Windows Azure - Reimage a Running Role Instance of an ASP.Net Azure Web Application

Introduction:

In this article we are going to see how to ReImage a running instance of an Azure application using the Windows Azure Management Portal.

Overview:

In our earlier article, we have seen how to reboot a running role of an Azure application; here we are going to see how to reimage the Role instance of the Azure application offline. Reimage differs based on the application we are going to reimage the role. In Reimage its been grouped in to 2 categories as

1. Web and Worker Role Reimage - In this type of role, Azure brings the role offline first and applies the fresh reinstallation of the Azure Guest Operating System and makes the role online again.
   
   
2. VM Role Reimage - In this type of role, Azure brings the role offline, then applies the custom image which we have provided initially and then brings back the role online.

One thing we need to note down here is that any data that has been stored in the instance local directory other than that referred by the local storage instance resource will be lost when reimaging.

Let us see step by step how to do the editing manually using the Windows Azure Management Portal.

Steps:

Login to the Management Portal using the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/
We will see a screen like below. Select the "Sign into Management Portal" at the top right corner:



After selecting Sign into Management Portal you will be asked for the Username and Password to authenticate the process as shown in the following screen:



After providing the correct credentials and clicking on the submit button it will navigate to the main screen of the portal as shown in the following screen:



Now click on the Hosted Services, Storage Account and CDN option in the bottom menu and then select the Hosted Services as shown in the screen below.

Now select the deployed application (F5 Debug) as shown in the screen below. Here we will see the options like the environment on which its deployed and the DNS name to access the application etc.

Now once we select a particular application instance to reimage, we will see a Ribbon menu at the top named "Reimage" enabled as highlighted in the screen below.

Clicking on the Reimage button we get a pop up asking for a confirmation to start the reinstallation process as shown in the screen below. Click on Yes and proceed further.

Clicking on Yes will start the process, and we will see the status of the reimaging process as highlighted in the screen below. First it will stop the Role Instance first (Status – Stopping (Reimaging)) and then proceeds further.

Once the Role Instance is stopped, it prepares a node and starts initializing the complete imaging process for the particular role and we will see the status as shown in the screen below.

Once the node is initialized it will start the role instance again to make it online and we will see the status as shown in the screen below.

Once the process is completed and the reimage has restored the application online we will see the status as "Ready" as shown in the screen below. Now we can access the application online.

Conclusion:

So in this article we have seen how to reimage an application online using the Azure Management Portal and the different role steps involved in the reimaging.