Using Azure App Configuration with AIS

 Using Azure App Configuration with AIS

What is Azure App Configuration?

Contemporary software applications, particularly those operating within a cloud environment, typically consist of numerous distributed components. Dispersing configuration parameters among these components can result in intricate and challenging-to-diagnose issues during the process of deploying the application. Use App Configuration to store all the settings for your application and secure their accesses in one place

• Azure service to centrally manage application settings and feature flags
• Store all the settings for your application and secure their access in one place

Bill emphasized the importance of structuring app configuration settings to accommodate various environments, such as development, testing, and production. By leveraging these configurations, developers can seamlessly adapt their applications without worrying about accessing Key Vault.

Why use Azure App Configuration

• Fully managed service that can be set up in minutes
• Provide a centralized location for application configuration
• Centralize management and configuration Information for different environments
• Reference Information from other services like Azure KeyVault
• Dynamically change application settings without redeploying or restarting the application

Bill showcased how templates can indirectly fetch values from Key Vault, simplifying the process and improving security and flexibility in application development.

App Configuration complements the Azure KeyVault, which is used to store application secrets. App Configuration value can refer to secrets stored in Azure KeyVault.

Bill shared his approach to using one Azure App Configuration for all environments and one Key Vault for each environment.

The session explored practical implementations, specifically integrating Azure App Configuration with Logic Apps. Bill highlighted that using App Configuration with Logic App Consumption resolves limitations with managed identity support in the Key Vault connector. He demonstrated this integration through snippets from a live demo, impressing the audience with its seamless functionality.

Using it with Logic App Consumption

• A parameter can be replaced with a token replace
• Can call Azure App Config with HTTP and Managed Identity

Bill also showed how Logic App Standard provides better support but it is a little convoluted. Logic App parameters can refer to values from the Function Apps app settings which in turn refer to the value stored in the App configuration using the statement @Microsoft.AppConfiguration.

Use Apps Configuration

The easiest way to add an App Configuration store to your application is through a client library provided by Microsoft. The following methods are available to connect with your application, depending on your chosen language and framework.

To conclude the session, Bill provided references to GitHub repositories and additional materials, empowering attendees to implement the discussed concepts in their own businesses. The engaging Q&A session showcased the audience's enthusiasm and interest, affirming the value of Azure App Configuration in simplifying application development and deployment workflows.

Key Takeaways

• A good solution to manage configuration centrally and share across multiple apps. This includes apps running in App Services, as well as other platforms. Support for different configuration providers makes it easy to use.
• Azure App Configuration service is designed to complement Azure Key Vault not replace it.
• Dynamically change application settings without the need to redeploy or restart an application.
• Enhance the security of your applications by maintaining a clear separation between data and code. By storing configuration settings within a hosted environment, you can ensure the security of your data for as long as necessary.
• To incorporate an App Configuration store into your application, Microsoft offers a convenient client library, making the process straightforward. The library provides various methods to establish a connection between your application and the store, depending on your preferred language and framework