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07 - Revisions and Traffic

Azure Container Apps supports multiple revisions, allowing you to run multiple versions of your Spring Boot application simultaneously. This guide covers how to manage revisions and split traffic between them for zero-downtime releases and safe rollouts.

Infrastructure Context

Service: Container Apps (Consumption) | Network: VNet integrated | VNet: ✅

This tutorial assumes a production-ready Container Apps deployment with a custom VNet, ACR with managed identity pull, and private endpoints for backend services.

flowchart TD
    INET[Internet] -->|HTTPS| CA["Container App\nConsumption\nLinux Java 17"]

    subgraph VNET["VNet 10.0.0.0/16"]
        subgraph ENV_SUB["Environment Subnet 10.0.0.0/23\nDelegation: Microsoft.App/environments"]
            CAE[Container Apps Environment]
            CA
        end
        subgraph PE_SUB["Private Endpoint Subnet 10.0.2.0/24"]
            PE_ACR[PE: ACR]
            PE_KV[PE: Key Vault]
            PE_ST[PE: Storage]
        end
    end

    PE_ACR --> ACR[Azure Container Registry]
    PE_KV --> KV[Key Vault]
    PE_ST --> ST[Storage Account]

    subgraph DNS[Private DNS Zones]
        DNS_ACR[privatelink.azurecr.io]
        DNS_KV[privatelink.vaultcore.azure.net]
        DNS_ST[privatelink.blob.core.windows.net]
    end

    PE_ACR -.-> DNS_ACR
    PE_KV -.-> DNS_KV
    PE_ST -.-> DNS_ST

    CA -.->|System-Assigned MI| ENTRA[Microsoft Entra ID]
    CAE --> LOG[Log Analytics]
    CA --> AI[Application Insights]

    style CA fill:#107c10,color:#fff
    style VNET fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#4CAF50
    style DNS fill:#E3F2FD

Revision Workflow

graph TD
    APP_V1[App v1] --> REV_V1[Revision 1]
    APP_V2[App v2] --> REV_V2[Revision 2]
    REV_V1 --> TRAFFIC_50[Traffic 50%]
    REV_V2 --> TRAFFIC_50[Traffic 50%]
    TRAFFIC_50 --> USER[User]

Prerequisites

Revision Modes

By default, Container Apps are in Single revision mode, where only one revision is active at a time. To enable multiple revisions, switch to Multiple mode.

az containerapp revision set-mode \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --mode multiple
Expected output 
Setting multiple revision mode...
Revision mode set successfully.

Creating New Revisions

Every time you update the container image or configuration, a new revision is created.

az containerapp update \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --image $ACR_NAME.azurecr.io/java-guide:v2
Expected output 
(New revision created: <your-app-name>--xxxxxxx)
(New revision is now ACTIVE)

Managing Traffic Splitting

When multiple revisions are active, you can split traffic between them by percentage or name.

1. Simple 50/50 Split

az containerapp ingress traffic set \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --traffic-weight "$APP_NAME--0000001=50" "$APP_NAME--0000002=50"
Expected output 
Traffic weight updated.
Revision 1: 50%
Revision 2: 50%

2. Full Rollout (100% to Latest)

az containerapp ingress traffic set \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --traffic-weight "latest=100"

3. Canary Deployment (10% to New)

az containerapp ingress traffic set \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --traffic-weight "$APP_NAME--0000001=90" "$APP_NAME--0000002=10"

Cleaning Up Old Revisions

Deactivate old revisions to save resources and keep your environment clean.

az containerapp revision deactivate \
  --resource-group $RG \
  --name $APP_NAME \
  --revision $APP_NAME--0000001

Revision Checklist

  • [x] Revision mode is set to Multiple
  • [x] Every deployment creates a unique revision name
  • [x] Traffic weight sums up to 100%
  • [x] New revisions are verified via their unique URL before receiving production traffic
  • [x] Old revisions are deactivated after a successful rollout

Use unique labels for testing

Assign a label to a specific revision to test it independently of production traffic. Use az containerapp ingress traffic set --label testing=$APP_NAME--xxxxxxx and visit https://testing---$APP_NAME.<random-suffix>.<region>.azurecontainerapps.io.

See Also

Sources