Azure Cloud Services (extended support) definition WebRole schema

Article
07/24/2024

The Azure web role is a role that is customized for web application programming as supported by IIS 7, such as ASP.NET, PHP, Windows Communication Foundation, and FastCGI.

The default extension for the service definition file is csdef.

Basic service definition schema for a web role

The basic format of a service definition file containing a web role is as follows.

<ServiceDefinition …>  
  <WebRole name="<web-role-name>" vmsize="<web-role-size>" enableNativeCodeExecution="[true|false]">  
    <Certificates>  
      <Certificate name="<certificate-name>" storeLocation="<certificate-store>" storeName="<store-name>" />  
    </Certificates>      
    <ConfigurationSettings>  
      <Setting name="<setting-name>" />  
    </ConfigurationSettings>  
    <Imports>  
      <Import moduleName="<import-module>"/>  
    </Imports>  
    <Endpoints>  
      <InputEndpoint certificate="<certificate-name>" ignoreRoleInstanceStatus="[true|false]" name="<input-endpoint-name>" protocol="[http|https|tcp|udp]" localPort="<port-number>" port="<port-number>" loadBalancerProbe="<load-balancer-probe-name>" />  
      <InternalEndpoint name="<internal-endpoint-name>" protocol="[http|tcp|udp|any]" port="<port-number>">  
         <FixedPort port="<port-number>"/>  
         <FixedPortRange min="<minimum-port-number>" max="<maximum-port-number>"/>  
      </InternalEndpoint>  
     <InstanceInputEndpoint name="<instance-input-endpoint-name>" localPort="<port-number>" protocol="[udp|tcp]">  
         <AllocatePublicPortFrom>  
            <FixedPortRange min="<minimum-port-number>" max="<maximum-port-number>"/>  
         </AllocatePublicPortFrom>  
      </InstanceInputEndpoint>  
    </Endpoints>  
    <LocalResources>  
      <LocalStorage name="<local-store-name>" cleanOnRoleRecycle="[true|false]" sizeInMB="<size-in-megabytes>" />  
    </LocalResources>  
    <LocalStorage name="<local-store-name>" cleanOnRoleRecycle="[true|false]" sizeInMB="<size-in-megabytes>" />  
    <Runtime executionContext="[limited|elevated]">  
      <Environment>  
         <Variable name="<variable-name>" value="<variable-value>">  
            <RoleInstanceValue xpath="<xpath-to-role-environment-settings>"/>  
          </Variable>            
      </Environment>  
      <EntryPoint>  
         <NetFxEntryPoint assemblyName="<name-of-assembly-containing-entrypoint>" targetFrameworkVersion="<.net-framework-version>"/>  
      </EntryPoint>  
    </Runtime>  
    <Sites>  
      <Site name="<web-site-name>">  
        <VirtualApplication name="<application-name>" physicalDirectory="<directory-path>"/>  
        <VirtualDirectory name="<directory-path>" physicalDirectory="<directory-path>"/>  
        <Bindings>  
          <Binding name="<binding-name>" endpointName="<endpoint-name-bound-to>" hostHeader="<url-of-the-site>"/>  
        </Bindings>  
      </Site>  
    </Sites>  
    <Startup priority="<for-internal-use-only>">  
      <Task commandLine="<command-to=execute>" executionContext="[limited|elevated]" taskType="[simple|foreground|background]">  
        <Environment>  
         <Variable name="<variable-name>" value="<variable-value>">  
            <RoleInstanceValue xpath="<xpath-to-role-environment-settings>"/>  
          </Variable>            
        </Environment>  
      </Task>  
    </Startup>  
    <Contents>  
      <Content destination="<destination-folder-name>" >  
        <SourceDirectory path="<local-source-directory>" />  
      </Content>  
    </Contents>  
  </WebRole>  
</ServiceDefinition>

Schema elements

The service definition file includes these elements, described in detail in subsequent sections in this article:

WebRole

ConfigurationSettings

InstanceInputEndpoint

AllocatePublicPortFrom

WebRole

The WebRole element describes a role that is customized for web application programming, as supported by IIS 7 and ASP.NET. A service may contain zero or more web roles.

The following table describes the attributes of the WebRole element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. The name for the web role. The role's name must be unique.
enableNativeCodeExecution	boolean	Optional. The default value is `true`; native code execution and full trust are enabled by default. Set this attribute to `false` to disable native code execution for the web role, and use Azure partial trust instead.
vmsize	string	Optional. Set this value to change the size of the virtual machine that is allotted to the role. The default value is `Small`. For more information, see Virtual Machine sizes for Cloud Services.

ConfigurationSettings

The ConfigurationSettings element describes the collection of configuration settings for a web role. This element is the parent of the Setting element.

Setting

The Setting element describes a name and value pair that specifies a configuration setting for an instance of a role.

The following table describes the attributes of the Setting element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A unique name for the configuration setting.

The configuration settings for a role are name and value pairs that are declared in the service definition file and set in the service configuration file.

LocalResources

The LocalResources element describes the collection of local storage resources for a web role. This element is the parent of the LocalStorage element.

LocalStorage

The LocalStorage element identifies a local storage resource that provides file system space for the service at runtime. A role may define zero or more local storage resources.

Note

The LocalStorage element can appear as a child of the WebRole element to support compatibility with earlier versions of the Azure SDK.

The following table describes the attributes of the LocalStorage element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A unique name for the local store.
cleanOnRoleRecycle	boolean	Optional. Indicates whether the local store should be cleaned when the role is restarted. Default value is `true`.
sizeInMb	int	Optional. The desired amount of storage space to allocate for the local store, in MB. If not specified, the default storage space allocated is 100 MB. The minimum amount of storage space that may be allocated is 1 MB. The maximum size of the local resources is dependent on the virtual machine size. For more information, see Virtual Machine sizes for Cloud Services.

The name of the directory allocated to the local storage resource corresponds to the value provided for the name attribute.

Endpoints

The Endpoints element describes the collection of input (external), internal, and instance input endpoints for a role. This element is the parent of the InputEndpoint, InternalEndpoint, and InstanceInputEndpoint elements.

Input and Internal endpoints are allocated separately. A service can have a total of 25 input, internal, and instance input endpoints, which can be allocated across the 25 roles allowed in a service. For example, if you have five roles, you can allocate five input endpoints per role, or you can allocate 25 input endpoints to a single role or you can allocate one input endpoint each to 25 roles.

Note

Each role deployed requires one instance per role. The default provisioning for a subscription is limited to 20 cores and thus is limited to 20 instances of a role. If your application requires more instances than is provided by the default provisioning see Billing, Subscription Management and Quota Support for more information on increasing your quota.

InputEndpoint

The InputEndpoint element describes an external endpoint to a web role.

You can define multiple endpoints that are a combination of HTTP, HTTPS, UDP, and TCP endpoints. You can specify any port number you choose for an input endpoint, but the port numbers specified for each role in the service must be unique. For example, if you specify that a web role uses port 80 for HTTP and port 443 for HTTPS, you might then specify that a second web role uses port 8080 for HTTP and port 8043 for HTTPS.

The following table describes the attributes of the InputEndpoint element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A unique name for the external endpoint.
protocol	string	Required. The transport protocol for the external endpoint. For a web role, possible values are `HTTP`, `HTTPS`, `UDP`, or `TCP`.
port	int	Required. The port for the external endpoint. You can specify any port number you choose, but the port numbers specified for each role in the service must be unique. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher).
certificate	string	Required for an HTTPS endpoint. The name of a certificate defined by a `Certificate` element.
localPort	int	Optional. Specifies a port used for internal connections on the endpoint. The `localPort` attribute maps the external port on the endpoint to an internal port on a role. This attribute is useful in scenarios where a role must communicate to an internal component on a port that different from the one that is exposed externally. If not specified, the value of `localPort` is the same as the `port` attribute. Set the value of `localPort` to “*” to automatically assign an unallocated port that is discoverable using the runtime API. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher). The `localPort` attribute is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.
ignoreRoleInstanceStatus	boolean	Optional. When the value of this attribute is set to `true`, the status of a service is ignored, and the load balancer won't remove the endpoint. Setting this value to `true` useful for debugging busy instances of a service. The default value is `false`. Note: An endpoint can still receive traffic even when the role isn't in a Ready state.
loadBalancerProbe	string	Optional. The name of the load balancer probe associated with the input endpoint. For more information, see LoadBalancerProbe Schema.

InternalEndpoint

The InternalEndpoint element describes an internal endpoint to a web role. An internal endpoint is available only to other role instances running within the service; it isn't available to clients outside the service. Web roles that don't include the Sites element can only have a single HTTP, UDP, or TCP internal endpoint.

The following table describes the attributes of the InternalEndpoint element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A unique name for the internal endpoint.
protocol	string	Required. The transport protocol for the internal endpoint. Possible values are `HTTP`, `TCP`, `UDP`, or `ANY`. A value of `ANY` specifies that any protocol, any port is allowed.
port	int	Optional. The port used for internal load-balanced connections on the endpoint. A load-balanced endpoint uses two ports. The port used for the public IP address, and the port used on the private IP address. Typically, these values are set to the same, but you can choose to use different ports. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher). The `Port` attribute is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

InstanceInputEndpoint

The InstanceInputEndpoint element describes an instance input endpoint to a web role. An instance input endpoint is associated with a specific role instance by using port forwarding in the load balancer. Each instance input endpoint is mapped to a specific port from a range of possible ports. This element is the parent of the AllocatePublicPortFrom element.

The InstanceInputEndpoint element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the InstanceInputEndpoint element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A unique name for the endpoint.
localPort	int	Required. Specifies the internal port that all role instances listen to in order to receive incoming traffic forwarded from the load balancer. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive.
protocol	string	Required. The transport protocol for the internal endpoint. Possible values are `udp` or `tcp`. Use `tcp` for http/https based traffic.

AllocatePublicPortFrom

The AllocatePublicPortFrom element describes the public port range that external customers can use to access each instance input endpoint. The public (VIP) port number is allocated from this range and assigned to each individual role instance endpoint during tenant deployment and update. This element is the parent of the FixedPortRange element.

The AllocatePublicPortFrom element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher.

FixedPort

The FixedPort element specifies the port for the internal endpoint, which enables load balanced connections on the endpoint.

The FixedPort element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the FixedPort element.

Attribute	Type	Description
port	int	Required. The port for the internal endpoint. This attribute has the same effect as setting the `FixedPortRange` min and max to the same port. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher).

FixedPortRange

The FixedPortRange element specifies the range of ports that are assigned to the internal endpoint or instance input endpoint, and sets the port used for load balanced connections on the endpoint.

Note

The FixedPortRange element works differently depending on the element in which it resides. When the FixedPortRange element is in the InternalEndpoint element, it opens all ports on the load balancer within the range of the min and max attributes for all virtual machines on which the role runs. When the FixedPortRange element is in the InstanceInputEndpoint element, it opens only one port within the range of the min and max attributes on each virtual machine running the role.

The FixedPortRange element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the FixedPortRange element.

Attribute	Type	Description
min	int	Required. The minimum port in the range. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher).
max	string	Required. The maximum port in the range. Possible values range between 1 and 65535, inclusive (Azure SDK version 1.7 or higher).

Certificates

The Certificates element describes the collection of certificates for a web role. This element is the parent of the Certificate element. A role may have any number of associated certificates. For more information on using the certificates element, see Modify the Service Definition file with a certificate.

Certificate

The Certificate element describes a certificate that is associated with a web role.

The following table describes the attributes of the Certificate element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. A name for this certificate, which is used to refer to it when it's associated with an HTTPS `InputEndpoint` element.
storeLocation	string	Required. The location of the certificate store where this certificate may be found on the local machine. Possible values are `CurrentUser` and `LocalMachine`.
storeName	string	Required. The name of the certificate store where this certificate resides on the local machine. Possible values include the built-in store names `My`, `Root`, `CA`, `Trust`, `Disallowed`, `TrustedPeople`, `TrustedPublisher`, `AuthRoot`, `AddressBook`, or any custom store name. If a custom store name is specified, the store is automatically created.
permissionLevel	string	Optional. Specifies the access permissions given to the role processes. If you want only elevated processes to be able to access the private key, then specify `elevated` permission. `limitedOrElevated` permission allows all role processes to access the private key. Possible values are `limitedOrElevated` or `elevated`. The default value is `limitedOrElevated`.

Imports

The Imports element describes a collection of import modules for a web role that add components to the guest operating system. This element is the parent of the Import element. This element is optional and a role can have only one imports block.

The Imports element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

Import

The Import element specifies a module to add to the guest operating system.

The Import element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Import element.

Attribute	Type	Description
moduleName	string	Required. The name of the module to import. Valid import modules are: - RemoteAccess - RemoteForwarder - Diagnostics The RemoteAccess and RemoteForwarder modules allow you to configure your role instance for remote desktop connections. For more information, see Extensions. The Diagnostics module allows you to collect diagnostic data for a role instance.

Runtime

The Runtime element describes a collection of environment variable settings for a web role that control the runtime environment of the Azure host process. This element is the parent of the Environment element. This element is optional and a role can have only one runtime block.

The Runtime element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Runtime element:

Attribute	Type	Description
executionContext	string	Optional. Specifies the context in which the Role Process is launched. The default context is `limited`. - `limited` – The process is launched without Administrator privileges. - `elevated` – The process is launched with Administrator privileges.

Environment

The Environment element describes a collection of environment variable settings for a web role. This element is the parent of the Variable element. A role may have any number of environment variables set.

Variable

The Variable element specifies an environment variable to set in the guest operating.

The Variable element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Variable element:

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. The name of the environment variable to set.
value	string	Optional. The value to set for the environment variable. You must include either a value attribute or a `RoleInstanceValue` element.

RoleInstanceValue

The RoleInstanceValue element specifies the xPath from which to retrieve the value of the variable.

The following table describes the attributes of the RoleInstanceValue element.

Attribute	Type	Description
xpath	string	Optional. Location path of deployment settings for the instance. For more information, see Configuration variables with XPath. You must include either a value attribute or a `RoleInstanceValue` element.

EntryPoint

The EntryPoint element specifies the entry point for a role. This element is the parent of the NetFxEntryPoint elements. These elements allow you to specify an application other than the default WaWorkerHost.exe to act as the role entry point.

The EntryPoint element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.5 or higher.

NetFxEntryPoint

The NetFxEntryPoint element specifies the program to run for a role.

Note

The NetFxEntryPoint element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.5 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the NetFxEntryPoint element.

Attribute	Type	Description
assemblyName	string	Required. The path and file name of the assembly containing the entry point. The path is relative to the folder \%ROLEROOT%\Approot (don't specify \%ROLEROOT%\Approot in command line; it's assumed). %ROLEROOT% is an environment variable maintained by Azure and it represents the root folder location for your role. The \%ROLEROOT%\Approot folder represents the application folder for your role. For HWC roles the path is always relative to the \%ROLEROOT%\Approot\bin folder. For full IIS and IIS Express web roles, if the assembly can't be found relative to \%ROLEROOT%\Approot folder, the \%ROLEROOT%\Approot\bin is searched. This fall back behavior for full IIS isn't a recommend best practice and maybe removed in future versions.
targetFrameworkVersion	string	Required. The version of the .NET framework on which the assembly was built. For example, `targetFrameworkVersion="v4.0"`.

Sites

The Sites element describes a collection of websites and web applications that are hosted in a web role. This element is the parent of the Site element. If you don't specify a Sites element, your web role is hosted as legacy web role, and you can only have one website hosted in your web role. This element is optional and a role can have only one sites block.

The Sites element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

Site

The Site element specifies a website or web application that is part of the web role.

The Site element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Site element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. Name of the website or application.
physicalDirectory	string	The location of the content directory for the site root. The location can be specified as an absolute path or relative to the csdef location.

VirtualApplication

The VirtualApplication element defines an application in Internet Information Services (IIS) 7 is a grouping of files that delivers content or provides services over protocols, such as HTTP. When you create an application in IIS 7, the application's path becomes part of the site's URL.

The VirtualApplication element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the VirtualApplication element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. Specifies a name to identify the virtual application.
physicalDirectory	string	Required. Specifies the path on the development machine that contains the virtual application. In the compute emulator, IIS is configured to retrieve content from this location. When deployed to Azure, the contents of the physical directory are packaged along with the rest of the service. When the service package is deployed to Azure, IIS is configured with the location of the unpacked contents.

VirtualDirectory

The VirtualDirectory element specifies a directory name (also referred to as path) that you specify in IIS and map to a physical directory on a local or remote server.

The VirtualDirectory element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the VirtualDirectory element.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. Specifies a name to identify the virtual directory.
value	physicalDirectory	Required. Specifies the path on the development machine that contains the website or Virtual directory contents. In the compute emulator, IIS is configured to retrieve content from this location. When deployed to Azure, the contents of the physical directory are packaged along with the rest of the service. When the service package is deployed to Azure, IIS is configured with the location of the unpacked contents.

Bindings

The Bindings element describes a collection of bindings for a website. It's the parent element of the Binding element. The element is required for every Site element. For more information about configuring endpoints, see Enable Communication for Role Instances.

The Bindings element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

Binding

The Binding element specifies configuration information required for requests to communicate with a website or web application.

The Binding element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

Attribute	Type	Description
name	string	Required. Specifies a name to identify the binding.
endpointName	string	Required. Specifies the endpoint name to bind to.
hostHeader	string	Optional. Specifies a host name that allows you to host multiple sites, with different host names, on a single IP Address/Port number combination.

Startup

The Startup element describes a collection of tasks that run when the role is started. This element can be the parent of the Variable element. For more information about using the role startup tasks, see How to configure startup tasks. This element is optional and a role can have only one startup block.

The following table describes the attribute of the Startup element.

Attribute	Type	Description
priority	int	For internal use only.

Task

The Task element specifies startup task that takes place when the role starts. Startup tasks can be used to perform tasks that prepare the role to run such install software components or run other applications. Tasks execute in the order in which they appear within the Startup element block.

The Task element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.3 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Task element.

Attribute	Type	Description
commandLine	string	Required. A script, such as a CMD file, containing the commands to run. Startup command and batch files must be saved in ANSI format. File formats that set a byte-order marker at the start of the file processes incorrectly.
executionContext	string	Specifies the context in which the script is run. - `limited` [Default] – Run with the same privileges as the role hosting the process. - `elevated` – Run with administrator privileges.
taskType	string	Specifies the execution behavior of the command. - `simple` [Default] – System waits for the task to exit before any other tasks are launched. - `background` – System doesn't wait for the task to exit. - `foreground` – Similar to background, except role isn't restarted until all foreground tasks exit.

The Contents element describes the collection of content for a web role. This element is the parent of the Content element.

The Contents element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.5 or higher.

Content

The Content element defines the source location of content to be copied to the Azure virtual machine and the destination path to which it copies.

The Content element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.5 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the Content element.

Attribute	Type	Description
destination	string	Required. Location on the Azure virtual machine to which the content is placed. This location is relative to the folder %ROLEROOT%\Approot.

This element is the parent element of the SourceDirectory element.

SourceDirectory

The SourceDirectory element defines the local directory from which content is copied. Use this element to specify the local contents to copy to the Azure virtual machine.

The SourceDirectory element is only available using the Azure SDK version 1.5 or higher.

The following table describes the attributes of the SourceDirectory element.

Attribute	Type	Description
path	string	Required. Relative or absolute path of a local directory whose contents copy to the Azure virtual machine. Expansion of environment variables in the directory path is supported.

Next steps

Cloud Service (extended support) Definition Schema.

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Azure Cloud Services (extended support) definition WebRole schema

Basic service definition schema for a web role

Schema elements

WebRole

ConfigurationSettings

Setting

LocalResources

LocalStorage

Endpoints

InputEndpoint

InternalEndpoint

InstanceInputEndpoint

AllocatePublicPortFrom

FixedPort

FixedPortRange

Certificates

Certificate

Imports

Import

Runtime

Environment

Variable

RoleInstanceValue

EntryPoint

NetFxEntryPoint

Sites

Site

VirtualApplication

VirtualDirectory

Bindings

Binding

Startup

Task

Contents

Content

SourceDirectory

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