In our previous article, How to do deployment with the BizTalk Migrator, we looked at using the BizTalk Migrator in practice. In this article, we look at troubleshooting the top issues that we’ve seen when supporting our clients to deploy BizTalk Migrator scripts.
To see our detailed discussion of this topic, watch a recording of our live video demo in January 2021, presented by Dr Andrew Rivers (345 Technology) and Daniel Probert (Affinus), who were joined by Valerie Robb (Senior Program Manager at Microsoft): youtu.be/jkisMY0RhOA
Before we dig into the main issues with deployment via the BizTalk Migrator, let’s keep in mind the deployment script assumptions:
- Assumes that there are no conflicts with your existing set up in Azure.
- Assumes that you have all necessary permissions.
- Assumes that all appropriate resource providers are registered.
The last of these is probably the number one issue we’ve heard from our clients who have run the tool. It happens because of the need to do manual registration of resource providers. Let’s explain a little further.
Resource providers
In Azure with the ARM (Azure Resource Manager) model, a resource provider is responsible for deployment of a particular type of resource. For example, there’s a resource provider for Logic Apps, one for API management, and one for app configuration.
There are separate resource providers, and when you first provision a subscription, only certain ones are registered. Not all resource providers are registered.
This isn’t normally an issue when using the portal. For example, the portal checks whether the resource provider for a logic app is registered and, if it isn’t, it registers it, and then it goes ahead and creates the logic app.
But when creating Logic Apps from a script, such as with an ARM template, you have to manually register the resource provider before deploying your resource.
As above, this has been the number one issue when our clients have had issues running the migration tool.
Let’s look at other issues you may need to resolve to make your deployments work as intended.
Most common deployment issues when using BizTalk Migrator
- Azure CLI is not installed – PowerShell is installed with Windows but Azure CLI needs to be installed separately.
- Targeting the wrong subscription or missing Owner/Contributor access to subscription – the PowerShell CLI commands assume that you’re logged in and will try to deploy to your default subscription, which may not be what you want. You need to change your subscription.
- Existing App Config resource using Free SKU – the tool attempts to deploy a second app config and then fails.
- Existing Integration Account resource in same region using Free SKU – if you have an integration account resource in one region using the free SKU and you run the tool targeting that region, the script will fail instead of spotting an existing integration account.
The tool can use an existing app config or integration account regardless of the SKU, but it will assume that all MessageBus resources are in the same resource group.
If you want to use an existing app config and integration account, they need to be in the same resource group. All other MessageBus resources need to be deployed to that same resource group.
The good news(!)
Though any of the above issues can cause the deployment script to fail and generate the dreaded “wall of red” that we mentioned last time, there is positive news: we have developed a new script that provide good fixes for all of these major issues. This includes a workaround that allows for MessageBus resources to be in separate resource groups.
We’re happy to share and help you use this new script in your BizTalk migrations. Please drop us a line if you’re interested in finding out more.
Need help with your BizTalk migrations to the cloud?
The BizTalk Migrator tool is an excellent resource for getting your BizTalk Server apps ready for the cloud – but it can’t do everything (yet!) and you may find yourself needing support for the specific circumstances of your BizTalk migration.
Whether you need access to our latest scripts or you need our expert help to make sure your BizTalk migrations are done right first time, get in touch and let’s have a chat.