/azure-prepare

Node.js/Express Production Configuration for Azure

Configure Express/Node.js applications for production deployment on Azure Container Apps and App Service.

Required Production Settings

1. Trust Proxy (CRITICAL)

Azure load balancers and reverse proxies sit in front of your app. Without trust proxy, you'll get wrong client IPs, HTTPS detection failures, and cookie issues.

const app = express();

// REQUIRED for Azure - trust the Azure load balancer
app.set('trust proxy', 1);  // Trust first proxy

// Or trust all proxies (less secure but simpler)
app.set('trust proxy', true);

2. Cookie Configuration

Azure's infrastructure requires specific cookie settings:

app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET,
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: {
    secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',  // HTTPS only in prod
    sameSite: 'lax',  // Required for Azure
    httpOnly: true,
    maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000  // 24 hours
  }
}));

Key settings:

• sameSite: 'lax' — Required for cookies through Azure's proxy
• secure: true — Only in production (HTTPS)
• httpOnly: true — Prevent XSS attacks

3. Health Check Endpoint

Azure Container Apps and App Service check your app's health:

app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.status(200).json({ status: 'healthy', timestamp: new Date().toISOString() });
});

Configure in Container Apps:

az containerapp update \
  --name APP \
  --resource-group RG \
  --health-probe-path /health \
  --health-probe-interval 30

4. Port Configuration

Azure sets the port via environment variable:

const port = process.env.PORT || process.env.WEBSITES_PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});

Important: Bind to 0.0.0.0, not localhost or 127.0.0.1.

5. Environment Detection

const isProduction = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';
const isAzure = process.env.WEBSITE_SITE_NAME || process.env.CONTAINER_APP_NAME;

if (isProduction || isAzure) {
  app.set('trust proxy', 1);
}

Complete Production Configuration

// app.js - Production-ready Express configuration for Azure
const express = require('express');
const session = require('express-session');

const app = express();
const isProduction = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';

// Trust Azure load balancer
if (isProduction) {
  app.set('trust proxy', 1);
}

// Security headers
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  res.setHeader('X-Content-Type-Options', 'nosniff');
  res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY');
  next();
});

// JSON parsing
app.use(express.json());
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

// Session (if using)
app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET || 'dev-secret-change-in-prod',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: {
    secure: isProduction,
    sameSite: 'lax',
    httpOnly: true,
    maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
  }
}));

// Health check
app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.status(200).json({ status: 'ok' });
});

// Your routes here
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.json({ message: 'Hello from Azure!' });
});

// Error handler
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
  console.error(err.stack);
  res.status(500).json({ error: isProduction ? 'Internal error' : err.message });
});

// Start server
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, '0.0.0.0', () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});

Dockerfile for Azure

FROM node:20-alpine

WORKDIR /app

# Install dependencies first (better caching)
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

# Copy app
COPY . .

# Set production environment
ENV NODE_ENV=production

# Expose port (Azure uses PORT env var)
EXPOSE 3000

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:3000/health || exit 1

# Start app
CMD ["node", "app.js"]

Common Issues

Cookies Not Setting

Symptom: Session lost between requests

Fix:

1. Add app.set('trust proxy', 1)
2. Set sameSite: 'lax' in cookie config
3. Set secure: true only if using HTTPS

Wrong Client IP

Symptom: req.ip returns Azure internal IP

Fix: app.set('trust proxy', 1);

HTTPS Redirect Loop

Symptom: Infinite redirects when forcing HTTPS

Fix:

const TRUSTED_HOST = process.env.APP_PUBLIC_HOSTNAME;

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  if (req.get('x-forwarded-proto') !== 'https' && process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
    if (!TRUSTED_HOST) return next();
    return res.redirect(`https://${TRUSTED_HOST}${req.originalUrl}`);
  }
  next();
});

Health Check Failing

Symptom: Container restarts repeatedly

Fix:

1. Ensure /health endpoint returns 200
2. Check app starts within startup probe timeout
3. Verify port matches container configuration

Environment Variables

⚠️ Important distinction: azd env set vs Application Environment Variables

azd env set sets variables for the azd provisioning process, NOT application runtime. These are used by azd and Bicep during deployment.

Application environment variables must be configured via:

1. Bicep templates — Define in the resource's env property
2. Azure CLI — Use az containerapp update --set-env-vars
3. azure.yaml — Use the env section in service configuration

Azure CLI:

az containerapp update \
  --name APP \
  --resource-group RG \
  --set-env-vars \
    NODE_ENV=production \
    SESSION_SECRET=your-secret-here \
    PORT=3000

azure.yaml:

services:
  api:
    host: containerapp
    env:
      NODE_ENV: production
      PORT: "3000"

Bicep:

env: [
  { name: 'NODE_ENV', value: 'production' }
  { name: 'SESSION_SECRET', secretRef: 'session-secret' }
]