Question

This is my second deployment to Azure.
First was a simple MVC4 Website with a Database, which I deployed via git. Worked like a charm.

Now I’ve got the following:
A solution containing three projects.

• Web -> Which is the MVC4 Frontend
• Models -> Contains the Models and the DB Context
• Backend -> MVC4 Project for data administration

All projects are MVC4 (didn’t know how to manage this better for the Models project).
In my models project I’m running the code-firt migrations.
The backend is running in the virtual directory: localhost:80/Backend
(works perfect on localhost)
Both the Web and Backend project have references to the Models Project.

Folder structure:
Solution folder contains:
Web / Models / Backend / MySolution.sln

The first time I deployed I’ve created a git repo in the Projects folder (cause it was a single project). Now my repo is in the solution folder.

I’m also uploading files in the Backend and move it to the other project (Web) via the following path:

Directory.GetParent(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~")).ToString() + DirSeperator + "Web" + DirSeperator + "Store" + DirSeperator;

Is this going to a problem on Azure?

So my loose question is now, how am I deploying this solution?

---

I’ve created a Website with Source control in Azure and added a SQL Database to it.

I’ve managed to push the solution to Azure,
but on Azure there’s the messsage

Found solution … with no deployable projects. Deploying files instead.

now.

---

Do you have any good tutorials for me on this problem?

Am I doing it completely wrong? (I think so)

I’m relatively new to ASP.NET and Azure, so it’s a bit hard for me to understand.

Thanks,
Tobi

Answer 1

I’ve managed to solve my problem.
Sorry, that I’m answering my own question – hope this doesn’t offend anyone.

What I wanted to achieve is not possible with Azure Web Sites, but with Web Roles.
As seen here on CloudCover and on StructureTooBig.

So I’ve created a new Azure Cloud Application (provided by the Azure Tools) in Visual Studio, with a default Web Role, which is my Web Frontend project.
I’ve added a VirtualApplication to the Web Role with the name “backend” and the physicalDirectory set to my Backend Project path.
Then I’ve added a VirtualDirectory “store”, which I could access from both projects for file uploads.

My WebRole looks like this now:

<WebRole name="MvcWebRole1" vmsize="ExtraSmall">
<Sites>
  <Site name="Web" physicalDirectory="[projectpath]">
    <VirtualApplication name="backend" physicalDirectory="[projectpath]">
    </VirtualApplication>
    <VirtualDirectory name="store" physicalDirectory="[projectpath]">
    </VirtualDirectory>
    <Bindings>
      <Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="Endpoint1" />
    </Bindings>
  </Site>
</Sites>
<Endpoints>
  <InputEndpoint name="Endpoint1" protocol="http" port="80" />
</Endpoints>
<Imports>
  <Import moduleName="Diagnostics" />
  <Import moduleName="RemoteAccess" />
  <Import moduleName="RemoteForwarder" />
</Imports>

I’m accessing (read+write) the store now via:

HttpContext.Current.Request.MapPath("/Store" + DirSeperator);

instead of

Directory.GetParent(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~")).ToString() + DirSeperator + "Web" + DirSeperator + "Store" + DirSeperator;

Which works perfectly on both projects.

So, this solution works and I’ve already deployed it to production!

Emerging problems:

• Web Sites work with git integration, but Cloud Services won’t (this is very bad for my workflow).
• The deployment takes about 30-45 minutes. Holy …
• I’ve had to publish everything again to activate Remote Access and WebDeploy features. And I hope, WebDeploy is going to save time for deploying updates … as everytime I’m updating now, the complete solution is replaced on server (within the mentioned time span).
• Is there a way to access the data via FTP?

Ciao