Azure Functions

Prerequisites

  1. Run the following command on a Terminal to create the required files:

    uv run xlwings-server add azure functions

    This will add the required files (function_app.py, host.json, .funcignore, local.settings.json)

  2. Install the following software:

  3. Before you begin, you’ll need to login to Azure:

    az login

Note

If you deploy to Azure Functions using a different method, you should be able to adapt the instructions accordingly.

Files

The following files are part of Azure functions setup and can be edited according to your needs:

  • host.json

  • local.settings.json

  • function_app.py

  • .funcignore

Warning

Azure functions require a traditional requirements.txt file in the root of your project. If you use uv, run the following command before deploying (ideally, this is done automatically as part of your build step): uv export --format requirements.txt -o requirements.txt.

Deployment

First, set the following environment variables to match your preferences:

Important

You need to replace xlwings-server with your own app name as the name needs to be globally unique.

export FUNCTION_APP_NAME=xlwings-server
export RESOURCE_GROUP=xlwings-server-rg
export STORAGE_ACCOUNT=xlwingsserversa
export LOCATION=westeurope
export XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key
export XLWINGS_ENVIRONMENT=prod

You may also want to skip some of the steps, e.g., if you already have an existing resource group or storage account to deploy to.

  1. Create a resource group:

    az group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location $LOCATION

  2. Create storage account:

    az storage account create --name $STORAGE_ACCOUNT --location $LOCATION --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --sku Standard_LRS

  3. Create the function app:

    az functionapp create --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --consumption-plan-location $LOCATION --runtime python --runtime-version 3.11 --functions-version 4 --name $FUNCTION_APP_NAME --os-type linux --storage-account $STORAGE_ACCOUNT

  4. Set the required environment variables. Make sure to provide your own license key at the end of this command (you can get a free trial key here). You’ll also need to adjust the XLWINGS_ENVIRONMENT if this is not the prod environment:

    az functionapp config appsettings set --name $FUNCTION_APP_NAME --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --settings XLWINGS_ENVIRONMENT=$XLWINGS_ENVIRONMENT XLWINGS_ENABLE_SOCKETIO=false XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY=$XLWINGS_LICENSE_KEY

  5. Run the following to enable the worker process to index the functions:

    az functionapp config appsettings set --name $FUNCTION_APP_NAME --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --settings AzureWebJobsFeatureFlags=EnableWorkerIndexing

  6. Deploy the function app (this is also the command to deploy an update):

    Important

    This command must be run from the root of your project.

    func azure functionapp publish $FUNCTION_APP_NAME

    It should terminate with the following message:

    Remote build succeeded!
[...] Syncing triggers...
Functions in xlwings-server:
   http_app_func - [httpTrigger]
      Invoke url: https://xlwings-server.azurewebsites.net//{*route}

    If you don’t have access to the func CLI, e.g., in the Azure cloud shell, use the following commands instead:

    Important

    This command must be run from the root of your project.

    zip -r function.zip .

az functionapp deployment source config-zip \
--resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
--name $FUNCTION_APP_NAME \
--src function.zip \
--build-remote true

If there’s nothing printed after Functions in ..., have a look at Logging to find out the reason, otherwise go to the URL without the //{*route} part (in the example, that would be https://xlwings-server.azurewebsites.net) and you should see {"status": "ok"}.

Logging

  • If your app correctly deploys including syncing triggers, you can look at the runtime logs in Azure portal like so: Function App > My Function App. Then, under http_app_func, click on Invocations and more.

  • If your Azure functions doesn’t manage to sync triggers, i.e., it doesn’t print a URL after running func azure functionapp publish, you need to go to the Azure portal: Function App > My Function App. In the left-hand menu, select Diagnose and solve problems > Availability and Performance and finally click on Functions that are not triggered on the left-hand side.

  • For a live tail of your functions, go to Monitoring > Log stream and wait until it says Connected!. Now run an xlwings function or script and you should see the logging turning up. Note that this is only for live tailing, you won’t see log messages from the past here. You may want to try out both App Insights Logs and Filesystem Logs.

Cleanup

After running this tutorial you can get rid of all the resources again by running:

az group delete --name xlwings-server-rg

GitHub Actions

You can use the following template:

https://github.com/Azure/actions-workflow-samples/blob/master/FunctionApp/linux-python-functionapp-on-azure.yml

Azure DevOps Pipelines

Here’s a sample azure-pipelines.yml file:

trigger:
- main

variables:
  # To set up the service connection:
  # 1. Go to your Azure DevOps project
  # 2. Navigate to Project Settings → Service connections
  # 3. Create a new Azure Resource Manager service connection
  # 4. Give it a name
  # 5. Use that name here under variables
  azureServiceConnection: 'TODO'
  functionAppName: 'TODO'
  resourceGroupName: 'TODO'

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- bash: |
    zip -r function.zip .
  displayName: 'Create deployment package'

- task: AzureCLI@2
  displayName: 'Deploy to Azure Functions'
  inputs:
    azureSubscription: $(azureServiceConnection)
    scriptType: 'bash'
    scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
    inlineScript: |

      # Deploy with remote build
      az functionapp deployment source config-zip \
        --resource-group $(resourceGroupName) \
        --name $(functionAppName) \
        --src function.zip \
        --build-remote true

Limitations