App Service Application Settings Saved as Null via Azure CLI and Portal

Question

App Service Application Settings Saved as Null via Azure CLI and Portal

Youc 20

I’m using an active Developer Support Plan

Issue:

When updating application settings on my App Service (youcUI in resource group youUIGrp) via either Azure Portal or Azure CLI, the key-value pairs are being saved with null values.
This prevents us from saving SMTP configurations and is blocking email functionality in production.

Confirmed:

No resource locks
RBAC access is Contributor
CLI and Portal commands work correctly in other environments

Troubleshooting:

The Azure CLI command used:

Prabhavathi Manchala 2,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-05T04:23:00.8733333+00:00
Hi Youc,

The issue is likely due to null values in your App Service settings, causing problems with saving SMTP configurations and blocking email functionality in production.

Clear the cache or restart your App Service to fix settings saving issues.

az webapp restart --name <your-app-service-name> --resource-group <your-resource-group-name>

Use the correct CLI commands by specifying the App Service name and settings correctly.

az webapp config appsettings set --resource-group youUIGrp --name youcUI --settings "SMTP_SERVER=<your_smtp_server>;SMTP_PORT=<your_smtp_port>

Update the settings in Azure Portal under App Services -> Your App Service -> Configuration-> Application Settings, update the settings, save, and restart the App Service to apply changes.

Check Application Insights or logs for errors and ensure your App Service Plan and Region are correct to avoid issues.

Check for typos in the key names or values, as even a small mistake can cause settings to be saved incorrectly.

Please check the following links for help with configuring app settings using Azure CLI and the Portal.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/webapp/config/appsettings?view=azure-cli-latest

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/configure-common?tabs=portal
Alekhya Vaddepally 1,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-05T15:20:38.6966667+00:00

Hi Youc,
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Youc 20 Reputation points

2025-05-06T01:20:07.2333333+00:00

Hi Prabhavathi and Alekhya,

Thank you both for the suggestions.

I have already tried the following steps:

Restarted the App Service using az webapp restart

Used both CLI and Azure Portal to apply settings

Tested CLI input using both key=value and JSON formats

Confirmed that my account has Contributor access

Verified that there are no resource locks

Despite the az webapp config appsettings set command returning a 200 OK, all setting values are saved as null, which breaks our SMTP configuration in production. This happens consistently across methods.

My current suspicion is that the login identity ******@outlook.com (used for Azure login) might not be properly linked to a valid tenant directory or email inbox, and that may be affecting permission enforcement at the backend — despite showing Contributor access.

This issue started in April 2025 and has not been resolved through standard CLI or Portal-based methods.

Any assistance to escalate this or investigate at the backend level would be appreciated.

Thanks, Kate ******@youc.com.au

Accepted answer

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Prabhavathi Manchala 2,315 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-05T04:23:00.8733333+00:00

Hi Youc,

The issue is likely due to null values in your App Service settings, causing problems with saving SMTP configurations and blocking email functionality in production.

Clear the cache or restart your App Service to fix settings saving issues.

az webapp restart --name <your-app-service-name> --resource-group <your-resource-group-name>

Use the correct CLI commands by specifying the App Service name and settings correctly.

az webapp config appsettings set --resource-group youUIGrp --name youcUI --settings "SMTP_SERVER=<your_smtp_server>;SMTP_PORT=<your_smtp_port>

Update the settings in Azure Portal under App Services -> Your App Service -> Configuration-> Application Settings, update the settings, save, and restart the App Service to apply changes.

Check Application Insights or logs for errors and ensure your App Service Plan and Region are correct to avoid issues.

Check for typos in the key names or values, as even a small mistake can cause settings to be saved incorrectly.

Please check the following links for help with configuring app settings using Azure CLI and the Portal.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/webapp/config/appsettings?view=azure-cli-latest

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/configure-common?tabs=portal
Alekhya Vaddepally 1,670 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-05-05T15:20:38.6966667+00:00

Hi Youc,
We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Youc 20 Reputation points

2025-05-06T01:20:07.2333333+00:00

Hi Prabhavathi and Alekhya,

Thank you both for the suggestions.

I have already tried the following steps:

Restarted the App Service using az webapp restart

Used both CLI and Azure Portal to apply settings

Tested CLI input using both key=value and JSON formats

Confirmed that my account has Contributor access

Verified that there are no resource locks

Despite the az webapp config appsettings set command returning a 200 OK, all setting values are saved as null, which breaks our SMTP configuration in production. This happens consistently across methods.

My current suspicion is that the login identity ******@outlook.com (used for Azure login) might not be properly linked to a valid tenant directory or email inbox, and that may be affecting permission enforcement at the backend — despite showing Contributor access.

This issue started in April 2025 and has not been resolved through standard CLI or Portal-based methods.

Any assistance to escalate this or investigate at the backend level would be appreciated.

Thanks, Kate ******@youc.com.au

Answer 1

Ryan Hill 30,281 Microsoft Employee Moderator

Hi @Youc

My instincts tell me that the Azure CLI is simply obfuscating the values but I'll reach out to the team to be certain. Having said that, I've been able to confirm that even though the values show as NULL, they do get updated as expected.

What I did was display the environment variable setting value on a page, issued the Azure CLI command, restarted the web app and refreshed the page. The value was updated as expected.

I can share more details through our ongoing private message if needed.

Youc 20 Reputation points

2025-05-08T10:55:55.0866667+00:00

Hi Ryan,

Thank you for the update and for confirming that the environment variables are indeed being applied correctly, even if they appear as NULL in some views.

That’s really helpful to know, and I appreciate you taking the time to test it thoroughly. I’d be glad to review any additional details you’d like to share via our private message thread.

Looking forward to the next steps on the login issue as well.

Best regards, Kate Trieu

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App Service Application Settings Saved as Null via Azure CLI and Portal

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