Is website_node_version application setting required by Azure Function App?

Question

When creating a new Azure Function App there are a few application settings that are created as well, one being WEBSITE_NODE_VERSION.
Why is this key set on creation of new function app? Is it required by Azure (since it is created as part of new function app)?
We do not use node.js in our backend services and are wondering if we can safely remove this setting or if this a required setting by Azure can we safely update to match the version we are currently using in our frontend?
Any explanation is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi @Marlene Boulton

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A! Thanks for posting the question.

Are you referring to "WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION" (not website_node_version) setting used in azure functions?
If yes, For Windows function apps, target the version in Azure by setting the WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION app setting to a supported LTS version, such as ~14.
You can refer to this document for more details on different node versions. This property sets the version of Node.js to use when running your function app on Windows and you can set to any of the supported version as per your function app Node.js targetting version.

Update:
As per our private discussion, your function doesn't have node.js code and if we create a new function with nod.js then only WEBSITE_NODE_DEFAULT_VERSION is created by default. As your function is not created with node.js and if you are not using this application setting explicitly in your code then you can remove this property from your function app.