Caching for session state not working in Azure Emulator - azure

I have an Azure cloud service comprising one Web Role and a Cache Worker Role. The web role runs fine except when I try to add a session state provider that uses the cache worker:
<sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="AFCacheSessionStateProvider">
<providers>
<add name="AFCacheSessionStateProvider" type="Microsoft.Web.DistributedCache.DistributedCacheSessionStateStoreProvider, Microsoft.Web.DistributedCache" cacheName="default" dataCacheClientName="default" applicationName="AFCacheSessionState"/>
</providers>
</sessionState>
<dataCacheClients>
<dataCacheClient name="default">
<autoDiscover isEnabled="true" identifier="MyCacheWorkerRole" />
<!--<localCache isEnabled="true" sync="TimeoutBased" objectCount="100000" ttlValue="300" />-->
</dataCacheClient>
When I try to debug, the Azure compute emulator fires up, the browser opens, but the page never loads - just a loading spinner for a couple of minutes, then a single line: "The page cannot be displayed because an internal server error has occurred."
If I uncomment the "localCache" line above (I'm not sure what it's meant to do), I get a "not running a hosted service or the Development Fabric" message. The cloud service is set up as the startup project
----- EDIT ----
I get the same behaviour when I try to point to a Windows Azure Cache Service instead of a cache worker role.

Related

Azure AppInsight not working for static file application

Background
I have an Azure 'App Service' resource and a linked 'Application Insights' resource. They're linked via the App Service's Settings -> Applications settings -> Application settings (key-value table) where I have the following settings:
APPINSIGHTS_INSTRUMENTATIONKEY = <my application insights instrumentation key>
APPINSIGHTS_JAVASCRIPT_ENABLED = true
My application is a static file application at the root / (site\wwwroot) but also has 2 Asp.NET applications at 2 different virtual directories:
/app1 (site\app1)
/app2 (site\app2)
Problem
The overview page shows data for something called 'Metrics' with requests, data, etc. (first image) however when I attempt to access Application Insights, no data appears (second image).
Attemps
I've tried to follow these two guides for activating app insight for static page applications:
http://apmtips.com/blog/2014/12/02/tracking-static-content-with-application-insights-httpmodule/
http://blog.tylerdoerksen.ca/posts/2018/03/AppInsights-Static-Content
However I get an error due to the misisng DLLs in the root Bin folder.
I tried variations of:
<system.webServer>
<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true"> <!-- With and without 'runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests'. -->
<add name="ApplicationInsightsWebTracking"
type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Extensibility.Web.RequestTracking.WebRequestTrackingModule, Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Extensibility.Web"
preCondition="managedHandler" /> <!-- With and without 'preCondition="managedHandler"'. -->
<!-- And -->
<add name="ApplicationInsightsWebTracking"
type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Web.ApplicationInsightsHttpModule, Microsoft.AI.Web"
preCondition="managedHandler"/> <!-- With and without 'preCondition="managedHandler"'. -->
</modules>
</system.webServer>
According to the second article, these missing DLLs should be automatically loaded by Azure once it knows that it's connected to AppInsight.
If you are using Azure Web Apps. Add the Applications Insights Extension to the Web App. This will add the proper DLLs to the Bin directory of your site.
I tried to follow the instructions under 'Monitor a live Azure web app' but the documentation seems incomplete.
Questions
Why is data showing in the overview of the App Service but not AppInsight?
Is it possible to view website telemetry in AppInsight for my static file application at root /?
1.Why is data showing in the overview of the App Service but not AppInsight?
It should be a configure issue. You can configure it as below:
step 1:
In visual studio, right click your project name, and in the context menu, select "Configure Application Insights".
step 2:
In the following screen, click "Get started".
step 3:
In the following screen, configure your own settings(for Resource, you can create a new or use an existing one).
Then click "Register", and wait for it completes.
step 4:
If some error occurs, just fix it by tips on the screen. like below:
When you have done the above steps, you should see data in App insight(it may take a few minutes for data to display).
2.Is it possible to view website telemetry in AppInsight for my static file application at root /?
Yes, you can view website telemetry in AppInsight for static file application at root /.
step 1:
In the Web.config, find the <system.webServer> node, and then in the <modules> node, add runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true", like below:
<system.webServer>
<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
<remove name="TelemetryCorrelationHttpModule" />
<add name="TelemetryCorrelationHttpModule" type="Microsoft.AspNet.TelemetryCorrelation.TelemetryCorrelationHttpModule, Microsoft.AspNet.TelemetryCorrelation" preCondition="integratedMode,managedHandler" />
<remove name="ApplicationInsightsWebTracking" />
<add name="ApplicationInsightsWebTracking" type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.Web.ApplicationInsightsHttpModule, Microsoft.AI.Web" preCondition="managedHandler" />
</modules>
<validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />
</system.webServer>
step 2:
Publish web site to azure.
step 3:
Launch the website to the static file, here I used test4.html for example.
step 4:
Go to azure portal -> your application sights -> Overview section, select a chart like "Server requests"(if no data, please wait for a while).
step 5:
You can see such request "GET /test4.html".

How do I debug "500 Internal Server Error" with Azure Mobile Apps?

I am deploying Azure Mobile Apps to a deployment slot, and am getting the error below within Xamarin iOS.
500 The request could not be completed (Internal Server Error)
I have done the following:
Set <customErrors mode="Off" ></customErrors>
Inspect Application Insights Live Metrics Screen
Enabled failed request tracing
Inspect the event logs (2147024891 azure runtime failed to initialize)
Search for "web service" based DLLs and references in my "web app". I found some suspicious ones in Application Insights that contain the word "ROLE"
.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ApplicationInsights xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ApplicationInsights/2013/Settings">
<TelemetryInitializers>
<Add Type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.DependencyCollector.HttpDependenciesParsingTelemetryInitializer, Microsoft.AI.DependencyCollector" />
<Add Type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer.AzureRoleEnvironmentTelemetryInitializer, Microsoft.AI.WindowsServer" />
<Add Type="Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.WindowsServer.AzureWebAppRoleEnvironmentTelemetryInitializer, Microsoft.AI.WindowsServer" />
View the full list of references here
Future testing and debugging
The Azure help page didn't seem to tell me how to enable remote debugging, which is the next thing I'm googling.
(image of the help page that could be more helpful in this regard ;)
I'm writing a chapter on this in the ZUMO book: https://adrianhall.github.io/develop-mobile-apps-with-csharp-and-azure/chapter8/developing/

Configure Redis Session State on Azure

I've got the Redis Session State Provider working fine locally with my ASP.Net site and in Azure with my Azure Website. But I've got a question about configuration...
Is there any way to store the configuration for that in the Azure Website itself using the App Settings (or Configuration Strings) section in the Website Properties screen?
That would be very convenient because it would mean that I don't have to modify the web.config file when I publish. I already do this for connection strings and app settings, but I just don't see a way to do that for anything in the <system.web> node of the web.config file, like the <sessionState> node.
There isn't a way to change the behaviour of the provider-based session state from utilising the web.config file.
You could write your own provider and modify where it finds the connection details from so you can publish those details somewhere other than in the web.config, but this wouldn't be standard behaviour.
This question has the way to make this work.
<appSettings>
<add key="REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING" value="[your dev connection string]" />
</appSettings>
<system.web>
<sessionState mode="Custom" customProvider="RedisProvider">
<providers>
<add name="RedisProvider" type="Microsoft.Web.Redis.RedisSessionStateProvider" connectionString="REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING" />
</providers>
</sessionState>
</system.web>
Then, in the portal, you can create an app setting with the name 'REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING' with the correct connection string. You cannot use connection strings section of web.config or azure portal. It must be app settings. Not sure why, but connection strings just uses whatever is in the web.config and is not replaced with what is in the portal.

Publishing Web.Config to Azure removes Azure storage connection string

I've got a web.config that contains my SQL connection string and my Azure Blob storage connection string.
A Web.Config transformation replaces my Local SQL connection string with the Azure one.
When I publish the site to Azure, the Blob storage connection string is deleted and replaced with a duplicate SQL connection string, but with the blob storage string's name.
The only way I've found to fix is to log in via FTP and manually change the erroneous Storage connection string with the correct one from my local machine.
How do I get VS to publish my web config to Azure and leave it alone!!!
Web.Config
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDB)\v11.0;AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\.mdf;Integrated Security=True" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
<add name="StorageConnectionString" connectionString="DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=;AccountKey=" />
</connectionStrings>
Web.Release.Config
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DefaultConnection"
connectionString="Server=.database.windows.net,1433;Database=;User ID=#;Password=!;Trusted_Connection=False;Encrypt=True;Connection Timeout=30;"
providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
xdt:Transform="SetAttributes" xdt:Locator="Match(name)"/>
I had a similar issue to yours. I'm not sure why but when you define the connection strings in the "Configure tab" in the azure portal and associate a "Linked Resource" on the linked resource tab it may override certain properties in the Web.config transform causing unexpected results. One of the options when you set up a new azure website is linking to (or creating a new) database to associate with your website - thereby automatically assigning the related connection string which may try to override your transform operation defined in the Web.Release.config.
Check and see if removing all connection strings and linked resources inside the "Azure Portal" fixes your problem. Just make sure that you have both your production database and storage connections strings defined properly in the Web.Release.config.
I struggled with this problem this morning and I came up with a solution for VS2015/17.
So I have an Azure VM, and to publish my web app on this machine, I used the Web deploy to an Azure VM proposed by VS.
I put my connection strings in an external file, so the useful part of my web.config looks like this :
</entityFramework>
<connectionStrings configSource="ConnectionStrings.config">
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>
in order to prevent VS of adding some connection strings during publication (ADO.Net code first MSSQL database connection string in my case), you can edit the following file in your project :
...\MyProject\Properties\PublishProfiles\YourPublishProfile - WebDeploy.pubxml
In this file look into the ItemGroup part and edit it to delete the connection strings you don't need:
<PublishDatabaseSettings>
<Objects xmlns="">
<ObjectGroup Name="MyProject.Models.MSSQL_DB" Order="1" Enabled="False">
<Destination Path="" />
<Object Type="DbCodeFirst">
<Source Path="DBContext" DbContext="MyProject.Models.MSSQL_DB, MyProject" Origin="Convention" />
</Object>
</ObjectGroup>
</Objects>
</PublishDatabaseSettings>
</PropertyGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<here are some entries delete the ones you don't need/>
</ItemGroup>
Be careful, if you add a file in this repertory, there is chances that it breaks the publication process on VS. Don't add file, just edit.

Enable Diagnostics in Windows Azure without .NET

I'm using Windows Azure to host my python project and I'm trying to enable the diagnostics without good results.
As I'm using python and not .NET, the only way I can actually configure it is through config files.
Below my config files:
ServiceDefinition.csdef
...
<Imports>
<Import moduleName="Diagnostics" />
</Imports>
...
ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg
....
<Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Diagnostics.ConnectionString" value="DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;AccountName=<my-account-name>;AccountKey=<my-account-key"/>
....
diagnostics.wadcfg:
<DiagnosticMonitorConfiguration xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ServiceHosting/2010/10/DiagnosticsConfiguration"
configurationChangePollInterval="PT10M"
overallQuotaInMB="1200">
<DiagnosticInfrastructureLogs bufferQuotaInMB="100"
scheduledTransferLogLevelFilter="Warning"
scheduledTransferPeriod="PT5M" />
<Logs bufferQuotaInMB="200"
scheduledTransferLogLevelFilter="Warning"
scheduledTransferPeriod="PT5M" />
<Directories bufferQuotaInMB="600"
scheduledTransferPeriod="PT5M">
<CrashDumps container="wad-crash-dumps" directoryQuotaInMB="200" />
<FailedRequestLogs container="wad-frq" directoryQuotaInMB="200" />
<IISLogs container="wad-iis" directoryQuotaInMB="200" />
</Directories>
<WindowsEventLog bufferQuotaInMB="200"
scheduledTransferLogLevelFilter="Warning"
scheduledTransferPeriod="PT5M">
<DataSource name="System!*" />
</WindowsEventLog>
</DiagnosticMonitorConfiguration>
In Diagnostics Manager, I can't actually see any data.
Thanks.
May i ask where your diagnostics.wadcfg located? For a regular worker role the diagnostics.wadcfg must be in the root folder and because you don't have worker role module in your project the location of the architecture of your role folder is very important. Be sure to have exact same folder structure in your Python application as a regular worker role and then drop the diagnostics.wadcfg in the role root folder. (add that info back to your question to verify)
Do you see a diagnostics configuration XML is created in your Windows Azure Blob storage which is configured in the *.Diagnostics.ConnectionString. This is a check which suggests that the diagnostics component in the Azure role was able to read the provided configuration and could create the configuration XML at destination blob stroage (same Azure Storage will be use to write log Azure Table storage). Please verify.
Finally your diagnostics.wadcfg need some more work. As this is a non .net worker role you have configured IIS logging (do you really have IIS running in worker role? ) and also have System event log scheduled to transfer "warning only" so if there are no warnings. Finally the log transfer time is set to 5 minutes which is long during test.
What i can suggest as below to test if diagnostics is working or not:
Remove the IIS log if you dont have IIS running the Azure VM
Replace event log DataSource from System!* to Application!* and set filter to Info level
Change the log transfer time to less then a minutes
Run the exact same code in Development Fabric with Diagnostics connection string connected to Actual Azure Storage.
Add custom event log in your machine and see if they are transferred within the time limit to Azure Table storage and specific tables are created
Above should help you to troubleshoot the problem.

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