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Quick start

CLI

Install the aca CLI, enable the Express preview, deploy your first container app, open its public URL, and tear it down.

Before you begin
  • An Azure subscription with permission to create resource groups.
  • Azure CLI (az) installed. aca delegates auth to az login.
  • A shell: Bash on Linux/macOS, PowerShell on Windows. (WSL and Git Bash also work.)
Preview feature

Container Apps commands live under aca express and manage Express Container Apps. They're a preview feature, hidden and disabled by default — you opt in once with aca config preview set express true (and ... false to turn them back off).

Install the aca CLI​

curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/aca-cli-install | sh

Smoke test the install:

aca --version
# aca 1.0.0-preview.1

Log in to Azure​

Run az login once per shell. Subsequent commands reuse the same Azure CLI session.

az login

Enable the Express preview​

A preview flag gates Container Apps commands. Enable it once — the setting is stored in your aca config, so you don't have to repeat this step per shell.

aca config preview set express true
aca config preview show

Set your subscription and resource group​

Create a resource group for the app, then save your subscription and resource group as aca defaults so you don't have to pass them with every command.

SUBSCRIPTION_ID=$(az account show --query id -o tsv)

az group create \
  --name my-rg \
  --location westus2

aca config set \
  -s "$SUBSCRIPTION_ID" \
  -g my-rg
note

Express Container Apps run in a managed environment. If my-rg doesn't already have an Express environment, aca express create provisions one for you (named <app-name>-env) and reuses it on later apps.

Verify with aca doctor​

aca doctor

Create and run a container app​

Deploy the quickstart image with public ingress on port 80. aca express create registers the Microsoft.App provider if needed, provisions an Express environment, and prints the app's public URL when it's ready.

aca express create \
  --name my-first-app \
  --image mcr.microsoft.com/k8se/quickstart:express \
  --ingress external \
  --target-port 80

aca express show --name my-first-app

Open the FQDN from the output in your browser — or request it from a terminal:

curl https://<your-app-fqdn>

The Container Apps welcome page appears, served by the container you just deployed.

Stream logs (optional)​

Tail the app's console output. aca express logs streams by default; pass --no-follow for a one-shot read.

aca express logs --name my-first-app --no-follow --tail 50

Teardown (optional)​

Delete the app, then delete the resource group:

aca express delete --name my-first-app --yes
az group delete --name my-rg --yes --no-wait

Next steps​

Deploy your code

Deploy an image, build from a repo, or ship from VS Code or the CLI.

Learn more →

Manage apps

Revisions, scale rules, secrets, and ingress.

Learn more →

Observe & stream logs

Follow live console output, logs, and metrics from your running revisions.

Learn more →
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