Part II - Integrating Automated Reverse Azure Database Migration PowerShell Script into Azure DevOps

In my last post, we wrote a handy PowerShell script that takes the latest Master and Web SQL Databases from a Production-level Azure Resource Group and imports them into a Staging/UAT/Dev Azure Resource Group for a seamless reverse database promotion process.  

The original script, however, relies on a developer to run the script manually on a local machine and authenticate their credentials in order to utilize the AzureRm commands:

We can take this script a step further and integrate it as a new stage in the existing Azure DevOps Release Pipeline, or as a new dedicated Release Pipeline that can be executed independently.

In this example, we will create a new Azure DevOps Release Pipeline.  We'll assume a Service Principle connection already exists (which is likely if you're deploying to your App Services using Azure DevOps already) and you have the proper administrator permissions to create pipelines in Azure DevOps.   We'll also be working with an Inline Azure PowerShell script job instead of including a script file from an artifact.  Steps will slightly differ if you want to go that route, but the concept would remain the same. 

Release Pipeline Setup

Head over to the Pipelines > Release dashboard, click the New dropdown and select New release pipeline.

In the 'Select a template' menu, click 'Empty job'.

Modify the Pipeline name, then click on Stage 1 and click the plus sign on Agent job to add a new agent.  Search for 'powershell', find Azure PowerShell task and click the Add button

Set the Azure Subscription to the appropriate service principle, set the Script Type to Inline Script, and set the Azure PowerShell Version to Latest installed version

Save the pipeline and navigate to the Variables section

Variable Setup

Here, we'll add all the variables that we'll consume in the script - allowing for future modification without touching the script code itself.  

In our case, our script calls for the following variables: 

• - sourceResourceGroupName
• - sourceSqlServerName
• - sourceMasterDbName
• - sourceWebDbName
  
  
• - targetResourceGroupName
• - targetSqlServerName
• - targetSqlServerAdminUserName
• - targetSqlServerAdminUserPassword
• - targetMasterDbName
• - targetMasterSqlUserPassword
• - targetWebDbName
• - targetWebSqlUserPassword
• - targetCdServerName
• - targetCmServerName

Script Modifications

Luckily, our original script doesn't need too much tinkering! Just a bit 😉 

First, we'll want to remove the Login-AzureRmAccount command altogether since the Azure PowerShell task in the pipeline will authenticate off of the service principle.

 

We'll then replace any hardcoded variables with their new corresponding variables we previously configured throughout the script using the $env:someVariableName format:

We'll finish this off by placing the modified script in the Inline Script field of our Azure PowerShell task.

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Sitecore Azure Kudu Tools PowerShell Module

I've managed to start several blog post drafts with the intention of sharing a few of my PowerShell scripts - but haven't got around to finishing/posting any of them.

This actually led to an epiphany: the scripts I wanted to share all had an underlying theme: obtaining files using the Kudu Rest API using PowerShell.

---

Huh? Kudu?

Aw, a baby Kudu!

If you don't already know, Kudu is the "engine behind git deployments" in Azure App Service - but can also be used as a built-in diagnostics tool within Azure.   Any time you have an Azure website, you automatically get a 'companion' Kudu (aka SCM) site accessible via the following URL format:  https://{ResourceName}.scm.azurewebsites.net.  

For example, if your CM App Service name is
'mysitecoresite-xp2-small-prd1-cm',

the corresponding Kudu site would be:
https://mysitecoresite-xp2-small-prd1-cm.scm.azurewebsites.net/ 

If you've ever had to Rebuild the xDB index in Azure Search, Sitecore's documentation walks you through how to do so using the Kudu Debug console.

Kudu REST API

One of my favorite feature of Kudu is the Kudu REST API since any files you can access via FTP are also accessible via the Kudu REST API.   You can download files, upload new ones, etc.

Typically, all you need are:

1. Subscription ID
2. Resource Group Name
3. Resource Name

In Azure Portal - you can copy these values from a resource in the overview panel:

Those values are the key to interact with the API using PowerShell's Invoke-RestMethod.
There are a couple prerequisites:

1. Azure RM module installed and ConnectAccount has been executed.
2. Valid Azure credentials (same ones used to log into Azure Portal) to invoke Login-AzureRmAccount (converted to Base64)

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Sitecore Azure Kudu Tools

I'd never written a PowerShell Module, but I figured this would be a great segway to learning how. I got to reading -- and tinkering -- and refactoring.  

Before long I had written my first PowerShell Module: Sitecore Azure Kudu Tools.

Sitecore Azure Kudu Tools is a collection of functions (three at the time of this post) built to help you get information/files from Sitecore instances on hosted on Azure PaaS using the Kudu Rest API.

It's available on the PowerShell Gallery or check out the GitHub repository.

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Get-SitecoreSupportPackage

Allows you to remotely generate a Sitecore Support Package.  The function will download files defined for Sitecore Support Packages into a specified path, obfuscate sensitive data from ConnectionStrings.config, and compress the contents:

\App_Config\*	Global.asax
\Logs\*	license.xml
eventlog.xml	sitecore.version.xml
Web.config

Why?

While there's a built-in way to obtain Sitecore Support Packages in Sitecore's admin page, being able to remotely obtain this information is a nice alternative.  This is useful not only for providing the required information for Sitecore Support tickets - but also for your own diagnostics.

Usage

Invoke this function using the following syntax:

Output

Alternatively, if you just run Get-SitecoreSupportPackage without any parameters, you'll be prompted to provide each required parameter.

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Invoke-SitecoreThumbprintValidation

Provides a way to verify that certificate thumbprints match across Sitecore Azure PaaS Resource Group.  The function will download ConnectionStrings.config and AppSettings.config files from all App Services in a given Resource Group, then display any certificate thumbprints discrepancies.

Why?

If you've ever had to replace thumbprint values across an Azure PaaS Sitecore topology, you know that it can be a bit of a pain identifying all the configs where the old thumbprint needs to be replaced.

Bram Stoop wrote a great post identifying all the places you'll need to modify those thumbprints.  If you're looking to semi-automate this process, you can utilize the Kudu REST API to get all the configurations, then identify any mismatched thumbprint values using PowerShell.

Usage

Invoke this function using the following syntax:

Output

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Get-SitecoreFileBackup

Allows you to a full copy of an App Service's website file contents.  This function will download all files from in a given ResourceName.

The following folders are excluded:

_DEV	sitecore modules
App_Data	sitecore_files
App_Browsers	temp
sitecore	upload
xsl

Why?

Sometimes I just want everything. If I need to determine discrepancies between environments for any reason, this helps.

Usage

Invoke this function using the following syntax:

Output

What's Next?

Now that the module is established, I've created a few GitHub Issues which I hope to get through quickly.  I also plan to add more functions in the future and am 100% open to contributions. 

Is it perfect? Far from it! It's a work in progress. Thrilled to share anyway.

If you're interested in contributing, please check out the contribute section on the Github repo.

via GIPHY

😊

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Sitecore Website Backup Powershell Script

Depending on the environment, infrastructure, and budget - each Sitecore project has their own backup and deployment process.  More recent solutions often include a file backup step during an automated build process - while others take on a more manual process.

Whatever your specific scenario, my rule of thumb for changing anything is: ALWAYS BACKUP BEFORE MAKING CHANGES.

With solutions using less complex deploy processes - I used to select, copy, and paste specific files and directories to a separate location in case something went completely awry.  To save time - and maintain peace of mind before making file changes to a staging or production environment - I now utilize a handy backup script using Powershell that backs up all necessary files (Robocopy) by simply running it.

To use it:

1. Modify and save the Settings.xml file with your own source and destination paths.
   
   
2. Double-click on RunBackup.bat file.  Once you accept the prompt to run the script as an administrator, you'll see the output of each file being transferred to the destination folder.
   
   
3. Watch it run!
   

The script explicitly excludes the following Sitecore specific paths that often aren't changed from build to build - and don't need to take up more space than needed.  To add/remove an excluded entries,  open and modify the _sitecorebackupscript.ps1 file's '$exclude' variable.

"_DEV", "App_Data", "Content", "temp", "upload", "sitecore", "sitecore modules" 

Settings.xml - Configuration settings

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  
 <settings>  
      <!-- Date format for Destination folder -->  
      <DateFormat>MM-dd-yyyy hhmmss</DateFormat>  
      <!-- Source Website directory to backup (exclude trailing back-slash) -->  
      <SourceDirectory>C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Sitecore8\Website</SourceDirectory>  
      <!-- Destination directory where backup made (exclude trailing back-slash) -->  
      <BackupDirectory>C:\inetpub\wwwroot-backup\Sitecore8</BackupDirectory>  
 </settings>  

_sitecorebackupscript.ps1: The Powershell script

 <# Sitecore Backup Script - Gabriel Streza (sitecoregabe.com)   
 **************************************************************************  
 Powershell script that backups your Sitecore website while excluding unessesary files.  
   
 Modify Settings.xml to control Source and Directory paths.   
   
 **************************************************************************  
 #>  
   
 # Directory definitions  
 $scriptpath = $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path  
 $directory = Split-Path $scriptpath  
 [xml]$ConfigFile = Get-Content "$directory\Settings.xml"  
   
 # Script Variable Defintions  
 $DateFormat = Get-Date -format $ConfigFile.Settings.DateFormat  
 $SourceDirectory = $ConfigFile.Settings.SourceDirectory  
 $BackupDirectory = $ConfigFile.Settings.BackupDirectory  
 $dest = $BackupDirectory + '_' + $DateFormat  
   
 # Folders to exclude  
 $exclude = "_DEV", "App_Data", "Content", "temp", "upload", "sitecore", "sitecore modules"  
   
 # Run as Administrator  
 if (!([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal][Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator")) { Start-Process powershell.exe "-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File `"$PSCommandPath`"" -Verb RunAs; exit }  
   
 # File copy  
 robocopy $SourceDirectory $dest /s /xj /xd $exclude  
   
 # Completed  
 Write-Host -NoNewLine 'DONE! Press any key to continue...';  
 $null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey('NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown');  

RunBackup.bat: Execute the Powershell script

 Powershell.exe -executionpolicy remotesigned -File "_sitecorebackupscript.ps1"  

You can download, modify, and utilize this by heading to this GitHub repo and grabbing a copy:
https://github.com/strezag/Sitecore-Website-Backup-Script/


Happy backup...ing!

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