Introduction to Azure App Configuration
Azure App Configuration implements centralized management infrastructure for application settings and feature flags supporting distributed application architectures.
Contemporary application architectures incorporate distributed component topologies each requiring distinct configuration contexts.
Microservice-based and serverless application patterns particularly demonstrate prevalence of distributed configuration requirements.
Distributed configuration management introduces troubleshooting complexity during deployment workflows when configuration inconsistencies emerge across component boundaries.
Azure App Configuration service provides unified storage infrastructure for application settings with integrated access security mechanisms.
Azure App Configuration service capabilities:
- Fully managed service supporting rapid provisioning within minutes.
- Flexible key representation and mapping strategies.
- Label-based configuration tagging for environment differentiation.
- Point-in-time configuration replay supporting historical state restoration.
- Dedicated user interface for feature flag administration.
- Configuration comparison across custom-defined dimensions.
- Enhanced security through Azure managed identity integration.
- Comprehensive data encryption for data at rest and in transit.
- Native integration with popular application frameworks.
App Configuration complements Azure Key Vault for application secret storage, enabling distinct configuration and secret management architectures. App Configuration facilitates implementation of:
- Centralized hierarchical configuration management and distribution across multi-environment and multi-geography deployments.
- Dynamic application setting modification without application redeployment or restart operations.
- Real-time feature availability control supporting progressive rollout strategies.
Use App Configuration
Application integration with App Configuration store infrastructure optimally leverages Microsoft-provided client libraries supporting language-specific and framework-specific implementations.
Programming language and framework considerations determine optimal integration approaches:
| Programming language and framework | How to connect |
|---|---|
| .NET Core and ASP.NET Core | App Configuration provider for .NET Core |
| .NET Framework and ASP.NET | App Configuration builder for .NET |
| Java Spring | App Configuration client for Spring Cloud |
| Others | App Configuration REST API |