Provision and Deploy to ARM Provisioned Infrastructure

You can use Azure ARM templates to provision the target infrastructure for some Azure deployments. Harness provisions the infrastructure and then deploys to it in the same Workflow.

Currently, on Azure Web App deployments are supported for target infrastructure provisioning.For steps on using ARM templates to provision non-target infrastructure and resources, see Provision Resources using a Harness ARM Infrastructure Provisioner.

Before You Begin

Set Up Your Harness Account for Azure ARM
Add Azure ARM Templates to Harness
For a conceptual overview of provisioning with ARM and Blueprints, see Azure ARM and Blueprint Provisioning with Harness.

Limitations

See Azure Resource Management (ARM) How-tos.

Visual Summary

Here's a short video showing how to provision and deploy to the same Azure infrastructure using ARM and Harness:

Here's a diagram of how you use your Azure ARM templates in Harness to provision infra and then deploy to it:

ARM Infrastructure Provisioner: add your Azure ARM template as a Harness Infrastructure Provisioner. You add it by connecting to the Git repo for the ARM template. You also set the scope (Tenant, etc). You can also enter the ARM template inline without connecting to a Git repo.
Infrastructure Definition: define a Harness Infrastructure Definition that maps your ARM outputs to the required Harness settings (Resource Group).
Workflow Setup: when you create your Workflow, you select the Infrastructure Definition you created, identifying it as the target infrastructure for the deployment.
Workflow Provisioner Step: in the Workflow, you add an ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step that uses the ARM Infrastructure Provisioner you set up. The Workflow will build the infrastructure according to your ARM template. You can also add ARM template parameter values here.
Pre-deployment: the pre-deployment steps are executed and provision the infrastructure using the ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step.
Deployment: the Workflow deploys to the provisioned infrastructure defined as its target Infrastructure Definition.

Supported Platforms and Technologies

See Supported Platforms and Technologies.

Step 1: Add the Infrastructure Provisioner

A Harness Infrastructure Provisioner connects Harness to the Git repo where your ARM template is located.

To set up a Harness Infrastructure Provisioner for an ARM template, follow the steps in Add Azure ARM Templates to Harness.

Step 2: Create Infrastructure Definition

Add a new Environment as described in Add an Environment.

Click Add Infrastructure Definition.

Name the Infrastructure Definition.

In Cloud Provider Type, select Microsoft Azure.

In Deployment Type, select Azure Web Application.

The Map Dynamically Provisioned Infrastructure option appears. This option is only available if you select Azure Web Application in Deployment Type.

Step 3: Select the Infrastructure Provisioner

In Provisioner, select the Harness Infrastructure Provisioner you set up for your ARM template.

Harness will use this Infrastructure Provisioner to locate the outputs you map to its Resource Group setting.

See Add Azure ARM Templates to Harness.

Step 4: Select the Cloud Provider and Subscription

In Cloud Provider, select the Harness Cloud Provider the Workflow will use to connect to the provisioned infrastructure.

Typically, this is the same Cloud Provider used later when you add the ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step in the Workflow.

In Subscription, enter the Azure Subscription where the ARM template infrastructure will be provisioned.

Step 5: Map ARM Outputs in Infrastructure Definition

The purpose of the Map Dynamically Provisioned Infrastructure option is to map ARM template outputs to the settings Harness needs to provision the infrastructure.

At runtime, Harness will pull the values for the settings from your ARM template.

Ensure that the ARM template you added in the Infrastructure Provisioner you selected in Provisioner includes an output for Resource Group.

For example, here are the outputs from an ARM template to provision Azure Web Apps:

...  
"outputs": {  
    "webApp": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "[parameters('siteName')]"  
    },  
    "slot": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "[parameters('deploymentSlot')]"  
    },  
    "resourceGroup": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "harness-arm-test"  
    }  
  }  
...

You can see the resourceGroup output. You can reference that output, or any output, using the expression ${arm.<output_name>}.

For example, to reference resourceGroup you can use ${arm.resourceGroup}.

In Resource Group, enter ${arm.resourceGroup}. The value in the output is used at runtime. This is the same as providing the resource group in az deployment group create.

Click Submit.

The Infrastructure Provisioner is now defined as an Infrastructure Definition.

You can now use this Infrastructure Definition in a Workflow as the target infrastructure.

Step 6: Select Infrastructure Definition in Workflow

When you create the Harness Workflow that will deploy to the infrastructure in your ARM template, you will select the Infrastructure Definition you created using the ARM template's Infrastructure Provisioner.

In a Canary or Multi-Service Workflow, you add the Infrastructure Definition in the Phase settings.

In a Blue/Green Workflow, you add the Infrastructure Definition in the Workflow settings.

Now that the Infrastructure Definition is set up as the target infrastructure for the Workflow, you can add a step to the Workflow to run the Infrastructure Provisioner and create that target infrastructure.

Step 7: Add ARM/Blueprint Create Resource Step to Workflow

Canary, Multi-Service, and Blue/Green Workflow types contain a pre-deployment section where you can provision the target infrastructure using your Harness Infrastructure Provisioner.

Let's look at a Blue/Green Workflow.

In a Blue/Green Workflow, in Provision infrastructure, click Add Step.

Click ARM/Blueprint Create Resource and then click Next.

In Overview, enter the same settings you used in the Infrastructure Definition.

In Resource Group, select the same resource group that you used in the resourceGroup output in your template.

The following image shows how the settings in the Infrastructure Definition map to the settings in the ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step.

In Mode, select Incremental or Complete. This is the same as entering the --mode parameter in the az deployment group create.

For more information, see Azure Resource Manager deployment modes from Azure.

In Timeout, enter at least 20m. Provisioning Azure resources can take time.

Click Next.

Step 8: Specify Template Parameters

In Parameters, you enter or link to your template parameters.

In Source Type, select Inline or Remote.

If you select Inline, enter the parameters in Type/Paste JSON Configuration.

If you select Remote, in Git Repository, select the Harness Source Repo Provider that connects to the repo where your parameters file is located.

You can specify the repo branch or commit ID and the path to the parameters JSON file. Always include the filename.

Review: Parameters JSON Format

Harness accept ARM template parameters is a specific JSON format.

Typically, a parameters JSON file includes the $schema key to specify the location of the JSON schema file, and the contentVersion to specify the version of the template:

{  
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentParameters.json#",  
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",  
  "parameters": {  
    "adminUsername": {  
      "value": "johnsmith"  
    },  
    "adminPassword": {  
      "value": "m2y&oD7k5$eE"  
    },  
    "dnsLabelPrefix": {  
      "value": "genunique"  
    }  
  }  
}

When you use parameters text or files with Harness, you must remove the $schema and contentVersion keys.

Harness provisioning requires you remove these keys due to limitations in the Azure Java SDK and REST APIs. Only the parameter object key:value pairs are allowed.

Using the example above, the parameters would be provided like this in Harness:

{  
    "adminUsername": {  
      "value": "johnsmith"  
    },  
    "adminPassword": {  
      "value": "m2y&oD7k5$eE"  
    },  
    "dnsLabelPrefix": {  
      "value": "genunique"  
    }  
}

This format must be used whether the parameters are added using a remote file or inline.

Click Submit.

The ARM/Blueprint Create Resource is added to the Workflow.

You can now add the remaining steps for your deployment to the infrastructure the ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step will provision.

Step 9: Use Template Outputs in Workflow Steps

When you added the Infrastructure Provisioner to the Infrastructure Definition you used the ${arm.resourceGroup} expression to reference the resource group output in the ARM template.

In the Azure Web App steps, you can use the ${arm.<output_name>} expression to reference the other outputs relevant to the Web App Workflow steps.

For details on Web App deployments, see Azure Web App Deployments Overview.

Let's look at an example of the Slot Setup in a Web App Blue/Green Workflow deployment.

Normally, you would select or enter the App Service, Deployment, and Target Slots for the Web App deployment.

When provisioning, you enter the ${arm.<output_name>} expression for each setting, mapping the outputs to the steps settings:

At runtime, Harness will substitute the output values, which in this case are taken from a parameters file, and use them for the Slot Setup step.

If the Azure Web App Workflow uses an Infrastructure Definition that uses an Infrastructure Provisioner (such as ARM Infrastructure Provisioner) then the Slot Setup step must use template outputs in its settings. The Slot Setup step uses the Infrastructure Definition settings to pull App Service and slot information from Azure. If the Infrastructure Definition uses an Infrastructure Provisioner, then Harness cannot obtain this information until runtime.

Step 10: Deploy the Workflow

Here is an example of a Blue/Green Azure Web App Workflow deployment that uses the Infrastructure Provisioner in its Infrastructure Definition and ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step:

In the ARM/Blueprint Create Resource step's Execute ARM Deployment section, you can see the ARM deployment:

Starting template validation  
Saving existing template for resource group - [anil-harness-arm-test]   
Starting ARM Deployment at Resource Group scope ...   
Resource Group - [anil-harness-arm-test]  
Mode - [INCREMENTAL]  
Deployment Name - [harness_533_1615316689992]  
ARM Deployment request send successfully

In the ARM Deployment Steady state section you can see the deployment reach steady state:

Deployment Status for - [harness_533_1615316689992] is [Running]  
Deployment Status for - [harness_533_1615316689992] is [Running]  
Deployment Status for - [harness_533_1615316689992] is [Running]  
Deployment Status for - [harness_533_1615316689992] is [Running]  
Deployment Status for - [harness_533_1615316689992] is [Succeeded]  
  
Microsoft.Web/sites/slots - anil-dynamic-provisioner-webApp/staging :: [Succeeded]  
Microsoft.Web/sites - anil-dynamic-provisioner-webApp :: [Succeeded]  
Microsoft.Web/serverfarms - anil-dynamic-provisioner-webApp-ServicePlan :: [Succeeded]  
  
ARM Deployment - [harness_533_1615316689992] completed successfully

In the Slot Setup step, you will see that the values provided for the template outputs mapped to that step are used.

Now you have provisioned the Web App target infrastructure and deployed to it using a single Workflow.

For information on rollback, see Azure ARM Rollbacks.

Sample ARM Template and Parameters

Here is a sample ARM template for creating Azure Web App deployments. You will need to update the outputs for your environment.

{  
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",  
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",  
  "parameters": {  
    "siteName": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "metadata": {  
        "description": "The name of the web app that you wish to create."  
      }  
    },  
    "deploymentSlot": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "metadata": {  
        "description": "The name of the deployment slot that you wish to create."  
      }  
    }  
  },  
  "variables": {  
    "servicePlanName": "[concat(parameters('siteName'), '-ServicePlan')]"  
  },  
  "resources": [  
    {  
      "apiVersion": "2016-09-01",  
      "type": "Microsoft.Web/serverfarms",  
      "kind": "linux",  
      "name": "[variables('servicePlanName')]",  
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",  
      "properties": {  
        "name": "[variables('servicePlanName')]",  
        "reserved": true,  
        "numberOfWorkers": "1"  
      },  
      "dependsOn": [],  
      "sku": {  
        "Tier": "Standard",  
        "Name": "S1"  
      }  
    },  
    {  
      "apiVersion": "2016-08-01",  
      "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",  
      "name": "[parameters('siteName')]",  
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",  
      "properties": {  
        "siteConfig": {  
          "name": "[parameters('siteName')]",  
          "appSettings": [  
            {  
              "name": "WEBSITES_ENABLE_APP_SERVICE_STORAGE",  
              "value": "false"  
            }  
          ],  
          "linuxFxVersion": "DOCKER|nginx:alpine"  
        },  
        "serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('servicePlanName'))]"  
      },  
      "dependsOn": [  
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('servicePlanName'))]"  
      ]  
    },  
    {  
      "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",  
      "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites/slots",  
      "name": "[concat(parameters('siteName'), '/', parameters('deploymentSlot'))]",  
      "kind": "app",  
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",  
      "comments": "This specifies the web app slots.",  
      "tags": {  
        "displayName": "WebAppSlots"  
      },  
      "properties": {  
        "siteConfig": {  
          "name": "[parameters('siteName')]",  
          "appSettings": [  
            {  
              "name": "WEBSITES_ENABLE_APP_SERVICE_STORAGE",  
              "value": "false"  
            }  
          ],  
          "linuxFxVersion": "DOCKER|nginx:alpine"  
        },  
        "serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('servicePlanName'))]"  
      },  
      "dependsOn": [  
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/Sites', parameters('siteName'))]"  
      ]  
    }  
  ],  
  "outputs": {  
    "webApp": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "[parameters('siteName')]"  
    },  
    "slot": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "[parameters('deploymentSlot')]"  
    },  
    "resourceGroup": {  
      "type": "string",  
      "value": "MyResourceGroup"  
    }  
  }  
}

Here is the parameters file for the template. You will need to update the values for your environment.

{  
  "siteName": {  
    "value": "myWebApp"  
  },  
  "deploymentSlot": {  
    "value": "staging"  
  }  
}

Configure As Code

To see how to configure the settings in this topic using YAML, configure the settings in the UI first, and then click the YAML editor button.

Before You Begin​

Limitations​

Visual Summary​

Supported Platforms and Technologies​

Step 1: Add the Infrastructure Provisioner​

Step 2: Create Infrastructure Definition​

Step 3: Select the Infrastructure Provisioner​

Step 4: Select the Cloud Provider and Subscription​

Step 5: Map ARM Outputs in Infrastructure Definition​

Step 6: Select Infrastructure Definition in Workflow​

Step 7: Add ARM/Blueprint Create Resource Step to Workflow​

Step 8: Specify Template Parameters​

Review: Parameters JSON Format​

Step 9: Use Template Outputs in Workflow Steps​

Step 10: Deploy the Workflow​

Sample ARM Template and Parameters​

Configure As Code​