In this article, we'll walk through the process of developing and launching a simple chat application on Azure. We'll cover the following topics:
*Creating a chat application using the Azure portal
*Configuring the chat application
*Deploying the chat application to Azure
To create a chat application using the Azure portal, follow these steps:
Sign in to the Azure portal.
In the left-hand navigation pane, click Create a resource.
In the Search the Marketplace field, enter "chatbot" and press Enter.
In the search results, click Chatbot Service (preview).
On the Chatbot Service (preview) page, click Create.
On the Create page, enter the following information:
Bot name: Enter a name for your chatbot.
Subscription: Select your Azure subscription.
Location: Select the location for your chatbot.
Pricing tier: Select the pricing tier for your chatbot.
Resource group: Select an existing resource group or create a new one.
Application Insights: Select whether to create a new Application Insights resource or use an existing one.
Storage account: Select whether to create a new storage account or use an existing one.
App service plan: Select whether to create a new App service plan or use an existing one.
Your chatbot will be created and deployed to Azure.
Once the chatbot has been created, you can configure it by clicking on the Configure tab in the Azure portal. From here, you can do the following:
Basic settings: Configure the chatbot's name, description, avatar, and time zone.
Channels: Configure the chatbot's channels, such as Facebook, Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.
Features: Configure the chatbot's features, such as language understanding, QnA Maker, and web app integration.
Connections: Configure the chatbot's connections, such as Azure Active Directory, Bot Framework, and LUIS.
Test in Web Chat: Test the chatbot in the Web Chat channel.
Publish: Publish the chatbot to Azure.
Deploying the chatbot to Azure is a two-step process. First, you need to create a web app in Azure and then deploy the chatbot to that web app.
To create a web app in Azure, follow these steps:
Sign in to the Azure portal.
In the left-hand navigation pane, click Create a resource.
In the Search the Marketplace field, enter "web app" and press Enter.
In the search results, click Web App.
On the Web App page, click Create.
On the Create page, enter the following information:
Name: Enter a name for your web app.
Subscription: Select your Azure subscription.
Resource group: Select an existing resource group or create a new one.
OS: Select the operating system for your web app.
Runtime stack: Select the runtime stack for your web app.
Region: Select the region for your web app.
Application insights: Select whether to create a new Application Insights resource or use an existing one.
Your web app will be created in Azure.
To deploy the chatbot to the web app, follow these steps:
Sign in to the Azure portal.
In the left-hand navigation pane, click on the chatbot that you want to deploy.
In the chatbot's overview page, click on the Deploy button.
In the Deploy to web app blade, select the web app that you want to deploy the chatbot to and click Deploy.
In the Summary blade, verify the deployment settings and click Deploy.
The chatbot will be deployed to the web app.