How to – Deploy Hasura on ACA via Azure CLI

Hasura, a powerful GraphQL engine, offers documentation on deploying it using Azure Container Instances (ACI), a service that allows you to run containerized applications in the cloud without managing the underlying infrastructure. However, I encountered several challenges during the process, which highlighted the limitations of the existing approach and underscored the need for a more user-friendly and scalable solution. Below are the pain points with the approach

1. The existing documentation requires significant trial and error to execute successfully.
2. The provided ARM templates are riddled with issues, making the one-click deployment process unusable.
3. ACI does not automatically adjust its resources based on demand. To scale up, you have to delete the container and redeploy, which can be inconvenient.

To overcome these issues, I found that Azure Container Apps (ACA) offers a better alternative. ACA provides the necessary flexibility while removing the need to deal with complex configurations, such as those in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Here’s a step-by-step guide to deploying Hasura on ACA.

? Prerequisites

1. Azure CLI: Install Azure CLI on your machine and log in using an account with sufficient access to create resources.OR
2. Azure Portal: Log in to portal.azure.com and run the Bash shell directly in the portal for a faster and easier setup.

? Deployment Steps

⚙️ Step 1: Register the Resource Provider

To use Azure Container Apps, you need to first register the Microsoft.ContainerService resource provider.

1. Navigate to Subscriptions.
2. Select your subscription.
3. Go to Resource Providers.
4. Search for Microsoft.ContainerService and click Register.
   

? Step 2: Create a Resource Group

Run the following command to create a resource group:

az group create --name <YOUR_RG_NAME> --location southeastasia

? Step 3: Create an Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server

Hasura requires a database to store its configuration. Create a PostgreSQL Flexible Server using the following command:

az postgres flexible-server create --resource-group <YOUR_RG_NAME> \
   --name "<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_SERVER_NAME>" \
   --location southeastasia \
   --admin-user <YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_ADMIN_USERNAME> \
   --admin-password "<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_ADMIN_PWD>" \
   --sku-name standard_b1ms \
   --tier Burstable \
   --version 16 \
   --database-name <YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_NAME>

Enable the database to be accessible by Azure services: This step ensures that Hasura can communicate with the database for storing and retrieving its configuration and operational data.

az postgres flexible-server firewall-rule create \
   --resource-group <YOUR_RG_NAME> \
   --name <YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_SERVER_NAME> \
   --rule-name allowazureservices \
   --start-ip-address 0.0.0.0 \
   --end-ip-address 0.0.0.0

? Step 4: Configure PostgreSQL Server Parameters

1. Navigate to your PostgreSQL server in the Azure Portal.
2. Go to Server Parameters.
3. Search for Extensions.
4. Under the azure.extensions parameter, set the value to PGCRYPTO.

? Step 5: Create the Container App Environment

Create an environment for your container apps:

az containerapp env create \
  --name <YOUR_ACA_ENV_NAME> \
  --resource-group <YOUR_RG_NAME> \
  --location southeastasia

? Step 6: Deploy Hasura on ACA

Finally, create a container app and deploy Hasura. Use the following command:

az containerapp create \
  --name <YOUR_ACA_APP_NAME> \
  --resource-group <YOUR_RG_NAME> \
  --environment <YOUR_ACA_ENV_NAME> \
  --image hasura/graphql-engine \
  --ingress external \
  --target-port 80 \
  --env-vars HASURA_GRAPHQL_SERVER_PORT=80 \
             HASURA_GRAPHQL_ENABLE_CONSOLE=true \
             HASURA_GRAPHQL_ADMIN_SECRET="<ADMIN_PASSWORD_THAT_YOU_CAN_REMEMBER>" \
             HASURA_GRAPHQL_METADATA_DATABASE_URL="postgres://<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_ADMIN_USERNAME>:<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_ADMIN_PWD>@<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_SERVER_NAME>.postgres.database.azure.com:5432/<YOUR_POSTGRES_DB_NAME>?sslmode=require" \
  --min-replicas 1 \
  --max-replicas 3

? Note: Do not configure the actual DB which Hasura has to run on. This can be done once you deploy Hasura and configure the DB within it.

? Step 7: Verify Deployment

And that’s it! Hasura will be up and running. To get the URL, run the command below:

az containerapp show \
  --name <YOUR_ACA_APP_NAME> \
  --resource-group <YOUR_RG_NAME> \
  --output table

This will provide you with a table that includes a column called Fqdn. That would be the URL for your app—just append /console to access the Hasura Console.