Azure App Service gets native Linux support for Node.js and PHP stacks

Underscoring its interest for the open source community, Microsoft has now upgraded its Azure App Service with native Linux support for Node. js and PHP stacks. The Platformas-a-Service (PaaS) was initially limited to .NET developers.

Launched in March 2015, Microsoft’s Azure App Service has so far attracted more than 350,000 active customers that have together hosted over a million Web and mobile applications. Though these numbers appear to be enough for the platform, the Redmond company has planned to attract developers with the native Linux support. This will primarily overcome issues with operating system compatibility.

“While PHP and Node.js have also been supported in App Service since the launch, we have heard loud and clear from some developers that having to deal with operating system compatibility quirks, like ‘path too long’ errors with npm or the web.config files and page rendering pipelines, is too cumbersome,” wrote Nazim Lala, software engineer for Azure App Service, in a blog post.

The preview version allows developers to choose Linux as an alternative to Windows and run Web applications right on the open source ecosystem. Moreover, the platform offers streamlined abilities with deployment slots, custom domains, SSL configuration, continuous deployment, as well as horizontal and vertical scaling.

The Azure team has updated the marketplace instance of WordPress to run the CMS on Apache or Linux. Also, there are plans to bring out similar updates for Drupal and Joomla shortly.