Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure SDK

Article
03/08/2023

This article shows how to use the Azure SDK to deploy a Cloud Services (extended support) instance that has multiple roles (web role and worker role) and the remote desktop extension. Cloud Services (extended support) is a deployment model of Azure Cloud Services that's based on Azure Resource Manager.

Before you begin

Review the deployment prerequisites for Cloud Services (extended support) and create associated resources.

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support)

Install the Azure Compute SDK NuGet package and initialize the client by using a standard authentication mechanism.

    public class CustomLoginCredentials : ServiceClientCredentials
    {
        private string AuthenticationToken { get; set; }
        public override void InitializeServiceClient<T>(ServiceClient<T> client)
        {
            var authenticationContext = new AuthenticationContext("https://login.windows.net/{tenantID}");
            var credential = new ClientCredential(clientId: "{clientID}", clientSecret: "{clientSecret}");
            var result = authenticationContext.AcquireTokenAsync(resource: "https://management.core.windows.net/", clientCredential: credential);
            if (result == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Failed to obtain the JWT token");
            AuthenticationToken = result.Result.AccessToken;
        }
        public override async Task ProcessHttpRequestAsync(HttpRequestMessage request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            if (request == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("request");
            if (AuthenticationToken == null) throw new InvalidOperationException("Token Provider Cannot Be Null");
            request.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", AuthenticationToken);
            request.Headers.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));
            //request.Version = new Version(apiVersion);
            await base.ProcessHttpRequestAsync(request, cancellationToken);
        }
    }

    var creds = new CustomLoginCredentials();
    m_subId = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID");
    ResourceManagementClient m_ResourcesClient = new ResourceManagementClient(creds);
    NetworkManagementClient m_NrpClient = new NetworkManagementClient(creds);
    ComputeManagementClient m_CrpClient = new ComputeManagementClient(creds);
    StorageManagementClient m_SrpClient = new StorageManagementClient(creds);
    m_ResourcesClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_NrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_CrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;
    m_SrpClient.SubscriptionId = m_subId;

Create a new resource group by installing the Azure Resource Manager NuGet package.

var resourceGroups = m_ResourcesClient.ResourceGroups;
var m_location = “East US”;
var resourceGroupName = "ContosoRG";//provide existing resource group name, if created already
var resourceGroup = new ResourceGroup(m_location); 
resourceGroup = await resourceGroups.CreateOrUpdateAsync(resourceGroupName, resourceGroup);

Create a storage account and container where you'll store the service package (.cspkg) and service configuration (.cscfg) files. Install the Azure Storage NuGet package. This step is optional if you're using an existing storage account. The storage account name must be unique.

string storageAccountName = “ContosoSAS”
var stoInput = new StorageAccountCreateParameters
   {
        Location = m_location,
        Kind = Microsoft.Azure.Management.Storage.Models.Kind.StorageV2,
        Sku = new Microsoft.Azure.Management.Storage.Models.Sku(SkuName.StandardRAGRS),
    };
        StorageAccount storageAccountOutput = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.Create(rgName,
        storageAccountName, stoInput);
        bool created = false;
        while (!created)
           {
                Thread.Sleep(600);
                var stos = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.ListByResourceGroup(rgName);
                created =
                stos.Any(
                    t =>
                    StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase.Equals(t.Name, storageAccountName));
            }

StorageAccount storageAccountOutput = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.GetProperties(rgName, storageAccountName);.
var accountKeyResult = m_SrpClient.StorageAccounts.ListKeysWithHttpMessagesAsync(rgName, storageAccountName).Result;
CloudStorageAccount storageAccount = new CloudStorageAccount(new StorageCredentials(storageAccountName, accountKeyResult.Body.Keys.FirstOrDefault(). Value), useHttps: true);

var blobClient = storageAccount.CreateCloudBlobClient();
CloudBlobContainer container = blobClient.GetContainerReference("sascontainer");
container.CreateIfNotExistsAsync().Wait();
sharedAccessBlobPolicy sasConstraints = new SharedAccessBlobPolicy();
sasConstraints.SharedAccessStartTime = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(-1);
sasConstraints.SharedAccessExpiryTime = DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(2);
sasConstraints.Permissions = SharedAccessBlobPermissions.Read | SharedAccessBlobPermissions.Write;

Upload the service package (.cspkg) file to the storage account. The package URL can be a shared access signature (SAS) URI from any storage account.

CloudBlockBlob cspkgblockBlob = container.GetBlockBlobReference(“ContosoApp.cspkg”);
cspkgblockBlob.UploadFromFileAsync(“./ContosoApp/ContosoApp.cspkg”). Wait();

//Generate the shared access signature on the blob, setting the constraints directly on the signature.
string cspkgsasContainerToken = cspkgblockBlob.GetSharedAccessSignature(sasConstraints);

//Return the URI string for the container, including the SAS token.
string cspkgSASUrl = cspkgblockBlob.Uri + cspkgsasContainerToken;

Upload your service configuration (.cscfg) file to the storage account. Specify service configuration as either string XML or URL format.

CloudBlockBlob cscfgblockBlob = container.GetBlockBlobReference(“ContosoApp.cscfg”);
cscfgblockBlob.UploadFromFileAsync(“./ContosoApp/ContosoApp.cscfg”). Wait();

//Generate the shared access signature on the blob, setting the constraints directly on the signature.
string sasCscfgContainerToken = cscfgblockBlob.GetSharedAccessSignature(sasConstraints);

//Return the URI string for the container, including the SAS token.
string cscfgSASUrl = cscfgblockBlob.Uri + sasCscfgContainerToken;

Create a virtual network and subnet. Install the Azure Network NuGet package. This step is optional if you're using an existing network and subnet.

VirtualNetwork vnet = new VirtualNetwork(name: vnetName) 
   { 
        AddressSpace = new AddressSpace 
           { 
                AddressPrefixes = new List<string> { "10.0.0.0/16" } 
           }, 
                Subnets = new List<Subnet> 
                { 
                    new Subnet(name: subnetName) 
                    { 
                        AddressPrefix = "10.0.0.0/24" 
                    } 
                }, 
                Location = m_location 
           }; 
m_NrpClient.VirtualNetworks.CreateOrUpdate(resourceGroupName, “ContosoVNet”, vnet);

Create a public IP address and set the DNS label property of the public IP address. Cloud Services (extended support) only supports Basic SKU Public IP addresses. Standard SKU Public IPs do not work with Cloud Services. If you are using a Static IP you need to reference it as a Reserved IP in Service Configuration (.cscfg) file

PublicIPAddress publicIPAddressParams = new PublicIPAddress(name: “ContosIp”) 
   { 
        Location = m_location, 
        PublicIPAllocationMethod = IPAllocationMethod.Dynamic, 
        DnsSettings = new PublicIPAddressDnsSettings() 
           { 
                DomainNameLabel = “contosoappdns” 
           } 
   }; 
PublicIPAddress publicIpAddress = m_NrpClient.PublicIPAddresses.CreateOrUpdate(resourceGroupName, publicIPAddressName, publicIPAddressParams);

Create a Network Profile Object and associate the public IP address to the frontend of the load balancer. The Azure platform automatically creates a 'Classic' SKU load balancer resource in the same subscription as the cloud service resource. The load balancer resource is a read-only resource in ARM. Any updates to the resource are supported only via the cloud service deployment files (.cscfg & .csdef)

LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration feipConfiguration = new LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration() 
    { 
        Name = “ContosoFe”, 
        Properties = new LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfigurationProperties() 
            { 
            PublicIPAddress = new CM.SubResource() 
                { 
                    Id = $"/subscriptions/{m_subId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/{publicIPAddressName}", 
                } 
            } 
    }; 

CloudServiceNetworkProfile cloudServiceNetworkProfile = new CloudServiceNetworkProfile() 
    { 
        LoadBalancerConfigurations = new List<LoadBalancerConfiguration>() 
            { 
                new LoadBalancerConfiguration() 
                   { 
                    Name  = 'ContosoLB', 
                    Properties = new LoadBalancerConfigurationProperties() 
                        { 
                        FrontendIPConfigurations = new List<LoadBalancerFrontendIPConfiguration>() 
                            { 
                            feipConfig 
                            } 
                        } 
                    } 
            } 
    };

Create a key vault. This key vault will be used to store certificates that are associated with the Cloud Services (extended support) roles. The key vault must be located in the same region and subscription as the Cloud Services (extended support) instance and have a unique name. For more information, see Use certificates with Azure Cloud Services (extended support).
```
New-AzKeyVault -Name "ContosKeyVault” -ResourceGroupName “ContosoOrg” -Location “East US”
```

Update the key vault's access policy and grant certificate permissions to your user account.

Set-AzKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName 'ContosKeyVault' -ResourceGroupName 'ContosoOrg' 		-UserPrincipalName 'user@domain.com' -PermissionsToCertificates create,get,list,delete

Alternatively, set the access policy via object ID (which you can get by running Get-AzADUser).

Set-AzKeyVaultAccessPolicy -VaultName 'ContosKeyVault' -ResourceGroupName 'ContosOrg' -		ObjectId 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx' -PermissionsToCertificates 			create,get,list,delete

In this example, we'll add a self-signed certificate to a key vault. The certificate thumbprint needs to be added in the service configuration (.cscfg) file for deployment on Cloud Services (extended support) roles.

$Policy = New-AzKeyVaultCertificatePolicy -SecretContentType "application/x-pkcs12" -		SubjectName "CN=contoso.com" -IssuerName "Self" -ValidityInMonths 6 -ReuseKeyOnRenewal 
Add-AzKeyVaultCertificate -VaultName "ContosKeyVault" -Name "ContosCert" -		CertificatePolicy $Policy

Create an OS profile object. The OS profile specifies the certificates that are associated with Cloud Services (extended support) roles. Here, it's the same certificate that we created in the previous step.

CloudServiceOsProfile cloudServiceOsProfile = 
    new CloudServiceOsProfile 
       { 
            Secrets = new List<CloudServiceVaultSecretGroup> 
               { 
                    New CloudServiceVaultSecretGroup { 
                    SourceVault = <sourceVault>, 
                    VaultCertificates = <vaultCertificates> 
                    } 
               } 
       };

Create a role profile object. A role profile defines role-specific properties for a SKU, such as name, capacity, and tier.

In this example, we define two roles: ContosoFrontend and ContosoBackend. Role profile information should match the role configuration defined in the service configuration (.cscfg) file and the service definition (.csdef) file.

CloudServiceRoleProfile cloudServiceRoleProfile = new CloudServiceRoleProfile()
   {
        Roles = new List<CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties>();

            // foreach role in cloudService
            roles.Add(new CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties()
                {
                    Name = 'ContosoFrontend',
                    Sku = new CloudServiceRoleSku
                    {
                        Name = 'Standard_D1_v2',
                        Capacity = 2,
                        Tier = 'Standard'
                    }
                );

            roles.Add(new CloudServiceRoleProfileProperties()
                {
                    Name = 'ContosoBackend',
                    Sku = new CloudServiceRoleSku
                    {
                        Name = 'Standard_D1_v2',
                        Capacity = 2,
                        Tier = 'Standard'
                    }
                );

                }
                }

(Optional) Create an extension profile object that you want to add to your Cloud Services (extended support) instance. In this example, we add an RDP extension.

string rdpExtensionPublicConfig = "<PublicConfig>" +
    "<UserName>adminRdpTest</UserName>" +
    "<Expiration>2021-10-27T23:59:59</Expiration>" +
    "</PublicConfig>";
    string rdpExtensionPrivateConfig = "<PrivateConfig>" +
    "<Password>VsmrdpTest!</Password>" +
    "</PrivateConfig>";

    Extension rdpExtension = new Extension
            {
                Name = name,
                Properties = new CloudServiceExtensionProperties
                {
                    Publisher = "Microsoft.Windows.Azure.Extensions",
                    Type = "RDP",
                    TypeHandlerVersion = "1.2.1",
                    AutoUpgradeMinorVersion = true,
                    Settings = rdpExtensionPublicConfig,
                    ProtectedSettings = rdpExtensionPrivateConfig,
                    RolesAppliedTo = [“*”],
                }
            };

CloudServiceExtensionProfile cloudServiceExtensionProfile = new CloudServiceExtensionProfile
    {
        Extensions = rdpExtension
    };

Create the deployment of the Cloud Services (extended support) instance.

CloudService cloudService = new CloudService
    {
        Properties = new CloudServiceProperties
            {
                RoleProfile = cloudServiceRoleProfile
                Configuration = < Add Cscfg xml content here>,
                // ConfigurationUrl = <Add your configuration URL here>,
                PackageUrl = <Add cspkg SAS url here>,
                ExtensionProfile = cloudServiceExtensionProfile,
                OsProfile= cloudServiceOsProfile,
                NetworkProfile = cloudServiceNetworkProfile,
                UpgradeMode = 'Auto'
            },
                Location = m_location
            };

CloudService createOrUpdateResponse = m_CrpClient.CloudServices.CreateOrUpdate(“ContosOrg”, “ContosoCS”, cloudService);

Next steps

Review frequently asked questions for Cloud Services (extended support).
Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure portal, PowerShell, a template, or Visual Studio.
Visit the Samples repository for Cloud Services (extended support)

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support) by using the Azure SDK

Before you begin

Deploy Cloud Services (extended support)

Next steps

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