Managed App Mockup

Usage

1. Edit config.json. In particular, make sure to check these variables are set properly:
   • 'rg': name of resource group; if group does not exist, scripts will create it
   • 'subscription_id': id of your Azure subscription
   • 'user_principal': your e-mail linked with your Azure subscription. For me it is: s*****[email protected]
   • 'random_string': set it to a unique value, such as the first 8 characters of your user_principal's hash, to avoid conflicts with others' resources.
2. Run scripts one at a time
   • ./0_cleanup.sh ./config.json
   • ./1_init.sh ./config.json
   • ./2_create_func.sh ./config.json
   • ./3_create_app.sh ./config.json

Note: If an Azure command fails in a script, re-run the script after a few seconds. Sometimes, newly created resources take time to become available, which can cause failures.

Description

This code creates a basic Azure managed app of the type 'ServiceCatalog' and an Azure function. The managed app consists of a single resource provider that binds a few UI elements of the managed app to API calls to the Auzre function.

One UI element is a 'Ping Action' button in the managed app Overview section. Another UI element is an entire page (called "EdgeTune Platform") that displays a table.

When accessing either UI element, the resource provider makes a call to the Azure function that supports two calls: "Ping" and "Table".

The code is structure in three separate folders:

• 'scripts' contains a series of four Bash scripts designed to be run consecutively to create the managed app.

• 'AzureFunction' is a Python implementation of a stateless Azure function that returns a hardcoded JSON blob in a format compliant with a Managed App

• 'ManagedApp' holds three JSON files that define the user interface of the Managed App

scripts

There are four scripts whose role is to create the managed app in a piecemeal fashion. I have found this approach particularly useful when encountering failures. Upon a failure, I can simply retry the specific script that is failing rather than having to restart the entire pipeline, as is the case with having one single script for everything.

• config.json: Configuration variables used by the scripts. Check if these values are correct. At the very least, set the subscription_id to your subscript and the user_principal to your Azure e-mail account.

• 0_cleanup.sh: deletes the resource group (deleting this resource group automatically deletes the managed resource group)

• 1_init.sh: creates the resource group and a storage account

• 2_create_func.sh: deploys the Azure function

• 3_create_app.sh: packages the three JSON files into a ZIP file, it uploads it to the storage account, creates the managed app definition, and, finally, creates the actual managed app.

AzureFunction

The Azure function is a single Python file that declares two routes, one for Ping and one for Table. They both return hardcoded JSON responses.

ManagedApp

The managed app is defined by three JSON files:

• createUiDefinition.json: The user interface for input parameters. It controls what the user sees when they install the managed app.

• viewDefinition.json: The user interface for the managed app's resource view.

• mainTemplate.json: Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template that defines the resources to be deployed for the managed app. It specifies the infrastructure to be deployed when the managed app is installed.

Configuration

The script can be configured by modifying the variables in ./scripts/config.json.

Variables

• name: Azure managed app name.
• func_path: Path to Azure function code .
• managed_app_path: Path to ManagedApp code.
• rg: Resource group holding all resources of the managed app. (This is NOT the managed resource group.)
• location: Location. All resources are created in this location.
• subscription_id: Id of subscription you have access to.
• user_principal: User principal under which the managed app definition is created. Can be an Azure Active Directory user, group, or service principal.

Azure resources

This code creates the following Azure resources:

• 'rg' -- a resource group

  • a managed app
  • a managed app definition managed application definition
  • a service catalog
  • an app service plan (automatically created by Azure)
  • a storage account (unused during steady-state; needed only for code uploads)
  • an Azure function

• 'rg-managedapp' -- a Azure-managed resource group automatically for the managed app

  • a resource provider