Create a PHP web app in Azure App Service

Article
04/01/2024

Warning

PHP on Windows reached End-of-Life in November 2022 and is only supported on App Service on Linux. This article is for reference only..

Azure App Service provides a highly scalable, self-patching web hosting service. This quickstart tutorial shows how to deploy a PHP app to Azure App Service on Windows.

You create the web app using the Azure CLI, and you use Git to deploy sample PHP code to the web app.

Sample app running in Azure

You can follow the steps here using a Mac, Windows, or Linux machine. Once the prerequisites are installed, it takes about five minutes to complete the steps.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a trial account before you begin.

Note

After November 28, 2022, PHP will only be supported on App Service on Linux.

Prerequisites

To complete this quickstart:

Download the sample locally

In a terminal window, run the following commands. It will clone the sample application to your local machine, and navigate to the directory containing the sample code.
```
git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/php-docs-hello-world
cd php-docs-hello-world
```
Make sure the default branch is main.
```
git branch -m main
```
Tip

The branch name change isn't required by App Service. However, since many repositories are changing their default branch to main, this quickstart also shows you how to deploy a repository from main.

Run the app locally

Run the application locally so that you see how it should look when you deploy it to Azure. Open a terminal window and use the php command to launch the built-in PHP web server.
```
php -S localhost:8080
```
Open a web browser, and navigate to the sample app at http://localhost:8080.

You see the Hello World! message from the sample app displayed in the page.
In your terminal window, press Ctrl+C to exit the web server.

Configure a deployment user

FTP and local Git can deploy to an Azure web app by using a deployment user. Once you configure your deployment user, you can use it for all your Azure deployments. Your account-level deployment username and password are different from your Azure subscription credentials.

To configure the deployment user, run the az webapp deployment user set command in Azure CLI. Replace <username> and <password> with a deployment user username and password.

The username must be unique within Azure, and for local Git pushes, must not contain the ‘@’ symbol.
The password must be at least eight characters long, with two of the following three elements: letters, numbers, and symbols.

az webapp deployment user set --user-name <username> --password <password>

The JSON output shows the password as null. If you get a 'Conflict'. Details: 409 error, change the username. If you get a 'Bad Request'. Details: 400 error, use a stronger password.

Record your username and password to use to deploy your web apps.

Create a resource group

A resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources, such as web apps, databases, and storage accounts, are deployed and managed. For example, you can choose to delete the entire resource group in one simple step later.

In the Azure CLI, create a resource group with the az group create command. The following example creates a resource group named myResourceGroup in the China North location. To see all supported locations for App Service in Free tier, run the az appservice list-locations --sku FREE command.

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location "China North"

You generally create your resource group and the resources in a region near you.

When the command finishes, a JSON output shows you the resource group properties.

Create an Azure App Service plan

In the Azure CLI, create an App Service plan with the az appservice plan create command.

The following example creates an App Service plan named myAppServicePlan in the Free pricing tier:

az appservice plan create --name myAppServicePlan --resource-group myResourceGroup --sku FREE

When the App Service plan has been created, the Azure CLI shows information similar to the following example:

{ 
  "adminSiteName": null,
  "appServicePlanName": "myAppServicePlan",
  "geoRegion": "China North",
  "hostingEnvironmentProfile": null,
  "id": "/subscriptions/0000-0000/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/myAppServicePlan",
  "kind": "app",
  "location": "China North",
  "maximumNumberOfWorkers": 1,
  "name": "myAppServicePlan",
  < JSON data removed for brevity. >
  "targetWorkerSizeId": 0,
  "type": "Microsoft.Web/serverfarms",
  "workerTierName": null
}

Create a web app

In your local shell, create a web app in the myAppServicePlan App Service plan with the az webapp create command.

In the following example, replace <app-name> with a globally unique app name (valid characters are a-z, 0-9, and -). The runtime is set to PHP|7.4. To see all supported runtimes, run az webapp list-runtimes.
```
az webapp create --resource-group myResourceGroup --plan myAppServicePlan --name <app-name> --runtime 'PHP|8.1' --deployment-local-git
```
When the web app has been created, the Azure CLI shows output similar to the following example:
```
 Local git is configured with url of 'https://<username>@<app-name>.scm.chinacloudsites.cn/<app-name>.git'
 {
   "availabilityState": "Normal",
   "clientAffinityEnabled": true,
   "clientCertEnabled": false,
   "cloningInfo": null,
   "containerSize": 0,
   "dailyMemoryTimeQuota": 0,
   "defaultHostName": "<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn",
   "enabled": true,
   < JSON data removed for brevity. >
 }
 
```
You've created an empty new web app, with git deployment enabled.

Note

The URL of the Git remote is shown in the deploymentLocalGitUrl property, with the format https://<username>@<app-name>.scm.chinacloudsites.cn/<app-name>.git. Save this URL as you need it later.
Browse to your newly created web app. Replace <app-name> with your unique app name created in the prior step.
```
http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn
```
Here's what your new web app should look like:

Push to Azure from Git

Since you're deploying the main branch, you need to set the default deployment branch for your App Service app to main (see Change deployment branch). In the Cloud Shell, set the DEPLOYMENT_BRANCH app setting with the az webapp config appsettings set command.
```
az webapp config appsettings set --name <app-name> --resource-group myResourceGroup --settings DEPLOYMENT_BRANCH='main'
```
Back in the local terminal window, add an Azure remote to your local Git repository. Replace <deploymentLocalGitUrl-from-create-step> with the URL of the Git remote that you saved from Create a web app.
```
git remote add azure <deploymentLocalGitUrl-from-create-step>
```
Push to the Azure remote to deploy your app with the following command. When Git Credential Manager prompts you for credentials, make sure you enter the credentials you created in Configure a deployment user, not the credentials you use to sign in to the Azure portal.
```
git push azure main
```
This command may take a few minutes to run. While running, it displays information similar to the following example:

  Counting objects: 2, done.
  Delta compression using up to 4 threads.
  Compressing objects: 100% (2/2), done.
  Writing objects: 100% (2/2), 352 bytes | 0 bytes/s, done.
  Total 2 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0)
  remote: Updating branch 'main'.
  remote: Updating submodules.
  remote: Preparing deployment for commit id '25f18051e9'.
  remote: Generating deployment script.
  remote: Running deployment command...
  remote: Handling Basic Web Site deployment.
  remote: Kudu sync from: '/home/site/repository' to: '/home/site/wwwroot'
  remote: Copying file: '.gitignore'
  remote: Copying file: 'LICENSE'
  remote: Copying file: 'README.md'
  remote: Copying file: 'index.php'
  remote: Ignoring: .git
  remote: Finished successfully.
  remote: Running post deployment command(s)...
  remote: Deployment successful.
  To https://<app-name>.scm.chinacloudsites.cn/<app-name>.git
      cc39b1e..25f1805  main -> main

Browse to the app

Browse to the deployed application using your web browser.

http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn

The PHP sample code is running in an Azure App Service web app.

Sample app running in Azure

Congratulations! You've deployed your first PHP app to App Service.

Update locally and redeploy the code

Using a local text editor, open the index.php file within the PHP app, and make a small change to the text within the string next to echo:
```
echo "Hello Azure!";
```
In the local terminal window, commit your changes in Git, and then push the code changes to Azure.
```
git commit -am "updated output"
git push azure main
```
Once deployment has completed, return to the browser window that opened during the Browse to the app step, and refresh the page.

Manage your new Azure app

Go to the Azure portal to manage the web app you created. Search for and select App Services.
Select the name of your Azure app.

Your web app's Overview page will be displayed. Here, you can perform basic management tasks like Browse, Stop, Restart, and Delete.

The web app menu provides different options for configuring your app.

Clean up resources

In the preceding steps, you created Azure resources in a resource group. If you don't expect to need these resources in the future, delete the resource group by running the following command in the local Azure CLI:

az group delete --name myResourceGroup

This command may take a minute to run.

Azure App Service provides a highly scalable, self-patching web hosting service. This quickstart shows how to deploy a PHP app to Azure App Service on Linux.

Screenshot of the sample app running in Azure.

You can follow the steps here using a Mac, Windows, or Linux machine. Once the prerequisites are installed, it takes about five minutes to complete the steps.

To complete this quickstart, you need:

An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account.
Git
PHP
Azure CLI to run commands in any shell to create and configure Azure resources.

You can create the web app using the Azure CLI in the local CLI, and you use Git to deploy sample PHP code to the web app.

In a terminal window, run the following commands to clone the sample application to your local machine and navigate to the project root.
```
git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/php-docs-hello-world
cd php-docs-hello-world
```
To run the application locally, use the php command to launch the built-in PHP web server.
```
php -S localhost:8080
```
Browse to the sample application at http://localhost:8080 in a web browser.
In your terminal window, press Ctrl+C to exit the web server.

2 - Deploy your application code to Azure

Azure CLI
Portal

Azure CLI has a command az webapp up that creates the necessary resources and deploys your application in a single step.

In the terminal, deploy the code in your local folder using the az webapp up command:

az webapp up --runtime "PHP:8.2" --os-type=linux

If the az command isn't recognized, be sure you have Azure CLI installed.
The --runtime "PHP:8.2" argument creates the web app with PHP version 8.2.
The --os-type=linux argument creates the web app on App Service on Linux.
You can optionally specify a name with the argument --name <app-name>. If you don't provide one, then a name is automatically generated.
You can optionally include the argument --location <location-name> where <location_name> is an available Azure region. You can retrieve a list of allowable regions for your Azure account by running the az account list-locations command.
If you see the error, "Could not auto-detect the runtime stack of your app," make sure you're running the command in the code directory (See Troubleshooting auto-detect issues with az webapp up).

The command can take a few minutes to complete. While it's running, it provides messages about creating the resource group, the App Service plan, and the app resource, configuring logging, and doing ZIP deployment. It then gives the message, "You can launch the app at http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn", which is the app's URL on Azure.

The webapp '<app-name>' doesn't exist
Creating Resource group '<group-name>' ...
Resource group creation complete
Creating AppServicePlan '<app-service-plan-name>' ...
Creating webapp '<app-name>' ...
Configuring default logging for the app, if not already enabled
Creating zip with contents of dir /home/msangapu/myPhpApp ...
Getting scm site credentials for zip deployment
Starting zip deployment. This operation can take a while to complete ...
Deployment endpoint responded with status code 202
You can launch the app at http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn
{
  "URL": "http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn",
  "appserviceplan": "<app-service-plan-name>",
  "location": "chinaeast",
  "name": "<app-name>",
  "os": "linux",
  "resourcegroup": "<group-name>",
  "runtime_version": "php|8.2",
  "runtime_version_detected": "0.0",
  "sku": "FREE",
  "src_path": "//home//msangapu//myPhpApp"
}

Note

The az webapp up command does the following actions:

Create a default resource group.
Create a default App Service plan.
Create an app with the specified name.
Zip deploy all files from the current working directory, with build automation enabled.
Cache the parameters locally in the .azure/config file so that you don't need to specify them again when deploying later with az webapp up or other az webapp commands from the project folder. The cached values are used automatically by default.

Browse to the deployed application in your web browser at the URL http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn.

Sign into the Azure portal.
At the top of the portal, type app services in the search box. Under Services, select App Services.
In the App Services page, select + Create.
In the Basics tab:
- Under Resource group, select Create new. Type myResourceGroup for the name.
- Under Name, type a globally unique name for your web app.
- Under Publish, select Code.
- Under Runtime stack select PHP 8.2.
- Under Operating System, select Linux.
- Under Region, select an Azure region close to you.
- Under App Service Plan, create an app service plan named myAppServicePlan.
- Under Pricing plan, select Free F1.
Select the Deployment tab at the top of the page.
Under GitHub Actions settings, set Continuous deployment to Enable.
Under GitHub Actions details, authenticate with your GitHub account, and select the following options:
- For Organization select the organization where you forked the demo project.
- For Repository select the php-docs-hello-world project.
- For Branch select master.
Note

By default, the creation wizard disables basic authentication and GitHub Actions deployment is created using a user-assigned identity. If you get a permissions error during resource creation, your Azure account might not have enough permissions. You can configure GitHub Actions deployment later with an identity generated for you by an Azure administrator, or you can also enable basic authentication instead.
Select the Review + create button at the bottom of the page.
After validation runs, select the Create button at the bottom of the page.
After deployment is completed, select Go to resource.
Browse to the deployed application in your web browser at the URL http://<app-name>.chinacloudsites.cn.

The PHP sample code is running in an Azure App Service.

Screenshot of the sample app running in Azure, showing 'Hello World!'.

Congratulations! You deployed your first PHP app to App Service using the Azure portal.

3 - Update and redeploy the app

Azure CLI
Portal

Using a local text editor, open the index.php file within the PHP app, and make a small change to the text within the string next to echo:
```
echo "Hello Azure!";
```
Save your changes, then redeploy the app using the az webapp up command again with these arguments:
```
az webapp up --runtime "PHP:8.2" --os-type=linux
```
Once deployment is completed, return to the browser window that opened during the Browse to the app step, and refresh the page.

Browse to your GitHub fork of php-docs-hello-world.
On your repo page, press . to start Visual Studio Code within your browser.

Note

The URL will change from GitHub.com to GitHub.dev. This feature only works with repos that have files. This does not work on empty repos.
Edit index.php so that it shows "Hello Azure!" instead of "Hello World!"
```
<?php
    echo "Hello Azure!";
?>
```
From the Source Control menu, select the Stage Changes button to stage the change.
Enter a commit message such as Hello Azure. Then, select Commit and Push.
Once deployment is completed, return to the browser window that opened during the Browse to the app step, and refresh the page.

4 - Manage your new Azure app

Go to the Azure portal to manage the web app you created. Search for and select App Services.
Select the name of your Azure app.

Your web app's Overview page should be displayed. Here, you can perform basic management tasks like Browse, Stop, Restart, and Delete.

The web app menu provides different options for configuring your app.

5 - Clean up resources

When you're finished with the sample app, you can remove all of the resources for the app from Azure. It helps you avoid extra charges and keeps your Azure subscription uncluttered. Removing the resource group also removes all resources in the resource group and is the fastest way to remove all Azure resources for your app.

Azure CLI
Portal

Delete the resource group by using the az group delete command.

az group delete --name myResourceGroup

This command takes a minute to run.

Next steps

PHP with MySQL

Configure PHP app

Secure with custom domain and certificate