Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets with Octopus Deploy

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Release 3.4 has much better support for elastic/transient environment and immutable infrastructure.
I am working on a project where we will deploy web apps/api’s on Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
I have already read the documentation of Octopus deploy that discuss elastic environments and immutable infrastructure

We are debating a few options of deploying to virtual machine scalesets(VMSS):

  1. Not building a VM Image but use custom extensions and Octopus Deploy to configure application on VMSS
  2. Building a VM Image which Octopus deploy agent, IIS configured. Use OD to deploy the application.

When we make updates to our application we want to avoid any downtime. One approach we would like to consider is to create a new VMSS install the new application on it and once it has been deployed point the load balancer on it.
When we scale out or scale in we want to make sure application is installed or clean up is performed.

I am looking for real word experience in deploying applications using Octopus deploy to Azure virtual machine scale sets.

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Hi Raj,

Thanks for getting in touch! We have had a discussion about this and sadly don’t think we can provide you with any real world experience with VMSS.
We had a look at how VMSS works and think the second method you have suggested would be the best current option for this. If you are able to find a better method we would love to hear about it and pass it on to customers in the future.

Something to think about when doing this. The Tentacles would need to be registered with Octopus each time you start up the VMSS. If you are using a single Tentacle installation on the VM image you wish to clone then once it is pushed out to the VMSS, Octopus will need to be told its IP/Hostname and given an alias.

Let us know if you would like any more information about how to auto deploy to the machines, we will be able to help you out there.

We would love to hear any feedback with how you use VMSS so we can get a better idea of what customers are doing to make it work. :slight_smile:

Regards,
Daniel