• Introduction
• Prerequisites
• Configuring the Website
• Deploying on Target Servers
• Deploying on Microsoft Azure
• Deploying on a Windows Server
• Down-Syncing Websites to Target Servers

Deploying on a Windows Server

When deploying a website on a Windows Server, you should normally install and start the Azure Blob Sync service, which serves here as a target server part, equivalent to the Azure server part deployed on Microsoft Azure.

Before you run the service, you need to make sure that there is a dedicated container for the deployment in the blob storage, and configure the service specifying the blob connection string and other parameters.

Preparing a deployment container

You should prepare a deployment container in the blob storage for your Windows Server deployment with the C1AzureBlobSync tool.

1. Access your blob storage on Microsoft Azure:
2. Create a "deployment" container within the blob storage where you have already uploaded your website.

To access the storage, you can use a tool of your choice (for example, CloudBerry Explorer for Azure Blob Storage) or access it directly on Microsoft Azure Portal.

Please note that since website has been uploaded to a dedicated "website" container, you need to use a different container for the deployment.

Configuring Azure Blob Sync

Before you install and start the C1AzureBlobSync service, you need to configure it.

1. Locate and edit Composite.WindowsAzure.C1AzureBlobSync.Service.exe.config.
2. Set the roleConfig parameter to the path to the role’s configuration file (role.config).
3. Set the environmentConfig parameter respectively to the path to the environment’s configuration (env.config).
4. Save the changes.

Please note that if these configuration files are in the same folder as the service configuration file, you can only specify their relative paths.

<configuration>
  <!-- skipped -->
  <appSettings>
    <add key="environmentConfig" value=" env.config" />
    <add key="roleConfig" value=" role.config" />
  <!-- skipped -->
  </appSettings>
<!-- skipped -->
</configuration>

^{Listing 4: Composite.WindowsAzure.C1AzureBlobSync.Service.exe.config}

Now you need to configure the “role” and “environment” in corresponding files.

Configuring the role.config

1. Locate and edit role.config.
2. Set the parameters with the following placeholders in the sample below:
   • {DISPLAY_NAME}: The name to be used when referring to the website on a specific Windows Server.
   • {DEPLOYMENT_NAME}: The name of your deployment. It must be the same as the name of the deployment container you've created earlier (see above).
   • {ACCOUNT_NAME}: The name of the blob storage account used for the deployment.
   • {KEY}: The primary access key for the blob storage account used for the deployment.
3. Save the changes.

<ServiceConfiguration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration">
  <Role name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.SimpleBoot">
    <ConfigurationSettings>
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.DisplayName" value="{DISPLAY_NAME}" />
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.DeploymentName" value="{DEPLOYMENT_NAME}" />
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Storage.ConnectionString"
               value="DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName={ACCOUNT_NAME};AccountKey={ACCOUNT_KEY}" /> 
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.AppPoolIdleTimeoutMinutes" value="60" />
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Manager.SleepTimerInMilliSeconds" value="5000" />
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Manager.RollingUpdate" value="true" />
      <Setting name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Manager.RollingUpdateIntervalInSeconds" value="30" />
      <!-- Maximum supported value is 60 -->
    </ConfigurationSettings>
    <Certificates></Certificates>
  </Role>
</ServiceConfiguration>

^{Listing 5: role.config}

For more information on the role configuration parameters, please see "Role Configuration" for more information on this configuration.

Configuring the env.config

1. Locate and edit env.config.
2. Set the parameters with the following placeholders in the sample below:
   • {DEPLOYMENT_ID}
   • {INSTANCE_ID}
   • {INSTANCE_NAME}
3. Save the changes.

<Settings>
  <add name="Environment.IsThisTheLowestInstance" value="true" />
  <add name="Environment.NumberOfInstances" value="1" />
  <add name="Environment.DeploymentId" value="{DEPLOYMENT_ID}" />
  <add name="Environment.RoleInstanceId" value="{INSTANCE_ID}" />
  <add name="Environment.RoleInstanceName" value="{INSTANCE_NAME}" />
  <add name="Environment.WebsitesPath" value="c:\www" />
  <add name="Environment.RootPath" value="c:\AzureBlobSync" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.DeleteDefaultSites" value="false" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.ManageIisConfiguration" value="true" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.SmtpServer.Install" value="true" />
</Settings>

^{Listing 6: env.config}

The parameters you are supposed to set above are used internally but should be unique:

The deployment ID should be unique for the deployment and the role instance’s ID and name – unique for a single role within this deployment, which makes more sense in the scaled-out deployment.

By default, the tool would clear all the websites from the IIS before setting up a new one. When deploying locally, it is important to turn off this setting ('false'):

<add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.DeleteDefaultSites" value="false" />

You can change other parameters, too. For more information on the environment configuration parameters, please see "Environment Configuration."

Running Azure Blob Sync as a service

The C1AzureBlobSync tool comes as a Windows executable, which you need to install as a Windows service on the Windows Server and then start it as a service.

1. Locate and run install.bat, which installs the C1AzureBlobSync tool as a Windows service locally.
2. Invoke the "Run" box (Win + R), type in "services.msc” and press “Enter” to run “services.msc”.
3. In the “Services” window, locate and run the “C1AzureBlobSync” service.

^{Figure 18: C1AzureBlobSync service started}

The C1AzureBlobSync service will be monitoring the “websites” and “deployment” container in the Azure blob storage for changes and down-sync the changes to the server or re-configure the deployment on the server accordingly.

Scaling out on Windows Servers

To scale out the deployment, you need to configure and run the service on each Windows Server (node):

1. Configure the service making additional changes to the configuration as described below.
2. Install and run the service on each new node.

On the first (”master”) node:

1. Edit the env.config and set the Environment.NumberOfInstances parameter set to the number of instances (nodes) in your scaled-out deployment.
2. Run “services.msc” and restart the “C1AzureBlobSync” service.

On the second (”slave”) and any other nodes withing the deployment:

1. Edit env.
2. In addition to the required settings, make sure to set these parameters:
   • Environment.IsThisTheLowestInstance: Set to “false”
   • Environment.NumberOfInstances: Set to the number of instances (nodes)
   • Environment.RoleInstanceId: Set to the unique ID (for example, ”2”)
   • Environment.RoleInstanceName: Set to the unique name (for example, ”Role2”)
3. Install and run the ”C1AzureBlobSync” service.

<Settings>
  <add name="Environment.IsThisTheLowestInstance" value="false" />
  <add name="Environment.NumberOfInstances" value="3" />
  <add name="Environment.DeploymentId" value="deployment1" />
  <add name="Environment.RoleInstanceId" value="2" />
  <add name="Environment.RoleInstanceName" value="Role2" />
  <add name="Environment.WebsitesPath" value="c:\www" />
  <add name="Environment.RootPath" value="c:\AzureBlobSync" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.DeleteDefaultSites" value="false" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.Iis.ManageIisConfiguration" value="true" />
  <add name="Composite.WindowsAzure.WebRole.SmtpServer.Install" value="true" />
</Settings>

^{Listing 7: env.config for a “slave” node in the scaled-out deployment on Windows Servers}