Cannot access RoleEnviroment when running multiple Sites inside Cloud Service - azure

I have got an existing solution which uses settings from RoleEnviroment in both the WebRole.OnStart and Global.asax Application_Start handlers. (This has been running well for months)
This all works fine when I have just one Site inside my role:
<WebRole name="WebRole" vmsize="ExtraSmall">
<Runtime executionContext="elevated" />
<Sites>
<Site name="Web1" physicalDirectory="..\..\..\Web1\">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="HTTP" endpointName="Public HTTP" hostHeader="web1.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
However when I add my second site, neither site can access RoleEnviroment??
<WebRole name="WebRole" vmsize="ExtraSmall">
<Runtime executionContext="elevated" />
<Sites>
<Site name="Web1" physicalDirectory="..\..\..\Web1\">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="HTTP" endpointName="Public HTTP" hostHeader="web1.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
<Site name="Web2" physicalDirectory="..\..\..\Web2\">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="HTTP" endpointName="Public HTTP" hostHeader="web2.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
I have tested this in the local azure emulator (full) and it works fine, but when deployed to an actual web role it throws:
[SEHException (0x80004005): External component has thrown an exception.]
RdGetApplicationConfigurationSetting(UInt16* , UInt16** ) +0
RoleEnvironmentGetConfigurationSettingValueW(UInt16* pszName, UInt16* pszDest, UInt64 cchDest, UInt64* pcchRequiredDestSize) +73
Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime.Internal.InteropRoleManager.GetConfigurationSetting(String name, String& ret) +133
Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime.RoleEnvironment.GetConfigurationSettingValue(String configurationSettingName) +109
Web1.Installer.Install(IWindsorContainer container, IConfigurationStore store) in c:\projects\Webs\Web1\Installer.cs:21
I have checked that the setting I am trying to access is there. When I remove the second Site it works fine. When I remove the first Site it also works fine. It looks to me like there is an issue with Azure providing access to the RoleEnviroment for web roles in multiple instances.

Okay, so after working on this for almost 2 days. The issue turned out to be mismatching Azure SDK version assemblies on the projects.
The older Site had Azure SDK 2.4, and for some reason the newer Site had SDK 2.3, this meant the RoleEnvironment could not be found when there was two sites (both version of the assembly) deployed.
I assume this is because they are looking for the RoleEnvironment differently, or are conflicting in how they access it.
I've read that this may be related to the 'Rd' environment variables that may cause RoleEnvironment to be IsAvailable = false.
So guys: Check your Azure SDK assembly versions are sync if you encounter this issue!

Related

Error while using command line tool cspack

I am getting following error when executing cspack command
"Error CloudServices051 : The XML specification is not valid: The element 'WebRole' in namespace 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition' has incomplete content. List of possible elements expected: 'Sites' in namespace 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition'."
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ServiceDefinition name="CloudService1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition">
<WebRole name="WebRole1" enableNativeCodeExecution="false">
<InputEndpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="HttpIn" protocol="http" port="80"/>
</InputEndpoints>
<ConfigurationSettings/>
</WebRole>
</ServiceDefinition>
My guess from you example is that you're working with the book Programming Windows Azure, by Sririam Krishnan.
This was published in May 2010. Either the book presented a broken example, or some breaking change has since been introduced to the Azure framework since then.
Below is the ServiceDefinition.csdef file from page 51, modified to work with the Azure SDK v2.8:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ServiceDefinition name="CloudService1" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition" >
<WebRole name="WebRole1" enableNativeCodeExecution="false">
<InputEndpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="HttpIn" protocol="http" port="80" />
</InputEndpoints>
<ConfigurationSettings />
<!-- This sites node was not included in the example -->
<Sites>
<Site name="TokenSite" physicalDirectory="htmlwebsite">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="BindingOne" endpointName="HttpIn" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
</WebRole>
</ServiceDefinition>
The addition was the Sites node, containing one site. The physicalDirectory attribute had to point to the folder that contains the html file. Until I added the Sites node, the cspack utility failed.
Interestingly, if you read about the Sites element in the Azure Online Documentation, (last updated April 15th, 2015), it explicitly says:
If you do not specify a Sites element, your web role is hosted as legacy web role and you can only have one website hosted in your web role. ... This element is optional and a role can have only one sites block. (my italics)

ASP.NET 5 web application as Azure Web Role?

We have a ASP.NET 5 web application in our solution.
Typically, we could right click on the Cloud Service "Roles" item and add a new role from an existing project in the solution.
But it cannot identity this project as a Web Role:
How are we able to host a ASP.NET 5 project in a Azure Web Role?
Edit: We are using Azure SDK 2.7
Sorry, we don't support WebRoles at the moment. You might* be able to hack your way around but officially there is no support. That means that any hack you do, will be in a text editor, not from tooling.
However, you can use an Azure WebSite instead. That's fully supported.
* it might not work at all. I am not aware of anyone who did this.
You probably have to build your package yourself using CSPack. Here an example using PowerShell and CSPack:
# path to cspack
$cspackPath = Join-Path $env:ProgramFiles 'Microsoft SDKs\Azure\.NET SDK\v2.7\bin\cspack.exe'
$PackagePath = 'c:\mycloudpackage.cspkg'
$serviceDefinitionFile = 'c:\myProject\ServiceDefinition.csdef'
$webRoleName = 'MyWebRole'
$webRolePath = 'c:\myProject'
$webRoleEntryPoint = 'MyWebRole.dll'
# define the cspack parameters
$cspackParameter = #(
"/out:$PackagePath",
$serviceDefinitionFile,
"/role:$webRoleName;$webRolePath;$webRoleEntryPoint",
"/sites:$webRoleName;Web;$webRolePath"
)
# execute cspack
& $cspackExe #cspackParameter
It also allows you to host multiple sites on a single web role.
Edit: Cannot be done with Azure Storage Emulator...
I really struggled with this as I found the documentation seriously poor with no proper examples, so here's a full example of my scripts and files for anyone else, based on Martin Brandl's answer.
You do not need webRoleEntryPoint for only a web role. Only used for worker roles.
Create a new empty cloud service in your project. This will generate emptyServiceConfigiguration.Cloud.csfg, ServiceConfigiguration.Cloud.csfg and ServiceDefinition.csdef files for you as well as an empty roles folder. You could also add a web/worker role to let visual studio generate the configuration in them and then just modify them accordingly.
Modify these files (change the physicalDirectory to your own):
ServiceDefinition.csdef:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ServiceDefinition name="SoundVast.Azure" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition" schemaVersion="2015-04.2.6">
<WebRole name="WebRole1" vmsize="Small">
<Sites>
<Site name="Web" physicalDirectory="../SoundVast">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="Endpoint1" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
<ConfigurationSettings>
<Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" />
</ConfigurationSettings>
<Endpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="Endpoint1" protocol="http" port="80" />
</Endpoints>
</WebRole>
</ServiceDefinition>
<Site name="Web" physicalDirectory="../SoundVast"> is the important line, this physicalDirectory is relative to wherever your .csdef file is located and I wanted to make my main project SoundVast the web role which was located one level up.
ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.csfg and ServiceConfiguration.Local.csfg (both can be the same):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ServiceConfiguration serviceName="SoundVast.Azure" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceConfiguration" osFamily="4" osVersion="*" schemaVersion="2015-04.2.6">
<Role name="WebRole1">
<Instances count="1" />
<ConfigurationSettings>
<Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" value="UseDevelopmentStorage=true" />
</ConfigurationSettings>
</Role>
</ServiceConfiguration>
The important part is that the role name matches your <Role name="WebRole1"> service definition files web role name.
# path to cspack
$cspackPath = Join-Path $env:ProgramFiles 'Microsoft SDKs\Azure\.NET SDK\v2.8\bin\cspack.exe'
$PackagePath = 'C:\Users\Yamo\Documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\SoundVast\SoundVast.Azure\SoundVast.cspkg'
$serviceDefinitionFile = 'C:\Users\Yamo\Documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\SoundVast\SoundVast.Azure\ServiceDefinition.csdef'
$webRoleName = 'WebRole1'
$webRolePath = 'C:\Users\Yamo\Documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\SoundVast\SoundVast.Azure'
# define the cspack parameters
$cspackParameter = #(
$serviceDefinitionFile,
"/role:$webRoleName;$webRolePath;",
"/sites:$webRoleName;SoundVast;$webRolePath",
"/out:$PackagePath"
)
# execute cspack
& $cspackPath #cspackParameter
A .cspkg file should now have been generated at the location of your $PackagePath.
I've just blogged on how to do this (with VS tooling support!) here: https://oren.codes/2017/10/16/using-asp-net-core-with-azure-cloud-services/
It appears that it isn't officially supported as a web role at this time. It seems that it is only compatible with the web apps and not the older web role. The current work around is documented on this site:
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/331425/Running-an-EXE-in-a-WebRole-on-Windows-Azure

Deploying to new D-series Azure VM's

I'm trying to deploy a test instance of our Azure-based webservice to the new D-series Azure vm's. We make extensive use of temp files and are hoping we'll see some good performance improvements. Unfortunately we don't seem to be able to package or build using the new vmsizes. Our current csdef looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ServiceDefinition name="WebAPI.Azure" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition" schemaVersion="2013-10.2.2">
<WebRole name="WebAPI" vmsize="Large">
<Sites>
<Site name="Web">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="NonSSL Endpoint" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
<Endpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="NonSSL Endpoint" protocol="http" port="80" />
<InternalEndpoint name="InternalHttpIn" protocol="http" />
</Endpoints>
</WebRole>
</ServiceDefinition>
If I switch the vmsize from "Large" to "Standard_D3" and try to build or package for publishing, I get this error:
Error 2 The XML specification is not valid: The 'vmsize' attribute is invalid - The value 'Standard_D3' is invalid according to its datatype 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2008/10/ServiceDefinition:RoleSize' - The Enumeration constraint failed. C:\Users\ablack\Desktop\WebAPI.Azure\ServiceDefinition.csdef 3 34 WebAPI.Azure
How do I get this schema updated? Or is there a way to override XML validation during the build & package process?
Apparently the 2.4 SDK removes the vmsize constraint entirely (it accepts any values, including made-up values like "Supersize"), so we will have to upgrade to that to try any new size options. This will complicate benchmarking (we'll need to get fresh baselines with the updated SDK first), but c'est la vie.

Azure mod-rewrite to SSL doesn't work

I have deployed an ASP.NET web application to Azure running in a web role. It is configured with a DNS name like 'myapp.cloudapp.net' and SSL (the certificate is self-signed, meaning we get a certificate warning but otherwise this is all set up and works fine)
I want to automagically route requests the come on http to https. So, I added an http endpoint and set up a rewrite rule as per the instructions here (second method):
http://blog.smarx.com/posts/redirecting-to-https-in-windows-azure-two-methods
It doesn't work properly.
Testing directly on the Azure machine (via remote desktop):
Access https://myapp.cloudapp.net - works
Access http://myapp.cloudapp.net - "Internet explorer cannot display the webpage"
So I go to IIS and 'browse' my site: this takes me there via the IP address:
Access https://[ipaddress] - works
Access http://[ipaddress] - works! Sends me to https://[ipaddress]
So what am I missing, that this works via IP address but not by host name?
I would like to hit http://myapp.cloudapp.net and be redirected to https://myapp.cloudapp.net.
For the record, here is the relevant parts of my configuration:
<Sites>
<Site name="Web">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="MyApp" />
<Binding name="Endpoint1" endpointName="MyAppHttp" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
<Endpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="MyApp" protocol="https" port="443" certificate="MYCERT" />
<InputEndpoint name="MyAppHttp" protocol="http" port="80" />
</Endpoints>
<Certificates>
<Certificate name="MYCERT" storeLocation="LocalMachine" storeName="My" />
</Certificates>
Can anyone help explain what I might be doing wrong?
Thanks in advance
Not a lot to go on, but one thing that jumps out at me is the 'name' of your bindings. Make them different.

Hostheader not working in Azure

I have a multi-site web role set up in Azure. In my service definition file I have the following:
<Sites>
<Site name="Web" physicalDirectory="..\ABC.WebUx">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Abc" endpointName="Endpoint1" hostHeader="www.abc.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
<Site name="DEF" physicalDirectory="..\DEF.WebUx">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Def" endpointName="Endpoint1" hostHeader="www.def.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
<Site name="Ghi" physicalDirectory="..\GHI.WebUx">
<Bindings>
<Binding name="Ghi" endpointName="Endpoint1" hostHeader="www.ghi.com" />
</Bindings>
</Site>
</Sites>
<Endpoints>
<InputEndpoint name="Endpoint1" protocol="http" port="80" />
</Endpoints>
The hostheader works good when I try www.def.com and www.ghi.com however when entering www.abc.com it seems to ignore the physical directory and instead gives me a message like this:
Multiple types were found that match the controller named 'Home'. This can happen if the route that services this request ('{controller}/{action}/{id}') does not specify namespaces to search for a controller that matches the request. If this is the case, register this route by calling an overload of the 'MapRoute' method that takes a 'namespaces' parameter.
The request for 'Home' has found the following matching controllers:
ABC.WebUx.Controllers.HomeController
DEF.WebUx.Controllers.HomeController
GHI.WebUx.Controllers.HomeController
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.InvalidOperationException: Multiple types were found that match the controller named 'Home'. This can happen if the route that services this request ('{controller}/{action}/{id}') does not specify namespaces to search for a controller that matches the request. If this is the case, register this route by calling an overload of the 'MapRoute' method that takes a 'namespaces' parameter.
Does anyone know why it seems to ignore the physical directory for the default "Web" which btw is the site that I have linked to my cloud service.
Your help would be much appreciated.
Nancy
If you're working with multiple websites I would recommend watching this Cloud Cover episode. During the episode they discuss that any site that has the name "Web" is treated as a special case by Azure and so properties like the physical directory are ignored. So to fix your specific problem change the name of your first site from "Web" to "ABC".
The default "web" site will always point to the project folder for the web role in your solution. You cannot overwrite it using the physicalDirectory attribute.

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