Deploying Smalltalk Web Application (Pharo Seaside) on Azure Cloud

In this blog, we going through the steps on setting an Azure Cloud and deploying Pharo Seaside.

Azure Cloud Environment

- Create a Resource Group (e.g. smalltalk)
- Create a new VM resource to the "smalltalk" resource group

• Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS
• Assign a machine name (e.g. smalltalkcloud)
• Select region, size, authentication, load balancing as per individual needs
• On DNS settings, select Static IP address and assign a DNS name label (e.g. smalltalkcloud)
• On Networking settings, add an Inbound Port Rule allowing Port 8080

Installing Seaside

- Install a clean Pharo Image on the VM

• On Azure Portal, open a Cloud Shell and ssh to the VM using the following example command
  > ssh smalltalkcloud.eastus.cloudapp.azure.com
• Install a clean Pharo Image on the VM
  > wget -O- https://get.pharo.org/64 | bash (Or .. curl -L https://get.pharo.org/64/ | bash)
  > ./pharo Pharo.image printVersion  (To validate the Pharo installation)
• Create a clean working image (i.e. seaside.image) from the original Pharo.image
  > ./pharo Pharo.image save seaside

- Install Seaside to a working image

• Load Seaside to the working image (the metacello install load the Seaside3 baseline and save the loaded image)
  > ./pharo seaside.image metacello install github://SeasideSt/Seaside:master/repository BaselineOfSeaside3
• Create a Smalltalk file (e.g. startseaside.st) to start Seaside server, with the following file content ...
  (ZnServer defaultOn: 8080)
        logToTranscript;
        start.
• Start Seaside with the following command.
  > nohup ./pharo seaside.image st startseaside.st
• HTTP to the link http://smalltalkcloud.eastus.cloudapp.azure.com:8080/, shall see the Seaside welcome page