GitHub Actions Deployment¶

Use GitHub Actions to deploy ACS-related infrastructure, configure secrets, and run smoke tests after deployment.

flowchart TD
  A[Push to main] --> B[GitHub Actions]
  B --> C[az login with AZURE_CREDENTIALS]
  C --> D[Bicep deployment]
  D --> E[Configure app settings and secrets]
  E --> F[Smoke test]
  F --> G[Report status]

Secret management¶

Secret	Usage
`AZURE_CREDENTIALS`	Service principal JSON for `azure/login`
`ACS_CONNECTION_STRING`	Runtime secret for app settings
`APP_NAME`	Target app name
`RESOURCE_GROUP`	Deployment scope

Never print secrets

Pass secrets through GitHub Actions secrets and Azure app settings. Do not echo them into logs.

Workflow example¶

name: deploy-acs

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Azure login
        uses: azure/login@v2
        with:
          creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}

      - name: Deploy Bicep
        uses: azure/cli@v2
        with:
          inlineScript: |
            az deployment group create \
              --resource-group "$RESOURCE_GROUP" \
              --template-file infra/main.bicep \
              --parameters environment=prod
        env:
          RESOURCE_GROUP: ${{ secrets.RESOURCE_GROUP }}

      - name: Set app settings
        uses: azure/cli@v2
        with:
          inlineScript: |
            az webapp config appsettings set \
              --resource-group "$RESOURCE_GROUP" \
              --name "$APP_NAME" \
              --settings ACS_CONNECTION_STRING="$ACS_CONNECTION_STRING"
        env:
          RESOURCE_GROUP: ${{ secrets.RESOURCE_GROUP }}
          APP_NAME: ${{ secrets.APP_NAME }}
          ACS_CONNECTION_STRING: ${{ secrets.ACS_CONNECTION_STRING }}

      - name: Validation smoke test
        run: |
          curl --fail --retry 5 --retry-delay 10 https://${APP_NAME}.azurewebsites.net/healthz
        env:
          APP_NAME: ${{ secrets.APP_NAME }}

Bicep deployment step¶

Keep the template focused on core resources:

Resource group scoped deployment
Communication Services resource
App Service or Container App target
Key Vault for runtime secrets

Validation and smoke tests¶

Run at least one post-deploy check:

Confirm the resource exists with az resource show
Verify the app responds on /healthz
Send a lightweight ACS request if the app exposes one

Practical guidance¶

Deploy infra first

Separate infrastructure and application deployment so you can fail fast on template issues.

Sources¶

https://docs.github.com/actions
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-resource-manager/bicep/
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/create-communication-resource