Azure Front Door Tutorial

Azure Front Door is a global service that enables you to create a single entry point for your web applications and APIs, providing improved performance, reliability, and security. In this tutorial, we will explore how to create and configure Azure Front Door using the Azure Portal and CLI commands.

Prerequisites

Before starting with the Azure Front Door tutorial, you need to have the following prerequisites:

  • An Azure subscription
  • The Azure CLI installed on your local machine
  • Basic knowledge of the Azure Portal and CLI

Step 1: Create a Front Door instance

The first step is to create a Front Door instance in the Azure Portal. Follow the below steps to create a new instance:

  1. Login to the Azure Portal.
  2. Click on the “+ Create a resource” button from the left-hand side menu.
  3. Search for “Front Door” and select the “Front Door” option from the results.
  4. Click on the “Create” button to start the Front Door creation process.

Alternatively, you can also create a Front Door instance using the following Azure CLI command:

az network front-door create --name <front-door-name> --resource-group <resource-group-name>

Step 2: Create a Front Door frontend endpoint

The next step is to create a frontend endpoint for the Front Door instance. Follow the below steps to create a new endpoint:

  1. Open the Front Door instance in the Azure Portal.
  2. Click on the “Frontend endpoints” tab from the left-hand side menu.
  3. Click on the “+ Add” button to add a new frontend endpoint.
  4. Enter a name for the endpoint and select the “Custom host” option.
  5. Enter the hostname of your web application or API.
  6. Click on the “Add” button to save the frontend endpoint.

Alternatively, you can also create a frontend endpoint using the following Azure CLI command:

az network front-door frontend-endpoint create --name <frontend-endpoint-name> --front-door-name <front-door-name> --host-name <hostname> --session-affinity-enabled true

Step 3: Create a Front Door backend pool

The next step is to create a backend pool for the Front Door instance. Follow the below steps to create a new pool:

  1. Open the Front Door instance in the Azure Portal.
  2. Click on the “Backend pools” tab from the left-hand side menu.
  3. Click on the “+ Add” button to add a new backend pool.
  4. Enter a name for the pool.
  5. Select the appropriate backend type (Azure Web App, Azure Function App, or custom backend).
  6. Enter the backend URL or hostname.
  7. Click on the “Add” button to save the backend pool.

Alternatively, you can also create a backend pool using the following Azure CLI command:

az network front-door backend-pool create --name <backend-pool-name> --front-door-name <front-door-name> --backend-address <backend-url> --probe-path / --probe-interval 30 --probe-method GET

Step 4: Create a Front Door routing rule

The final step is to create a routing rule for the Front Door instance. Follow the below steps to create a new rule:

  1. Open the Front Door instance in the Azure Portal.
  2. Click on the “Routing rules” tab from the left-hand side menu.
  3. Click on the “+ Add” button to add a new routing rule.
  4. Enter a name for the rule.
  5. Select the frontend endpoint and backend pool created earlier.
  6. Configure any additional settings for the rule, such as path-based routing or caching.
  7. Click on the “Add” button to save the routing rule.

Alternatively, you

can also create a routing rule using the following Azure CLI command:

az network front-door routing-rule create --name <routing-rule-name> --front-door-name <front-door-name> --frontend-endpoint-name <frontend-endpoint-name> --backend-pool-name <backend-pool-name> --patterns "/<path>/*" --accepted-protocols Http Https

Step 5: Test the Front Door instance

Once you have created the Front Door instance, frontend endpoint, backend pool, and routing rule, you can test the configuration to ensure that it is working as expected. To test the instance, follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser and enter the hostname of your frontend endpoint.
  2. Verify that the request is routed to the backend pool and the web application or API is displayed correctly.
  3. Verify that any additional settings, such as caching or path-based routing, are working as expected.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have explored how to create and configure Azure Front Door using the Azure Portal and CLI commands. By following these steps, you can create a single entry point for your web applications and APIs, providing improved performance, reliability, and security.