Deploy Aspire to Azure Container Apps using the Aspire CLI

When you deploy Aspire applications to Azure Container Apps using the aspire deploy command, the platform provides several deployment options and configurations. This guide explains how to use the Aspire CLI to deploy your applications to Azure Container Apps with various configuration options.

Prerequisites

Aspire common prerequisites
The Aspire CLI installed
An Azure subscription: Create one for free
Install the Azure CLI

Enable the deploy command

The aspire deploy command is currently in preview and must be explicitly enabled. Enable the feature by setting the following environment variable:

Bash
PowerShell

export DOTNET_ASPIRE_ENABLE_DEPLOY_COMMAND=true

$env:DOTNET_ASPIRE_ENABLE_DEPLOY_COMMAND="true"

Authenticate with Azure

Before deploying your application, authenticate with Azure using the Azure CLI:

az login

This command opens a browser window for you to sign in to your Azure account. After authentication completes, you can proceed with deployment.

Create an Aspire project

If you don’t already have an Aspire project, create one using the Aspire CLI:

aspire new AspireApp
cd AspireApp

This creates a new solution with an AppHost project and a sample web frontend.

Deploy using aspire deploy

Deploy your application to Azure Container Apps using the aspire deploy command:

aspire deploy

The command performs the following steps:

Validates your configuration: Checks for required settings and dependencies.
Generates the deployment manifest: Creates a manifest describing all resources in your application.
Provisions Azure resources: Creates or updates Azure Container Apps, Container Registry, and other required resources.
Builds and pushes container images: Builds Docker images for your projects and pushes them to Azure Container Registry.
Deploys the application: Updates your Container Apps with the new images and configuration.

Specify deployment parameters

You can provide deployment parameters inline using the --deployment-param flag:

aspire deploy --deployment-param location=eastus --deployment-param environment=production

Use a parameters file

For complex deployments, create a parameters file:

{
  "location": "eastus",
  "environment": "production",
  "resourceGroupName": "my-aspire-app-rg"
}

Then reference the file during deployment:

aspire deploy --deployment-params-file deployment-params.json

Deployment process

During deployment, the CLI displays progress information:

Building projects...
  ✓ AspireApp.Web
  ✓ AspireApp.ApiService

Pushing images to registry...
  ✓ aspireapp-web:latest
  ✓ aspireapp-apiservice:latest

Provisioning Azure resources...
  ✓ Resource group: aspireapp-rg
  ✓ Container Registry: aspireappacr
  ✓ Container Apps Environment: aspireapp-env
  ✓ Container App: web
  ✓ Container App: apiservice

Deployment complete!
Web endpoint: https://web.proudriver-12345678.eastus.azurecontainerapps.io

Monitor your deployment

After deployment completes, monitor your application using several methods:

View logs using Azure CLI

az containerapp logs show --name web --resource-group aspireapp-rg --follow

Access the Azure portal

Navigate to the Azure portal to:

View application metrics and logs
Configure scaling rules
Manage environment variables and secrets
Monitor application health

Use Application Insights

For comprehensive monitoring, integrate Application Insights:

var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

var appInsights = builder.AddAzureApplicationInsights("monitoring");

builder.AddProject<Projects.AspireApp_Web>("web")
    .WithReference(appInsights);

builder.AddProject<Projects.AspireApp_ApiService>("apiservice")
    .WithReference(appInsights);

builder.Build().Run();

Troubleshooting

Authentication issues

If you encounter authentication errors:

Verify you’re logged in to Azure:
Check Azure login status
```
az account show
```
Ensure you have the correct subscription selected:
Set Azure subscription
```
az account set --subscription <subscription-id>
```
Verify your account has the necessary permissions to create resources in the target resource group.

Image build failures

If container image builds fail:

Ensure Docker Desktop or Podman is running
Check that your Dockerfile syntax is correct
Verify you have sufficient disk space for image builds

Deployment failures

If the deployment fails:

Check the error message for specific details
Verify your deployment parameters are correct
Ensure the target region supports Azure Container Apps
Check Azure service health for any outages

Clean up resources

To remove all deployed resources:

az group delete --name aspireapp-rg --yes --no-wait

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