02 - First Deploy (Premium)¶

Deploy a Node.js Function App to an Elastic Premium plan (EP1) with always-warm instances, then publish code and verify the app is live.

Prerequisites¶

You completed 01 - Run Locally.
You are signed in to Azure CLI and have Contributor access.
You already exported: $RG, $APP_NAME, $PLAN_NAME, $STORAGE_NAME, $LOCATION (use koreacentral for this guide).

What You'll Build¶

A Linux Node.js Function App on Elastic Premium (EP1) with runtime settings.
Always-warm instances for production latency requirements.
A first deployment pipeline (func azure functionapp publish) and endpoint verification.

Network Scenario Choices

This tutorial deploys with public networking. Premium supports VNet integration:

Scenario	Description	Guide
Public Only	No VNet (this tutorial)	Current page
Private Egress	VNet + Storage PE	Private Egress
Private Ingress	+ Site Private Endpoint	Private Ingress
Fixed Outbound IP	+ NAT Gateway	Fixed Outbound

Infrastructure Context

Plan: Premium (EP1) | Network: Public (VNet optional) | Always warm: ✅

Premium deploys with pre-warmed instances, Azure Files content share for deployment, and optional VNet integration. Storage uses connection string authentication by default.

flowchart TD
    INET[Internet] -->|HTTPS| FA[Function App\nPremium EP1\nLinux Node.js 20]

    subgraph PLAN["Elastic Premium Plan"]
        FA
        WARM["Pre-warmed instances\nMin: 1"]
    end

    FA --> ST["Storage Account\nAzure Files content share"]
    FA --> AI[Application Insights]
    FA -.->|System-Assigned MI| ENTRA[Microsoft Entra ID]

    style FA fill:#ff8c00,color:#fff
    style PLAN fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#4CAF50
    style ST fill:#FFF3E0
    style WARM fill:#FFF3E0,stroke:#FF9800

Steps¶

Set environment variables for the deployment.

export RG="rg-func-node-prem-demo"
export LOCATION="koreacentral"
export STORAGE_NAME="stndprem0410"
export PLAN_NAME="plan-ndprem-04100022"
export APP_NAME="func-ndprem-04100022"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`export RG="..."`	Sets the resource group name for the deployment.
`export LOCATION="..."`	Chooses the Azure region for the deployment.
`export STORAGE_NAME="..."`	Defines a unique name for the storage account.
`export PLAN_NAME="..."`	Sets the name for the Elastic Premium plan.
`export APP_NAME="..."`	Defines a globally unique name for the Function App.

Globally unique names required

Both $APP_NAME and $STORAGE_NAME must be globally unique across all Azure subscriptions. If you get a naming conflict, append a random suffix (e.g., func-ndprem-04091234).

Authenticate and set subscription context.
```
az login
az account set --subscription "<subscription-id>"
```
Command/Parameter Purpose

az login Authenticates your CLI session with Azure.

az account set --subscription Targets the specific Azure subscription for resource creation.

Create resource group.

az group create \
  --name "$RG" \
  --location "$LOCATION"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az group create`	Provisions a new Azure resource group container.
`--name "$RG"`	Specifies the resource group name.
`--location "$LOCATION"`	Sets the geographical region for the group.

Expected output (abridged):

{
  "name": "rg-func-node-prem-demo",
  "location": "koreacentral",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  }
}

Create storage account.

az storage account create \
  --name "$STORAGE_NAME" \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --location "$LOCATION" \
  --sku "Standard_LRS" \
  --kind "StorageV2" \
  --allow-blob-public-access false

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az storage account create`	Provisions a new Azure Storage account.
`--sku "Standard_LRS"`	Selects locally-redundant storage for cost-efficiency.
`--kind "StorageV2"`	Uses the general-purpose v2 storage account type.
`--allow-blob-public-access false`	Disables public access to blobs for better security.

Expected output (abridged):

{
  "name": "<storage-account-name>",
  "location": "koreacentral",
  "kind": "StorageV2",
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
}

Create the Premium plan (EP1, Linux).

az functionapp plan create \
  --name "$PLAN_NAME" \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --location "$LOCATION" \
  --sku "EP1" \
  --is-linux

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az functionapp plan create`	Provisions an Elastic Premium hosting plan.
`--sku "EP1"`	Selects the entry-level Premium tier.
`--is-linux`	Configures the plan for Linux-based workers.

Expected output (abridged):

{
  "name": "<plan-name>",
  "location": "koreacentral",
  "sku": {
    "name": "EP1",
    "tier": "ElasticPremium"
  },
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
}

Create the Function App on the Premium plan.

az functionapp create \
  --name "$APP_NAME" \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --plan "$PLAN_NAME" \
  --storage-account "$STORAGE_NAME" \
  --runtime "node" \
  --runtime-version "20" \
  --functions-version "4" \
  --os-type "Linux"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az functionapp create`	Provisions the core Function App resource.
`--plan "$PLAN_NAME"`	Links the app to the Elastic Premium plan.
`--runtime "node"`	Selects the Node.js execution environment.
`--runtime-version "20"`	Pins the Node.js version to v20.
`--functions-version "4"`	Uses version 4 of the Azure Functions runtime host.
`--os-type "Linux"`	Deploys the app on a Linux infrastructure.

Node.js 20 EOL approaching

Azure CLI warns: Use node version 24 as 20 will reach end-of-life on 2026-04-30. Consider using --runtime-version 22 or later for new projects.

Expected output (abridged):

{
  "name": "func-ndprem-04100022",
  "state": "Running",
  "kind": "functionapp,linux",
  "defaultHostName": "func-ndprem-04100022.azurewebsites.net"
}

Application Insights auto-created

az functionapp create automatically creates an Application Insights resource with the same name as the function app (e.g., func-ndprem-04100022), not $APP_NAME-ai. The APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING app setting is auto-configured.

Enterprise policy: Shared key access

Some enterprise subscriptions enforce Azure Policy that sets allowSharedKeyAccess: false on all storage accounts. Premium (EP1) requires WEBSITE_CONTENTAZUREFILECONNECTIONSTRING with a connection string that uses shared key access to create the content file share during provisioning. If your subscription has this policy, the Function App creation will fail with a 403 error. Solutions:

Request a policy exemption from your Azure administrator
Use Flex Consumption (FC1) which supports identity-based blob storage without shared keys
Use Dedicated (B1) which uses WEBSITE_RUN_FROM_PACKAGE without a content file share

Publish the app.

cd apps/nodejs
func azure functionapp publish "$APP_NAME"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`cd apps/nodejs`	Moves the terminal into the source code directory.
`func azure functionapp publish`	Bundles, uploads, and deploys the app source code.

Expected output (abridged):

Getting site publishing info...
Uploading package...
Uploading 49.36 MB [##############################################################]
Upload completed successfully.
Deployment completed successfully.
Syncing triggers...

EventHub placeholder required

If your app includes an Event Hub trigger, the function host may fail to start without a valid EventHubConnection setting. Set a placeholder:

az functionapp config appsettings set \
  --name "$APP_NAME" \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --settings "EventHubConnection__fullyQualifiedNamespace=placeholder.servicebus.windows.net"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az functionapp config appsettings set`	Updates the application settings for the Function App.
`--settings`	Defines the key-value pairs required by the function triggers.

Validate deployment.

az functionapp function list \
  --name "$APP_NAME" \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --output table

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az functionapp function list`	Queries ARM to retrieve the list of indexed functions.
`--output table`	Formats the function list as a readable text table.

Function indexing delay

After the first publish, it may take 30–60 seconds for all functions to appear in the ARM API. If the list is empty, wait and retry.

Expected output (abridged — showing key functions):

Name                                          Language
--------------------------------------------  ----------
func-ndprem-04100022/helloHttp                node
func-ndprem-04100022/health                   node
func-ndprem-04100022/info                     node
func-ndprem-04100022/queueProcessor           node
func-ndprem-04100022/blobProcessor            node
func-ndprem-04100022/scheduledCleanup         node

Language field

The Language column shows node, not Javascript. This is the actual value returned by the ARM API for Node.js v4 apps.

Test the deployed endpoints.

curl --request GET "https://$APP_NAME.azurewebsites.net/api/health"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`curl --request GET`	Sends an HTTP GET request to verify the health endpoint.

Expected output:

{"status":"healthy","timestamp":"2026-04-09T15:42:13.827Z","version":"1.0.0"}

curl --request GET "https://$APP_NAME.azurewebsites.net/api/hello/Azure"

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`curl --request GET`	Sends an HTTP GET request to verify the hello endpoint.

Expected output:

{"message":"Hello, Azure"}

Verification¶

The output confirms that Azure indexed your function definitions and the app serves requests. Verify:

az functionapp function list shows functions with language node
curl to the health endpoint returns 200 OK with {"status":"healthy",...}
curl to /api/hello/Azure returns {"message":"Hello, Azure"}

02 - First Deploy (Premium)¶

Prerequisites¶

What You'll Build¶

Steps¶

Verification¶

See Also¶

Sources¶

Command/Parameter	Purpose
`az login`	Authenticates your CLI session with Azure.
`az account set --subscription`	Targets the specific Azure subscription for resource creation.