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How Does GitHub Copilot Make .NET App Migration to Azure Easier?

GitHub Copilot has changed how developers move old .NET apps to Azure. The new tool works inside Visual Studio 2022 and makes hard migration tasks much simpler.

What This New Tool Does

The GitHub Copilot app modernization extension helps .NET developers in several key ways:

  • Checks your app: It looks at your code to see what needs fixing for Azure
  • Suggests solutions: It picks the right Azure services for your app
  • Fixes code automatically: It rewrites parts of your code to work with Azure
  • Solves build errors: It fixes any problems that pop up after making changes

Smart Code Changes That Save Time

This tool can make specific changes to move your app to Azure:

  • Replace local file storage with Azure Blob Storage or Azure File Storage
  • Change email systems from SMTP to Azure Communication Services
  • Switch from Windows AD to Microsoft Entra ID
  • Move databases to Azure SQL with managed identity
  • Update message queues to Azure Service Bus
  • Convert plain text passwords to Azure KeyVault with managed identity

The extension works with eight different migration patterns that follow Microsoft’s best practices.

Easy Assessment Process

The tool uses AppCAT (Azure Migrate application and code assessment) built right in. This means developers can:

  • See cloud readiness issues right away
  • Get recommendations for Azure services
  • View detailed migration reports
  • Ask GitHub Copilot questions about the findings

Developer Control and Safety

Even though AI does the heavy lifting, developers stay in charge:

  • Review each suggested change before applying it
  • Choose which tasks to run from a menu
  • See assessment reports inside Visual Studio
  • Test changes before moving to production

What You Need to Get Started

To use this extension, you need:

  • Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14.7 or later
  • GitHub Copilot Pro, Business, or Enterprise subscription
  • A GitHub account added to Visual Studio

Privacy and Data Handling

The extension follows GitHub Copilot’s privacy rules:

  • Code doesn’t stay on servers after your session ends
  • Usage data gets collected to improve the tool
  • All processing happens inside Visual Studio

Why Should .NET Developers Care About This Migration Tool?

Moving legacy apps to the cloud used to take months or years. This new GitHub Copilot extension cuts that time down to days or weeks.

Studies show GitHub Copilot can save developers 30-50% of their time on coding tasks. For migration work, this means less manual coding and fewer mistakes.

The tool handles the boring, repetitive parts of migration. Developers can focus on the important business logic instead of rewriting database connections or file storage code.

Key benefits include:

  • Faster migration timelines
  • Fewer human errors
  • Built-in best practices
  • End-to-end migration support
  • AI assistance with full developer control

This extension represents a major step forward in making cloud migration accessible to more development teams. It removes much of the complexity that has kept companies from modernizing their .NET applications.