App setting name in ARM template won't allow colon (:) character - azure

Question

I'm trying to get an ARM template to deploy an Azure Web App for me. The Web App should have an app setting like this:
background:color = blue
When I validate my ARM template from Visual Studio 2017 it's OK, however, when I deploy it (from Visual Studio or an Azure DevOps Pipeline) it fails with a 400 Bad Request error saying "The parameter properties has an invalid value". Weirdly enough, when I set the app setting manually in the Azure portal it's saved without problem. Is there any way I can store this setting using my ARM template?
I tried setting the app setting in the arm template in two different ways.
Try 1:
{
"name": "appsettings",
"type": "config",
"apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', variables('webSiteName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"displayName": "appSettings"
},
"properties": {
"background:color": "blue"
}
}
Try 2:
{
"name": "appsettings",
"type": "config",
"apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', variables('webSiteName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"displayName": "appSettings"
},
"properties": {
"backgroundColor": {
"name": "background:color",
"value" : "blue"
}
}
}
This is the error that is returned when deploying the ARM template:
2018-09-21T13:41:31.8335539Z ##[error]At least one resource deployment operation failed. Please list deployment operations for details. Please see https://aka.ms/arm-debug for usage details.
2018-09-21T13:41:31.8346749Z ##[error]Details:
2018-09-21T13:41:31.8349223Z ##[error]BadRequest: {
"Code": "BadRequest",
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value.",
"Target": null,
"Details": [
{
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value."
},
{
"Code": "BadRequest"
},
{
"ErrorEntity": {
"ExtendedCode": "51008",
"MessageTemplate": "The parameter {0} has an invalid value.",
"Parameters": [
"properties"
],
"Code": "BadRequest",
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value."
}
}
],
"Innererror": null
} undefined
2018-09-21T13:41:31.8351886Z ##[error]BadRequest: {
"Code": "BadRequest",
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value.",
"Target": null,
"Details": [
{
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value."
},
{
"Code": "BadRequest"
},
{
"ErrorEntity": {
"ExtendedCode": "51008",
"MessageTemplate": "The parameter {0} has an invalid value.",
"Parameters": [
"properties"
],
"Code": "BadRequest",
"Message": "The parameter properties has an invalid value."
}
}
],
"Innererror": null
} undefined
2018-09-21T13:41:31.8354208Z ##[error]Task failed while creating or updating the template deployment.
The full ARM template looks likes this:
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"hostingPlanName": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 1
},
"skuName": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "F1",
"allowedValues": [
"F1",
"D1",
"B1",
"B2",
"B3",
"S1",
"S2",
"S3",
"P1",
"P2",
"P3",
"P4"
],
"metadata": {
"description": "Describes plan's pricing tier and capacity. Check details at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/app-service/"
}
},
"skuCapacity": {
"type": "int",
"defaultValue": 1,
"minValue": 1,
"metadata": {
"description": "Describes plan's instance count"
}
}
},
"variables": {
"webSiteName": "[concat(resourceGroup().name, '-web')]"
},
"resources": [
{
"apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
"name": "[parameters('hostingPlanName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Web/serverfarms",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"tags": {
"displayName": "HostingPlan"
},
"sku": {
"name": "[parameters('skuName')]",
"capacity": "[parameters('skuCapacity')]"
},
"properties": {
"name": "[parameters('hostingPlanName')]"
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
"name": "[variables('webSiteName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-related:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "Website"
},
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"name": "[variables('webSiteName')]",
"serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[concat(parameters('hostingPlanName'), '-', resourceGroup().name)]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/autoscalesettings",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "AutoScaleSettings"
},
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"profiles": [
{
"name": "Default",
"capacity": {
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 2,
"default": 1
},
"rules": [
{
"metricTrigger": {
"metricName": "CpuPercentage",
"metricResourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"timeGrain": "PT1M",
"statistic": "Average",
"timeWindow": "PT10M",
"timeAggregation": "Average",
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": 80.0
},
"scaleAction": {
"direction": "Increase",
"type": "ChangeCount",
"value": 1,
"cooldown": "PT10M"
}
},
{
"metricTrigger": {
"metricName": "CpuPercentage",
"metricResourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"timeGrain": "PT1M",
"statistic": "Average",
"timeWindow": "PT1H",
"timeAggregation": "Average",
"operator": "LessThan",
"threshold": 60.0
},
"scaleAction": {
"direction": "Decrease",
"type": "ChangeCount",
"value": 1,
"cooldown": "PT1H"
}
}
]
}
],
"enabled": false,
"name": "[concat(parameters('hostingPlanName'), '-', resourceGroup().name)]",
"targetResourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[concat('ServerErrors ', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "ServerErrorsAlertRule"
},
"properties": {
"name": "[concat('ServerErrors ', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"description": "[concat(variables('webSiteName'), ' has some server errors, status code 5xx.')]",
"isEnabled": false,
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"metricName": "Http5xx"
},
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": 0.0,
"windowSize": "PT5M"
},
"action": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": true,
"customEmails": []
}
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[concat('ForbiddenRequests ', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "ForbiddenRequestsAlertRule"
},
"properties": {
"name": "[concat('ForbiddenRequests ', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"description": "[concat(variables('webSiteName'), ' has some requests that are forbidden, status code 403.')]",
"isEnabled": false,
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]",
"metricName": "Http403"
},
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": 0,
"windowSize": "PT5M"
},
"action": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": true,
"customEmails": []
}
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[concat('CPUHigh ', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "CPUHighAlertRule"
},
"properties": {
"name": "[concat('CPUHigh ', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"description": "[concat('The average CPU is high across all the instances of ', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"isEnabled": false,
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"metricName": "CpuPercentage"
},
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": 90,
"windowSize": "PT15M"
},
"action": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": true,
"customEmails": []
}
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[concat('LongHttpQueue ', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "LongHttpQueueAlertRule"
},
"properties": {
"name": "[concat('LongHttpQueue ', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"description": "[concat('The HTTP queue for the instances of ', parameters('hostingPlanName'), ' has a large number of pending requests.')]",
"isEnabled": false,
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[concat(resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
"metricName": "HttpQueueLength"
},
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": 100.0,
"windowSize": "PT5M"
},
"action": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": true,
"customEmails": []
}
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
"name": "[variables('webSiteName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/components",
"location": "East US",
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]"
],
"tags": {
"[concat('hidden-link:', resourceGroup().id, '/providers/Microsoft.Web/sites/', variables('webSiteName'))]": "Resource",
"displayName": "AppInsightsComponent"
},
"properties": {
"applicationId": "[variables('webSiteName')]"
}
}
]
}

Answer 1

Try using a background[:color = blue or background\:color = blue
If both don't work out, you can always define a variable to represent colon (:) and use that. See this blog for approach.