In this post I will show you how to run console applications on a schedule on Azure Functions. This feature is experimental and Azure Functions doesn’t have a project type for scheduled console applications but you can launch a console application from a PowerShell or Batch project using a Timer trigger.
Creating The Function
If this is your first function follow these instructions to create the Function App. Once you have the Function App create a new function inside it by clicking on the plus button next to the Function App. You have to enable experimental language support to see PowerShell and Batch projects.
Choose PowerShell or Batch from the language dropdown and select Timer as your trigger .
Once the function is created you have to upload your console application. Easiest way I found is to use Kudu, especially when uploading multiple files. You can access Kudu from the Developer Tools menu in the Platform Features tab in the Functions blade or you can browse to it directly using https://{YourFunctionApp}.scm.azurewebsites.net/.
Alternatively you can upload files from the Azure Portal by clicking View files in the Function app blade.
In Kudu click on the Debug console menu and select Powershell or CMD. Browse to the /site/wwwroot/{YourFunction} folder where you will see your function.json and run.ps1 files already there. Drag and drop any files required onto the browser window to upload them. You can create folders using the plus icon or the shell window. Make sure all the dlls required to run the application is also copied.
Edit the run.ps1 file using Kudu or the Azure Portal to set the working directory to the folder where your application files are located and add a line to run your application.
Specify the schedule
You will find the schedule on the Integrate menu of the function. It uses a cron like syntax with an extra digit for the seconds, you can read more here. The default is every 5 minutes.
Logging and exit codes
To output text to the Azure Functions log you can use the standard Console.Write/WriteLine methods in your code. If you need something more advanced you can also connect Application Insights. If you connect Application Insights at design time you can emit custom logging and telemetry. If you add Application Insights at runtime you get the standard .NET telemetry. You should return specific exit codes from you application to make troubleshooting easier, more here.
Advanced Scenarios
If you have a console app that requires input parameters you can use a HTTP trigger with a C# application to call the console application after you parsed the input parameters.
