Category: docker

Azure PlayFab Multiplayer Servers intro (Linux)

dgkanatsiosLeave a comment

We recorded and published an intro video about using Azure PlayFab Multiplayer Servers service with game servers built as Linux Docker containers. Feel free to check out the recording and let us know if you have any questions!

Links:
– Multiplayer Servers documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/playfab/features/multiplayer/servers/
– Game Server SDK: https://github.com/playfab/gsdk
– Multiplayer Servers samples: https://github.com/playfab/MpsSamples
– Local Multiplayer Agent: https://github.com/playfab/MpsAgent

Presenting at Microsoft Build 2018 about game development and Azure

dgkanatsiosLeave a comment

IMG_0052

This year, I was lucky enough to be invited to Seattle to present two sessions on Microsoft Build 2018 developer conference. Both sessions were presented by Brian Peek and myself and their focus was on game development using Microsoft Azure.

At the first session, we demonstrated how to scale dedicated multiplayer game servers on Azure Container Instances using various Azure Services like Functions, Event Grid and more. Project we demonstrated is open source, completely written in Node.js and you can find it here on GitHub. Same project got a really cool mention at the Azure Container Instances general availability announcement blog post, check the video here (thanks Justin!).

At the second session, we demonstrated how to use Azure Cognitive Services as well as Functions and Cosmos DB to power up a Unity game. Moreover, we added some PlayFab stuff like leaderboards and events. This project is open source as well and you can find it here.

Read More »

Deploying a Docker Swarm Mode cluster on Azure Container Service

dgkanatsios4 Comments

On June 28th, 2017, Azure Container Service team announced that a new version of the service was deployed in the UK region. This version exposes some new cool features with one of them being the ability to deploy DockerCE (swarm mode) clusters. In this article, you will see how the Azure CLI can be used to deploy a DockerCE cluster in Azure Container Service. Once the cluster is deployed, you can manage it with the docker command-line tool and deploy your Linux container(s).

This tutorial requires the Azure CLI version 2.0.4 or later. Run az --version to find the version. If you need to upgrade, see Install Azure CLI 2.0. You can also use the embedded shell in Azure Portal, called Azure Cloud Shell.

If you don’t have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Read More »

Creating a CI/CD pipeline on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with Azure DevOps (former Visual Studio Team Services)

dgkanatsios12 Comments

update 12/6/2018: this article has been updated for Kubernetes 1.9.6 on Azure Kubernetes Service

This article will demonstrate how to implement a continuous integration/continuous deployment pipeline for a multi-container app using Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure DevOps (Visual Studio Team Services) Build and Release Management.

You will use a simple application which is available on GitHub (heavily based on this one) and is composed of three components, each of those hosted in its own Docker container:

  • service-a: a Node.js app that serves as a web frontend  which connects to service-b and mycache
  • service-b: a .NET Core app that sends a simple text string to service-a that contains current machine’s hostname
  • mycache: a Redis cache that holds an integer called “requestCount” which is set and requested by service-a

Read More »

Hosting a Bot Framework chat bot on a Docker container on Azure App Service on Linux

dgkanatsiosLeave a comment

Yeah, title is long but nevertheless you get the point of what I’m going to describe. So, to cut a long story short, last weekend I attended a hackathon where my teammates and I built a PoC of a movie quiz chat bot. At the end of the hackathon, we attempted to “dockerize” it and host it on App Service on Linux (currently on preview). This blog post documents the process.

Some prerequisites

  1. Great video intro (+demo!) of chat bots and Microsoft’s Bot Framework, an easy and flexible way to create an awesome chat bot
  2. You can develop a chat bot in many ways, check here for the Bot Builder Node.js SDK
  3. Check out my blog post about building a chat bot for Greek startup ParkAround
  4. App Service is Azure’s PaaS (Platform as a Service) offering, it supports Windows and Linux (preview). Check here for App Service on Linux documentation
  5. You can deploy apps as files into App Service, if you want to deploy a Docker container check here for Docker containers on App Service on Linux

Read More »