Azure App Service is the fastest way to get a web app running on Azure without managing servers. It handles TLS, scaling, and deployment slots for you. Here is the whole path from local code to a live, production-shaped URL.
Step 1: Create the App Service Plan and App
An App Service plan defines the compute your app runs on; the web app runs on top of it. Create both:
az appservice plan create \ --name my-plan --resource-group my-rg \ --sku B1 --is-linux az webapp create \ --name my-web-app --resource-group my-rg \ --plan my-plan --runtime "NODE:20-lts"
Step 2: Deploy Your Code
Deploy straight from a local build with zip deploy, or wire up continuous deployment from GitHub. The zip path is fastest to start:
az webapp deploy \ --name my-web-app --resource-group my-rg \ --src-path build.zip --type zip
Within a minute your app is live at https://my-web-app.azurewebsites.net with HTTPS already configured.
Step 3: Configure Settings and Secrets
App settings become environment variables in your app. Keep secrets in Key Vault and reference them rather than pasting raw values:
az webapp config appsettings set \ --name my-web-app --resource-group my-rg \ --settings NODE_ENV=production \ "DB_CONN=@Microsoft.KeyVault(SecretUri=https://myvault.vault.azure.net/secrets/db-conn/)"
Step 4: Use a Deployment Slot for Zero-Downtime Releases
Slots let you deploy to a staging copy, warm it up, and swap it into production instantly — with an immediate rollback if something's wrong:
az webapp deployment slot create \ --name my-web-app --resource-group my-rg --slot staging # Deploy to staging, verify, then swap az webapp deployment slot swap \ --name my-web-app --resource-group my-rg --slot staging
Summary
App Service turns a web app into a managed, HTTPS-secured service in minutes: create a plan and web app, deploy your code with zip deploy or GitHub CI, push config through app settings with secrets in Key Vault, and use deployment slots to release with zero downtime and instant rollback. No servers to patch, no TLS to configure — just your app on infrastructure Azure runs for you.