Publish Application Workflow

This reusable GitHub Actions workflow automates the process of building and deploying .NET and/or SPA (Single Page Application) projects to Azure. It provides flexibility to build and deploy either or both project types, supporting deployment to Azure Web Apps and/or Azure Storage.

Functionality Summary

The Publish Application workflow includes the following features:

• .NET Backend Build:

  • Restores NuGet packages and builds the .NET application.
  • Publishes the .NET application to a build output directory.
  • Supports adding private NuGet sources based on provided accounts and secrets.
  • Adds a GitHub release asset, if applicable, with the .NET application

• SPA Frontend Build:

  • Installs NPM dependencies and builds the SPA application using a specified NPM script.
  • Uploads the built SPA artifact and optionally a persisted documents file.
  • Adds a GitHub release asset, if applicable, with the SPA application

• Deployment to Azure:

  • Deploys the .NET and/or SPA application to Azure Web App.
  • Deploys the SPA application to Azure Storage for static website hosting.
  • Supports deployment methods: azure-webapp and azure-storage.

• Conditional Execution:

  • Workflow steps are conditionally executed based on the inputs provided.
  • Skips .NET steps if dotnet_folder is not specified.
  • Skips SPA steps if spa_folder is not specified.
  • Build jobs run regardless of whether Azure credentials are configured.
  • Deployment jobs only run if Azure credentials are provided.
  • Release assets are created whenever builds run, regardless of deployment configuration.

Configuration Options

Common Inputs

Input Name	Description	Required	Default Value
environment_name	Specifies the GitHub environment to use while building and for Azure authentication	Yes	None

.NET Build Inputs

Input Name	Description	Required	Default Value	Comments
dotnet_folder	Path to the .NET project folder	No	None	Omitting skips .NET-related steps
global_json_folder	Path to the folder containing global.json	No	.	Ignores dotnet_folder when resolving path
nuget_accounts	Comma-separated list of GitHub accounts for NuGet sources	No	Repository owner	Skipped if tokens are not provided
npm_accounts	Comma-separated list of GitHub accounts for NPM sources	No	Repository owner	Skipped if tokens are not provided
dotnet_configuration	.NET build configuration (e.g., Release, Debug)	No	Release

SPA Build Inputs

Input Name	Description	Required	Default Value	Comments
spa_folder	Path to the SPA project folder	No	None	Omitting skips SPA-related steps
spa_deployment_method	SPA deployment method: azure-webapp or azure-storage	No	None	Required to deploy
spa_version_env	Environment variable to set with the version number	No	VITE_VERSION	e.g. REACT_APP_VERSION for React
npm_build_script	NPM script used to build the SPA application	No	build
npm_dist_folder	Path to the SPA distribution folder (relative to spa_folder)	No	dist
persisted_documents_file	Path to the persisted documents file to copy to .NET build folder	No	None
npm_analyze_script	NPM script to run after build for analysis	No	None
analysis_artifacts	Full path to files to upload as analysis artifacts (glob pattern)	No	None

Azure Configuration Inputs

Input Name	Description	Required	Default Value
azure_client_id	Client ID for Azure deployment	No	None
azure_tenant_id	Tenant ID for Azure deployment	No	None
azure_subscription_id	Subscription ID for Azure deployment	No	None
azure_webapp_name	Azure Web App name for deployment	No	None
azure_webapp_slot_name	Azure Web App slot name for deployment	No	None
azure_storage_account	Azure Storage account name for deployment	No	None
azure_storage_container	Azure Storage container name for deployment	No	None

Environment Variables

If an environment is configured, variables configured for the specified environment are used as shell environment variables when building the code.

Required Variables or Inputs

The workflow requires the following Azure configuration values to be provided either as:

• Workflow inputs (as shown in the table above), or
• Repository/Environment variables with these names:

Variable Name	Description	Required	Default Value
AZURE_CLIENT_ID	Client ID for Azure deployment	No (will skip deployment if not specified)	None
AZURE_TENANT_ID	Tenant ID for Azure deployment	No (will skip deployment if not specified)	None
AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID	Subscription ID for Azure deployment	No (will skip deployment if not specified)	None
AZURE_WEBAPP_NAME	Azure Web App name for deployment	Required if deployment_method is azure-webapp	None
AZURE_WEBAPP_SLOT_NAME	Azure Web App slot name for deployment	No	Production
AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT	Azure Storage account name for deployment (azure-storage method)	Required if deployment_method is azure-storage	None
AZURE_STORAGE_CONTAINER	Azure Storage container name for deployment (azure-storage method)	Required if deployment_method is azure-storage	None

The workflow will first check for values provided as inputs, and if not found, will fall back to repository or environment variables. If neither is available, the workflow will skip deployment steps but will still build the application and create release assets.

Secrets

Secret Name	Description	Required	Default Value
NUGET_ORG_USER	Username for private NuGet source (if applicable)	No	None
NUGET_ORG_TOKEN	Token for private NuGet source (if applicable)	No	None
NPM_TOKEN	GitHub Personal Access Token for private npm packages	No	None

Example Usage Scripts

1. Deploy .NET Application to Azure Web App for development

name: Deploy .NET Application

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  publish-application:
    uses: Shane32/SharedWorkflows/.github/workflows/publish-app.yml@v2
    permissions:
      contents: write
      id-token: write
    with:
      dotnet_folder: '.'
      environment_name: Development
    secrets:
      NUGET_ORG_USER: ${{ secrets.NUGET_ORG_USER }}
      NUGET_ORG_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NUGET_ORG_TOKEN }}

The above example assumes that the necessary Azure configuration values are stored as GitHub environment variables for the Development environment.

2. Deploy SPA to Azure Storage for development

name: Deploy SPA Application

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  publish-application:
    uses: Shane32/SharedWorkflows/.github/workflows/publish-app.yml@v2
    permissions:
      contents: write
      id-token: write
    with:
      spa_folder: ReactApp
      spa_deployment_method: azure-storage
      environment_name: Development
      azure_storage_account: mystorageaccount
      azure_storage_container: public
      azure_client_id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_DEV_CLIENT_ID }}
      azure_tenant_id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_DEV_TENANT_ID }}
      azure_subscription_id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_DEV_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}

The above example shows how to provide Azure configuration values as workflow inputs, pulling from repository secrets.

3. Deploy Full Application (Backend and SPA) to Azure Web App for production

name: Deploy Full Application

on:
  release:
    types:
      - published

jobs:
  publish-application:
    uses: Shane32/SharedWorkflows/.github/workflows/publish-app.yml@v2
    permissions:
      contents: write
      id-token: write
    with:
      dotnet_folder: '.'
      spa_folder: ReactApp
      spa_deployment_method: azure-webapp
      environment_name: Production
    secrets:
      NUGET_ORG_USER: ${{ secrets.NUGET_ORG_USER }}
      NUGET_ORG_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NUGET_ORG_TOKEN }}
      NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

The above example assumes that the necessary Azure configuration values are stored as GitHub environment variables, and only passes the required NuGet secrets.

Notes

• The permissions: id-token: write is required for Azure deployment workflows to enable OIDC authentication with Azure.
• NUGET_ORG_USER, NUGET_ORG_TOKEN, and NPM_TOKEN should already be configured as organization secrets but need to be passed in.
• global.json is required
• Cannot override .NET SDK with another version or install multiple SDKs
• permissions: contents: write is necessary to upload the compiled application as a release asset