Deploying Strapi to Azure App Service provides a scalable and secure platform for hosting your headless CMS. Below is an overview of the process, including benefits, setup steps, and troubleshooting tips.

Benefits of Deploying Strapi on Azure App Service

1. Auto-Scaling: Azure Service Apps dynamically adjust resources based on workload, ensuring high availability during traffic spikes.
2. Continuous Deployment: Integration with Azure DevOps supports automatic updates and continuous improvement.
3. Seamless Integration: Azure’s ecosystem enables easy connection to services like Azure Database for MySQL or PostgreSQL, Azure Storage, and monitoring tools.
4. Enhanced Security: Features like HTTPS support, custom domain integration, and built-in authentication mechanisms protect your application and data.
5. Monitoring and Analytics: Tools such as Application Insights provide metrics for performance monitoring and troubleshooting.

Steps to Deploy Strapi on Azure App Service

1. Prepare Your Resources

Use the Azure Portal to create the following:

• Resource Group: Organize all related resources under a single group.
• Web App:
  • Publish: Code
  • Runtime Stack: Node.js (e.g., Node 16 LTS or Node 20 LTS)
  • Operating System: Linux (preferred for better compatibility)
  • App Service Plan: Choose a plan based on expected workload.
• Database:
  • Use Azure Database for MySQL or PostgreSQL.
  • Configure public access and set up credentials.
• Storage Account: For managing assets like images and files.

2. Configure Your Strapi Application

• Ensure server.js is the entry point for your app with the following content:

  const strapi = require("strapi"); strapi().start();

• Update /config/server.js to access environment variables for HOST and PORT:

host: process.env.HOST, port: process.env.PORT || 3000,

3. Deploy Code

You can deploy your Strapi application using one of the following methods:

a. Zip Deployment

1. Install dependencies locally (npm install or yarn install).
2. Create a zip package of your application.
3. Use the Azure Portal or CLI to upload the zip file to your Web App.

b. GitHub Integration

1. Push your Strapi code to a GitHub repository.
2. Connect the repository via Deployment Center in Azure.
3. Set up build pipelines that install dependencies, build the app (yarn build), and deploy it.

c. Azure DevOps Pipelines

Create pipelines for building and deploying:

• Build pipeline tasks:

  yarn install set NODE_ENV=PRODUCTION yarn build rm -rf .cache .git

• Deploy pipeline tasks:

  - task: AzureRmWebAppDeployment@4 inputs: azureSubscription: 'YourSubscription' appType: 'webAppLinux' WebAppName: 'YourAppName'

  4. Connect Database

Update Strapi’s configuration to connect to the database using environment variables:

module.exports = { database: { client: 'mysql', // or 'postgres' connection: { host: process.env.DB_HOST, port: process.env.DB_PORT, database: process.env.DB_NAME, user: process.env.DB_USER, password: process.env.DB_PASS, }, }, };

5. Verify Deployment

Access your application via its URL (e.g., https://your-app-name.azurewebsites.net). Note that it may take up to 15 minutes for the URL to become active after deployment.

Troubleshooting Tips

1. If the deployed site is empty:
   • Check logs in App Service > Deployment Center > Logs.
   • Ensure proper permissions for database access.
2. Avoid writing to wwwroot, as it is read-only in some configurations (e.g., “Run From Package”).
3. If deployment fails but logs show success, wait before redeploying or refreshing the page.

By following these steps, you can successfully deploy Strapi on Azure App Service while leveraging its scalability, security, and integration capabilities.