer communities. Additional highlights include a wave of AKS improvements, the Durable Functions Netherite storage provider preview, Azure Cosmos DB integrated cache, Azure Applied AI Services, and Security Center integration with GitHub Actions.

Chris is joined by Matt Bradley, who helped establish the Public Cloud division at UKFast, to discuss four years of hands-on Azure experience. From migration and consultancy through DevOps automation, container orchestration, and hybrid cloud management with Azure Arc, Matt shares practical lessons, infrastructure as code trade-offs, compliance benefits, and why you must always design for failure in cloud workloads.

If you follow the news around Microsoft, you've probably found it very hard to miss the fact that the Microsoft //Build conference happened this week. Microsoft //Build is their annual developer-focused conference, where they typically announce new features, updates and share their strategy as they evolve technologies. In this update, I'll provide a summary of the announcements that particularly stood out to me and give you some context around why. Whether that's announcements that excite me, features that I think are crucial to be adopted, etc. It's worth noting that I'll be focusing primarily on the Microsoft Azure Updates here, as that's my typical area of expertise!

Microsoft Cloud Advocate Dean Bryen is joined by guests Carole Logan (developer and tech lead based in Glasgow) and Chris Reddington (Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect) as they take you through the end-to-end process of editing, committing and deploying code across different platforms and tools. We’ll end with a Q&A session and next steps for you to try the process out for yourself to see how agile and collaborative it is. We look forward to seeing you there!

Chris is a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. He'll provide an overview of GitHub and explore how GitHub Actions can be used to build and deploy your own static sites (or other apps!) to Azure.

As I'm using GitHub Actions to deploy my site to Azure, it made sense for me to build a GitHub action that I can use within my GitHub Actions workflow to cross-post content. That's exactly what I'll be talking about in this blog post!