3.2.7

Microsoft Azure

The Azure adapter bootstraps a Spring Cloud Function context and channels function calls from the Azure framework into the user functions, using Spring Boot configuration where necessary. Azure Functions has quite a unique and invasive programming model, involving annotations in user code that are specific to the Azure platform. However, it is important to understand that because of the style of integration provided by Spring Cloud Function, specifically org.springframework.cloud.function.adapter.azure.FunctionInvoker, this annotation-based programming model is simply a type-safe way to configure your simple java function (function that has no awareness of Azure) to be recognized as Azure function. All you need to do is create a handler that extends FunctionInvoker, define and configure your function handler method and make a callback to handleRequest(..) method. This handler method provides input and output types as annotated method parameters (enabling Azure to inspect the class and create JSON bindings).

public class UppercaseHandler extends FunctionInvoker<Message<String>, String> {

	@FunctionName("uppercase")
	public String execute(@HttpTrigger(name = "req", methods = {HttpMethod.GET,
			HttpMethod.POST}, authLevel = AuthorizationLevel.ANONYMOUS) HttpRequestMessage<Optional<String>> request,
		ExecutionContext context) {
		Message<String> message = MessageBuilder.withPayload(request.getBody().get()).copyHeaders(request.getHeaders()).build();
		return handleRequest(message, context);
	}
}

Note that aside form providing configuration via Azure annotation we create an instance of Message inside the body of this handler method and make a callback to handleRequest(..) method returning its result.

The actual user function you’re delagating to looks like this

@Bean
public Function<String, String> uppercase() {
		return payload -> payload.toUpperCase();
}

OR

@Bean
public Function<Message<String>, String> uppercase() {
		return message -> message.getPayload().toUpperCase();
}

Note that when creating a Message you can copy HTTP headers effectively making them available to you if necessary.

The org.springframework.cloud.function.adapter.azure.FunctionInvoker class has two useful methods (handleRequest and handleOutput) to which you can delegate the actual function call, so mostly the function will only ever have one line.

The function name (definition) will be retrieved from Azure’s ExecutionContext.getFunctionName() method, effectively supporting multiple function in the application context.

Accessing Azure ExecutionContext

Some time there is a need to access the target execution context provided by the Azure runtime in the form of com.microsoft.azure.functions.ExecutionContext. For example one of such needs is logging, so it can appear in the Azure console.

For that purpose the FunctionInvoker will add an instance of the ExecutionContext as a Message header so you can retrieve it via executionContext key.

@Bean
public Function<Message<String>, String> uppercase(JsonMapper mapper) {
	return message -> {
		String value = message.getPayload();
		ExecutionContext context = (ExecutionContext) message.getHeaders().get("executionContext");
		. . .
	}
}

Notes on JAR Layout

You don’t need the Spring Cloud Function Web at runtime in Azure, so you can exclude this before you create the JAR you deploy to Azure, but it won’t be used if you include it, so it doesn’t hurt to leave it in. A function application on Azure is an archive generated by the Maven plugin. The function lives in the JAR file generated by this project. The sample creates it as an executable jar, using the thin layout, so that Azure can find the handler classes. If you prefer you can just use a regular flat JAR file. The dependencies should not be included.

Build file setup

In order to run Spring Cloud Function applications on Microsoft Azure, you can leverage the Maven plugin offered by the cloud platform provider.

In order to use the adapter plugin for Maven, add the plugin dependency to your pom.xml file:

<dependencies>
	<dependency>
		<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
		<artifactId>spring-cloud-function-adapter-azure</artifactId>
	</dependency>
</dependencies>

Then, configure the plugin. You will need to provide Azure-specific configuration for your application, specifying the resourceGroup, appName and other optional properties, and add the package goal execution so that the function.json file required by Azure is generated for you. Full plugin documentation can be found in the plugin repository.

<plugin>
	<groupId>com.microsoft.azure</groupId>
	<artifactId>azure-functions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
	<configuration>
		<resourceGroup>${functionResourceGroup}</resourceGroup>
		<appName>${functionAppName}</appName>
	</configuration>
	<executions>
		<execution>
			<id>package-functions</id>
			<goals>
				<goal>package</goal>
			</goals>
		</execution>
	</executions>
</plugin>

You will also have to ensure that the files to be scanned by the plugin can be found in the Azure functions staging directory (see the plugin repository for more details on the staging directory and it’s default location).

You can find the entire sample pom.xml file for deploying Spring Cloud Function applications to Microsoft Azure with Maven here.

As of yet, only Maven plugin is available. Gradle plugin has not been created by the cloud platform provider.

Build

./mvnw -U clean package

Running the sample

You can run the sample locally, just like the other Spring Cloud Function samples:

and curl -H "Content-Type: text/plain" localhost:8080/api/uppercase -d '{"value": "hello foobar"}'.

You will need the az CLI app (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-create-first-java-maven for more detail). To deploy the function on Azure runtime:

$ az login
$ mvn azure-functions:deploy

On another terminal try this: curl https://<azure-function-url-from-the-log>/api/uppercase -d '{"value": "hello foobar!"}'. Please ensure that you use the right URL for the function above. Alternatively you can test the function in the Azure Dashboard UI (click on the function name, go to the right hand side and click "Test" and to the bottom right, "Run").

The input type for the function in the Azure sample is a Foo with a single property called "value". So you need this to test it with something like below:

{
  "value": "foobar"
}
The Azure sample app is written in the "non-functional" style (using @Bean). The functional style (with just Function or ApplicationContextInitializer) is much faster on startup in Azure than the traditional @Bean style, so if you don’t need @Beans (or @EnableAutoConfiguration) it’s a good choice. Warm starts are not affected.