Deploying Springboot Applications in Seconds

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We all have experienced the situation above at some point in our careers. On these occasions, many developers wished they could only deploy their SpringBoot Apps by "right click and selecting deploy".The implementation of this idea would make the lives of many developers much easier. Nobody would consider deployment to be a painful task.

Azure Spring Apps allows you to achieve this. You can publish your code in only a few clicks after completing some quick setup in Microsoft Azure.

What is Azure Spring Apps?

Azure Spring Apps is a service provided by Microsoft Azure that simplifies the deployment and management of Spring Boot applications in the Azure cloud environment. It is intended for developers who build and deploy applications using the Spring Framework and Spring Boot.

Azure Spring Apps simplifies the deployment and management of Spring Boot applications on Azure, allowing developers to focus more on developing their applications and less on infrastructure configuration. 

Advantages of Azure Spring Apps

1. Monitoring and diagnostics: Azure Spring Apps integrates with Azure Monitor, which provides detailed insights about the performance and health of your applications. You can monitor metrics, set up alerts, and diagnose issues. Azure Monitor, Application Insights, or other Azure monitoring tools can be used to monitor and troubleshoot your Spring Boot applications.
2. Scaling and high availability: Azure Spring Apps allows you to easily scale your applications based on demand and provides high availability with the help of built-in load balancing and fault tolerance mechanisms.
3. Integrates easily with IntelliJ IDE and VS Code.
4. Cost optimization: Azure Spring Apps provide cost optimization features, such as automatic scaling and pay-as-you-go pricing models. You may scale your applications based on demand and only pay for the resources you consume, allowing you to save money.

Creating the Azure Spring Apps

1. Once you are logged in to the Azure portal (portal.azure.com), search for Azure Spring Apps and select it.
   
2. Click on 'Create'
   
3. The screen to configure the Resource Group, Service Details (Name, Plan, Region), and the Container Apps Environment is loaded. To better understand what a Container Apps Environment is, you can read further in this documentation.

   Set the plan to Basic. The option in the preview may not be well supported for now and may cause some errors. 
   

4. After filling in this information, you can click on 'Review and create' to proceed with the creation of the Azure Spring Apps service, or you can click on 'Next: Application Insights'.

   Configuring Application Insights which will provide monitoring tools, alerts, and graphs for your deployed Springboot Application.

   Tags can also be created by directly clicking on the tab 'Tags' or moving to tags after completing the configuration of Application Insights.

5. When you click 'Review and Create', Azure will automatically run some validations.

   Once all validations are successful, the 'Create' button will be enabled. The creation process will start once you click on it. It may take several minutes.
   

6. Once your Azure Spring Apps have been created, the following screen will appear.
   

   Click on 'Go to resource' to proceed with the next part of the setup.

7. On the overview screen, select 'Apps' on the left-hand side.
   
8. A screen prompting for an App name will be loaded. You can also change the deployment type and runtime platform.

   If you are using Java/Kotlin, select the Java version used by your application.
   

9. Click on 'Create'

After completing these setups on the Azure Portal, you are ready to deploy your Springboot applications on the cloud.

To go even further and deploy your apps faster, install the required plugin in your IDE and deploy your app in just a few clicks

Integrating Azure Spring Apps to IntelliJ and deploying your application

1. Install the 'Azure Toolkit' in IntelliJ.

   On Mac, press '? Comma' to open the IDE settings and select Plugins.

   On Windows, click on File > Settings > IDE Settings > Plugins.

   Select 'Marketplace', search for 'Azure Toolkit for IntelliJ', and install the plugin.
   

2. When the installation is completed, restart your IDE.
3. Sign into  Azure from your IDE. A guide is provided by Microsoft and can be found here.

   I have signed in using the OAuth method.

4. To deploy your application, right-click on your project, then click on 'Azure' (it is at the bottom of the list) followed by 'Deploy to Azure Spring Apps'.

5. A popup will appear.

   Choose your subscription if it has not been loaded by default. Also, choose the 'Spring Apps' that you have created on Azure as well as the 'App'.

   Once all information is filled up, click on 'Run'.
   

6. When the deployment is successful, you will see the following logs in your IDE.
   
7. Go back to the 'App' on the Azure portal to get the base URL.
   

   If you are running your springboot app locally, you would have called your api like the following: localhost:8081/v1/test.

   To call the one on the Azure portal, you will use: <<URL from the portal>>/v1/test. When you press 'Enter' on your keyboard, the long url will be resolved to a shorter and more user-friendly one. Below is an example:

Note

1. Azure Spring Apps can be easily integrated with VS Code as well. To do so, you can refer to this documentation.
2. Make sure to use the same Java version as your application when creating the 'App' in Azure. 

Considerations when using Azure Spring Apps

1. Cost optimization: Optimize costs by monitoring resource utilization, scaling your Azure Spring Apps based on demand, and leveraging Azure's cost management tools. Regularly review your resource allocation and adjust as needed to ensure cost efficiency without compromising performance.

2. Application architecture: Ensure that your Spring Boot application is designed to take advantage of the scalability and resilience features provided by Azure Spring Apps. Consider designing your application to be stateless and horizontally scalable, allowing it to benefit from auto-scaling and load balancing.

3. Compliance and regulatory requirements: If your application needs to comply with specific industry or regional regulations, ensure that Azure Spring Apps and the associated Azure services meet the necessary compliance requirements. Review Azure's compliance documentation and consult with your compliance team to ensure adherence to regulations.

Conclusion

To conclude, Azure Spring Apps provides a powerful platform for hosting and scaling Spring Boot applications in the cloud. By leveraging the benefits of Azure's infrastructure and integrating seamlessly with the Spring framework and your IDE, developers can accelerate their application development and deployment processes.

Despite its numerous advantages, it goes without saying that you should consider factors such as designing applications for scalability and resilience, monitoring resource utilization, and optimizing resource allocation. By following best practices and leveraging the robust capabilities of Azure Spring Apps, developers can create highly scalable, resilient, and cost-effective Spring Boot applications.

Overall, Azure Spring Apps empower developers to build innovative applications while benefiting from the scalability, reliability, and efficiency of Azure's cloud infrastructure. With its seamless integration and comprehensive features, Azure Spring Apps is a compelling choice for deploying Spring Boot applications and driving business success in the cloud.