Azure Learning Lessons – Is my Azure Website online? App Insights provides synthetic testing that can tell you!
App Insights is known for its ability to slice, dice and display performance and session data related to the web application it is associated with. A lesser known feature is that you can use App Insights to implement both simple and complex URI/URL Endpoint monitoring via the App Insights console.
Web Tests (located under the Availability Node) provide the following capabilities for URL endpoint testing:
- Verification of URL endpoint from 5 Geo Regions (up to 10 can be selected)
- Availability data related to web test and trending over time
- Logic customization for failure response conditions
- Up to 10 URL Endpoints monitored
- Ability to execute simple Web ‘Ping’ or complex ‘Multi-Step’ tests
- Ability to verify SSL endpoints (https:// testing)
- Generate alerts based on number of failures.
Configuring this capability will also allow engineers to expose issues with the stability of the applications being developed. If the application supports parameters passed via URL string, then setting up initial automated smoke tests of the endpoints is usually a quick process.
To set this up located the ‘Availability Tile’ and ‘Create a new Web Test’. The two types of tests can be seen below.
