Azure Resource Template Dependencies / Application Insights

Question

I have a chicken and egg problem deploying Application Insights with my web application to Azure. In the ARM template, the Application Insights module is dependent upon the web site for the application id (see dependencies in the ARM templates below). On the other hand, in order to fully instrument the web application, I need the instrumentation key from the Application Insights Module. How does one get around this?

Application Insights View From the Portal

ARM Template for Web App

ARM Template for Application Insights

Did you see [that template](https://github.com/sjkp/azure-arm-multiregion-website-template/blob/master/azure-arm-multiregion-website-template/Templates/WebSite.json)? — Alex Belotserkovskiy, Jun 01 '16 at 14:00
The most helpful example ended up being these: http://stackoverflow.com/a/27625607/188474 and the refrenced github template: https://github.com/davidebbo/AzureWebsitesSamples/blob/3ab2e9ff14c66719271a62c1ba8213c5258c7a6e/ARMTemplates/WebSiteManyFeatures.json#L96-L108 — Brett, Jun 01 '16 at 20:14

score 21 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:10

The solution is to have the connection strings and app settings created as nested child resources of the web site. By using the child resource strategy, one can then make the appsettings dependent upon both the web site and application insights. This allows provisioning to occur in the following order:

Web Site
Application Insights
Web Site config / appsettings

The following two answers were helpful. The first one illustrates how to pull the instrumentation key. The second one illustrates how to nest app settings and connection strings as child resources of the web site.

How to pull the instrumentation key

How to nest app settings as child resources

Here is my final template:

{
  "$schema": "http://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "webSiteName": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "aadTenant": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "aadAudience": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "endpoints": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "n/a"
    },
    "apiEndpoint": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "n/a"
    },
    "sqlConnStrName": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "sqlConnStrValue": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "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 instance size. 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": {
    "hostingPlanName": "[concat(parameters('webSiteName'), '-hostingplan')]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
      "name": "[variables('hostingPlanName')]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Web/serverfarms",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "tags": {
        "displayName": "HostingPlan"
      },
      "sku": {
        "name": "[parameters('skuName')]",
        "capacity": "[parameters('skuCapacity')]"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[variables('hostingPlanName')]"
      }
    },
    {
      "apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
      "name": "[parameters('webSiteName')]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[variables('hostingPlanName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-related:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName')))]": "empty",
        "displayName": "Website"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[parameters('webSiteName')]",
        "serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName'))]"
      },
      "resources": [
        {
          "apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
          "name": "appsettings",
          "type": "config",
          "dependsOn": [
            "[parameters('webSiteName')]",
            "[concat('AppInsights', parameters('webSiteName'))]"
          ],
          "properties": {
            "ida:Tenant": "[parameters('aadTenant')]",
            "ida:Audience": "[parameters('aadAudience')]",
            "endpoints": "[parameters('endpoints')]",
            "apiEndpoint": "[parameters('apiEndpoint')]",
            "applicationInsightsInstrumentationKey": "[reference(resourceId('Microsoft.Insights/components', concat('AppInsights', parameters('webSiteName'))), '2014-04-01').InstrumentationKey]"
          }
        },
        {
          "apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
          "type": "config",
          "name": "connectionstrings",
          "dependsOn": [
            "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
          ],
          "properties": {
            "[parameters('sqlConnStrName')]": {
              "value": "[parameters('sqlConnStrValue')]",
              "type": "SQLServer"
            }
          }
        },
        {
          "apiVersion": "2015-08-01",
          "name": "logs",
          "type": "config",
          "dependsOn": [
            "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
          ],
          "properties": {
            "applicationLogs": {
              "fileSystem": {
                "level": "Off"
              },
              "azureTableStorage": {
                "level": "Off",
                "sasUrl": null
              },
              "azureBlobStorage": {
                "level": "Information",
                "sasUrl": "TO DO: pass in a SAS Url",
                "retentionInDays": null
              }
            },
            "httpLogs": {
              "fileSystem": {
                "retentionInMb": 40,
                "enabled": true
              }
            },
            "failedRequestsTracing": {
              "enabled": true
            },
            "detailedErrorMessages": {
              "enabled": true
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
      "name": "[concat(variables('hostingPlanName'), '-', resourceGroup().name)]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/autoscalesettings",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "AutoScaleSettings"
      },
      "dependsOn": [
        "[variables('hostingPlanName')]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "profiles": [
          {
            "name": "Default",
            "capacity": {
              "minimum": 1,
              "maximum": 2,
              "default": 1
            },
            "rules": [
              {
                "metricTrigger": {
                  "metricName": "CpuPercentage",
                  "metricResourceUri": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('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": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('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(variables('hostingPlanName'), '-', resourceGroup().name)]",
        "targetResourceUri": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName'))]"
      }
    },
    {
      "apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
      "name": "[concat('ServerErrors ', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', parameters('webSiteName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "ServerErrorsAlertRule"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[concat('ServerErrors ', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
        "description": "[concat(parameters('webSiteName'), ' has some server errors, status code 5xx.')]",
        "isEnabled": true,
        "condition": {
          "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
          "dataSource": {
            "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
            "resourceUri": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
            "metricName": "Http5xx"
          },
          "operator": "GreaterThan",
          "threshold": 5.0,
          "windowSize": "PT5M"
        },
        "action": {
          "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
          "sendToServiceOwners": true,
          "customEmails": ["you@example.com"]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
      "name": "[concat('ForbiddenRequests ', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', parameters('webSiteName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "ForbiddenRequestsAlertRule"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[concat('ForbiddenRequests ', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
        "description": "[concat(parameters('webSiteName'), ' has some requests that are forbidden, status code 403.')]",
        "isEnabled": true,
        "condition": {
          "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
          "dataSource": {
            "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
            "resourceUri": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
            "metricName": "Http403"
          },
          "operator": "GreaterThan",
          "threshold": 5,
          "windowSize": "PT5M"
        },
        "action": {
          "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
          "sendToServiceOwners": true,
          "customEmails": [ ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "apiVersion": "2014-04-01",
      "name": "[concat('CPUHigh ', variables('hostingPlanName'))]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[variables('hostingPlanName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "CPUHighAlertRule"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[concat('CPUHigh ', variables('hostingPlanName'))]",
        "description": "[concat('The average CPU is high across all the instances of ', variables('hostingPlanName'))]",
        "isEnabled": false,
        "condition": {
          "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
          "dataSource": {
            "odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
            "resourceUri": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('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 ', variables('hostingPlanName'))]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertrules",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[variables('hostingPlanName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', variables('hostingPlanName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "AutoScaleSettings"
      },
      "properties": {
        "name": "[concat('LongHttpQueue ', variables('hostingPlanName'))]",
        "description": "[concat('The HTTP queue for the instances of ', variables('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/', variables('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": "[concat('AppInsights', parameters('webSiteName'))]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Insights/components",
      "location": "Central US",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
      ],
      "tags": {
        "[concat('hidden-link:', resourceId('Microsoft.Web/sites', parameters('webSiteName')))]": "Resource",
        "displayName": "AppInsightsComponent"
      },
      "properties": {
        "ApplicationId": "[parameters('webSiteName')]"
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "siteUri": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[reference(concat('Microsoft.Web/sites/', parameters('webSiteName')), '2015-08-01').hostnames[0]]"
    }
  }

}

To make this work for a loop on WebSites, I had to remove the `Microsoft.Insights/component`'s `dependsOn` dependency on the web sites. — rcabr, May 19 '17 at 15:28

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 02 '20 at 17:25

Alternative and updated answer (2020/03): do what the Azure Portal UX does (can be viewed via "Download template" at a last step of webapp creation).

For application insights resource, you don't necessarily need to wait for website resource to be created. According to applicationInsights ARM the website.Name is used to applicaitonInsights.properties.ApplicationId. Since you are creating both at the same time, you can pass the name value both to ApplicationInsights and website resources from input:

{
    "$schema": "http://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
    "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
    "parameters": {
        "subscriptionId": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "name": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "location": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "hostingEnvironment": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "hostingPlanName": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "serverFarmResourceGroup": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "alwaysOn": {
            "type": "bool"
        },
        "sku": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "skuCode": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "workerSize": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "workerSizeId": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "numberOfWorkers": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "currentStack": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "netFrameworkVersion": {
            "type": "string"
        }
    },
    "resources": [
        {
            "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
            "name": "[parameters('name')]",
            "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
            "location": "[parameters('location')]",
            "tags": {},
            "dependsOn": [
                "microsoft.insights/components/testapp01",
                "[concat('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
            ],
            "properties": {
                "name": "[parameters('name')]",
                "siteConfig": {
                    "appSettings": [
                        {
                            "name": "APPINSIGHTS_INSTRUMENTATIONKEY",
                            "value": "[reference('microsoft.insights/components/testapp01', '2015-05-01').InstrumentationKey]"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING",
                            "value": "[reference('microsoft.insights/components/testapp01', '2015-05-01').ConnectionString]"
                        },
                        {
                            "name": "ApplicationInsightsAgent_EXTENSION_VERSION",
                            "value": "~2"
                        }
                    ],
                    "metadata": [
                        {
                            "name": "CURRENT_STACK",
                            "value": "[parameters('currentStack')]"
                        }
                    ],
                    "netFrameworkVersion": "[parameters('netFrameworkVersion')]",
                    "alwaysOn": "[parameters('alwaysOn')]"
                },
                "serverFarmId": "[concat('/subscriptions/', parameters('subscriptionId'),'/resourcegroups/', parameters('serverFarmResourceGroup'), '/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]",
                "hostingEnvironment": "[parameters('hostingEnvironment')]",
                "clientAffinityEnabled": true
            }
        },
        {
            "apiVersion": "2018-11-01",
            "name": "[parameters('hostingPlanName')]",
            "type": "Microsoft.Web/serverfarms",
            "location": "[parameters('location')]",
            "kind": "",
            "tags": {},
            "dependsOn": [],
            "properties": {
                "name": "[parameters('hostingPlanName')]",
                "workerSize": "[parameters('workerSize')]",
                "workerSizeId": "[parameters('workerSizeId')]",
                "numberOfWorkers": "[parameters('numberOfWorkers')]",
                "hostingEnvironment": "[parameters('hostingEnvironment')]"
            },
            "sku": {
                "Tier": "[parameters('sku')]",
                "Name": "[parameters('skuCode')]"
            }
        },
        {
            "apiVersion": "2015-05-01",
            "name": "testapp01",
            "type": "microsoft.insights/components",
            "location": "centralus",
            "tags": {},
            "properties": {
                "ApplicationId": "[parameters('name')]",
                "Request_Source": "IbizaWebAppExtensionCreate"
            }
        }
    ]
}

The order of creation will be following:

Application Insights resource
App Service webapp

Would suggest to remove the hard coded testapp01. Instead either create this name via a variable or pass it in as a parameter. This would be considered best practice and make it easier to redeploy and reuse the template. — DreadedFrost, Mar 04 '20 at 03:26

colinD · Answer 3 · 2020-03-23T14:48:40.037

To elaborate on Mikl X answer, you can have the website depend on the application insights resource and set the instrumentation key on the app settings of the website.

Skipping irrelevant parts:

    "resources": [
        {
            "type": "Microsoft.Insights/components",
            "name": "[variables('appInsightsName')]"
            ... more config
        },
        {
            "type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
            "name": "[variables('apiName')]",
            "dependsOn": [
                "[resourceId('Microsoft.Insights/components', variables('appInsightsName'))]" <-- ensure app insights is created first
            ],
            "properties": {
                "siteConfig": {
                    "appSettings": [
                        {
                            "name": "APPINSIGHTS_INSTRUMENTATIONKEY",
                            "value": "[reference(variables('appInsightsName')).InstrumentationKey]" <-- use key of previously created resource
                        }
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
        ... more config
    ]

Azure Resource Template Dependencies / Application Insights

3 Answers3

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