virtual machine - Azure: Is there any way to deploy different instance sizes for test/production

Question

I have a Windows Azure site which is deployed to two separate hosted services. One for test, one for production. When we're ready to push to production, we spin up a staging deployment in the production service, push there, then do a VIP swap. All good.

The question is, now we want to move up from XS web instances, but it doesn't really make sense to spend the extra money on the test deployment. Is there any way to use an XS instance for test, and then say medium instances for production? I know I can change the number of instances for each service config, but I can only change the instance size for all configs.

I'm thinking of just leaving it XS in the config, and then remembering to switch it to Medium before I deploy to production. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this? Is there a better way?

Cheers!

Answer 1

There are a few ways to do this... Simpler way is to do a little "hacking" of the CCPROJ file:

1) create a clone of the CSDEF file for every environment that matches the Configuration Name (Release/Debug/QA/UAT/etc): ServiceDefinition.Release.csdef, ServiceDefinition.Debug.csdef, etc.

2) Add those files manually to the CCPROJ file by using a notepad editor

3) Define a Pre-Build Event command that copies the ServiceDefinition.$(ConfigurationName).csdef into ServiceDefintion.csdef

voila, now your ServiceDefintion will adapt to whatever configuration you're using.

If you want to get fancier or see more details, check out this blog entry that can help you switch all sorts of settings in unison

http://www.paraleap.com/blog/post/Managing-environments-in-a-distributed-Azure-or-other-cloud-based-NET-solution.aspx

Edit: Here is a config that works. Notice that other files are included as type "None" instead of ServiceDefinition to avoid the multiple definitions error.

  <ItemGroup>
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Local.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Development 1.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Development 2.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Local Dev 1.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Local Dev 2.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.QA 1.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.QA 2.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Pre-Production 1.cscfg" />
    <ServiceConfiguration Include="ServiceConfiguration.Production.cscfg" />
    <ServiceDefinition Include="ServiceDefinition.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Local.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Development 1.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Development 2.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Local Dev 1.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Local Dev 2.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.QA 1.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.QA 2.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Pre-Production 1.csdef" />
    <None Include="ServiceDefinition.Production.csdef" />
  </ItemGroup>