Creating and Deploying a Bot Service Using the Bot Framework and Visual Studio

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© 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Creating and Deploying
a Bot Service Using the
Bot Framework and
Visual Studio
Murray Fife
mufife@microsoft.com
June 2017

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Registering a Bot
Creating a Bot Service
Linking the Bot Service to the Bot App
Publishing the Bot to Channels
Bots are great, and really easy to create with Visual
Studio and the Bot Framework. But if you want to
take your Bots to the next level then you really want
to set them free and deploy them to the cloud as a
Bot Service.
In this quick walkthrough we will show you how you
can do just that.
Creating and Deploying a Bot Service through Visual Studio 2017

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Step 1: Go to the Bot Framework site
Step 2: Click on Register a bot
Step 3: Set the Bot Name
Step 4: Add a Bot handle for the Bot
Step 5: Add a Description for the Bot
Step 6: Click on the Create Microsoft App ID and password
button
Step 7: Login using your Microsoft Account
Step 8: Click on the Generate an app password to continue
button
Step 9: Click on the Finish and go back to Bot Framework button
The first thing that we need to do is to register our Bot.
Registering a Bot

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Registering a Bot
We can register our Bots through the Bot Framework site.
So open up the Bot Framework website by browsing to
dev.botframework.com.
Step 1: Go to the Bot Framework site

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Registering a Bot
Now that we are on the Bot Framework site we can start
registering a new Bot.
To do this, just click on the Register a bot link at the top of
the page.
This will open up the Bot Registration form where we can
start the setup of our Bot Service.
Step 2: Click on Register a bot

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Registering a Bot
We will start off the registration process by giving our Bot a
name.
We do that by entering our Bots name into the Name field.
For this Bot we set the Name to VoightKampffBot.
Step 3: Set the Bot Name

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Registering a Bot
Next we will want to give out Bot a Handle.
The Handle will be the name that is used by the Bot
whenever it is interacting with you.
To do this, just enter a value into the Bot handle field.
For this Bot we set the Bot handle to Voight-Kampff.
Step 4: Add a Bot handle for the Bot

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Registering a Bot
If we want, we can also give our Bot a Description to give
people a general idea as to what our Bot does.
To do this, just enter in an overview of the Bot into the
Description field.
Step 5: Add a Description for the Bot

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Registering a Bot
Now that we have entered in the profile information for the
Bot, we can move on to setting up the Configuration
details.
If we scroll down on the Bot creation page then we will see
that there are some more details within the Configuration
section that we need to specify.
The first one that we will want to fill in is the App ID, which
is the unique identifier for the Bot, which we need to create.
To create a new App ID, click on the Create Microsoft App
ID and password button.
Step 6: Click on the Create Microsoft App ID
and password button

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Registering a Bot
This will take us to a login page where we need to log in
with a Microsoft account.
Step 7: Login using your Microsoft Account

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Registering a Bot
After we have logged in, we will be taken to a Generate
App ID and Password page.
The App name will be automatically populated from the
Bot registration form, and also a unique App ID will be
created for us, which we will want to note down.
All we need to do is to create an app password.
To do this, click on the Generate an app password to
continue button.
Step 8: Click on the Generate an app
password to continue button

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Registering a Bot
This will open up a dialog box with a new App password.
Note down the App password and then click on the OK
button to exit from the form.
Note: This will be the only time that you will be able to see
this password, so make sure you copy it down.
Step 8: Click on the Generate an app
password to continue button

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Registering a Bot
Now that we have our App ID and our Password we can
return back to the Bot registration page and assign the App
ID to our Bot.
To do this, just click on the Finish and go back to Bot
Framework button.
When we return to the Bot registration form, we can then
paste our App Id into the App Id field in the form.
Step 9: Click on the Finish and go back to
Bot Framework button

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Step 1: Open up Visual Studio
Step 2: Select the Bot Application template
Step 3: Change the Project Name
Step 4: Create the Bot Service project
Step 5: Open up the web.config
Step 6: Update the BotId key
Step 7: Update the AppId key
Step 8: Update the MicrosoftAppPassword key
Step 9: Open the MessageController.cs file
Step 10: Click on the Manage NuGet Packages for Solution
menu item
Step 11: Update the Microsoft.Bot.Builder package
Step 12: Click on the Build menu and then select the Publish
menu item
Step 13: Click on the Publish button
Step 14: Create a new Resource Group
Step 15: Create a new App Service Plan
Step 16: Click on the Create button
Step 17: Deploying the App Service
Every Bot needs to have a brain, so before we can continue
on we will want to build a Bot Service that we can deploy to
Azure.

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We will do this through Visual Studio 2017.
So the next thing to do is to open up Visual Studio and
then click on the Create new project link in the Start Page.
Step 1: Open up Visual Studio

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This will open up the New Project dialog box and we will
want to select the Bot Application.
To do this, find the Bot Application template within the
Template list.
Step 2: Select the Bot Application template

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Then change the Name for the project to be something a
little less generic.
For this example we set the Project Name to
VoightKampffBot.
After we have done that we can just click on the OK button
to create the project.
Step 3: Change the Project Name

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This will create our new Bot project for us.
Step 4: Create the Bot Service project

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Now that we have our Bot project, we will want to link it
with our Bot registration information that we created
earlier.
To do this, double click on the web.config file within the
Solution Explorer.
Step 5: Open up the web.config

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Within the web.config file there are some keys that we will
want to update to link it with the Azure Bot service.
To start with, update the BotId key with the ID that we
registered earlier.
For this bot we set the BotId key to VoightKempffBot.
Step 6: Update the BotId key

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Next, paste the AppId into the MicrosoftAppId key.
Step 7: Update the AppId key

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Then, paste the Password into the MicrosoftAppPassword
key.
Step 8: Update the MicrosoftAppPassword
key

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If this is the first time that we are doing this, if we open up
the MessageController.cs class in the Solution Explorer
then we may see that there are a number of errors that are
showing up in the code.
Don’t worry, this is just because we do not have the latest
version of the Bot Framework extensions.
Step 9: Open the MessageController.cs file

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To fix this, we just have to update the NuGet package for
the Bot Framework.
To do this, click on the Tools menu, then select the NuGet
Package Manager, and then click on the Manage NuGet
Packages for Solution menu item.
Step 10: Click on the Manage NuGet
Packages for Solution menu item

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When the Solution manager is displayed, if we look at the
Updates that need to be applied we will probably see that
the Microsoft.Bot.Builder package needs an update.
All we need to do here is select the Microsoft.Bot.Builder
package and then click on the Update button.
Step 11: Update the Microsoft.Bot.Builder
package

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When we return back to our code we should see that all of
the errors magically disappear.
Now we will just want to publish our bot.
To do this, click on the Build menu and then select the
Publish menu item.
Step 12: Click on the Build menu and then
select the Publish menu item

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This will open up the Publish wizard.
The Microsoft Azure App Service should already be
selected.
All we need to do here is click on the Publish button.

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This will open up a Create App Service dialog box where
we can define the App Service properties for the Bot.

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Before we create the service though we will want to make a
couple of changes.
The first change that we will make is to create a new
Resource Group for the service.
To do this, just click on the New button beside the
Resource Group and then enter in a New resource group
name.
For this Bot we changed the New Resource Group Name
to VoughtKempffBot.
Step 14: Create a new Resource Group

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Also, we may want to put our bot on its own App Service
Plan.
The App Service Plans host the actual service and are
Azure servers. Keep in mind that depending on the type of
App Service that you choose from, this may cost money. So
before you chew up all of your Azure credits, check the
pricing here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-
us/pricing/details/app-service/
For example, the S1 App Service will run around $75 a
month.
To do this, just click on the New button beside the App
Service Plan, and then click on the OK button.
Step 15: Create a new App Service Plan

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Now that we have configured our App Service all that is
left to do is to create it.
All you need to do here is click on the Create button.
Step 16: Click on the Create button

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This will start the deployment of the App Service.

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When the App Service is deployed we will return back to
the Publish form and Visual Studio will continue with the
publishing of the Bot.

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After a few seconds the Bot Service will be published and
then a browser window will open up and take us to the new
Bot Service endpoint.
All we need to do here is note down the URL of the Bot
Service.

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Step 1: Update the Bot Messaging endpoint
Step 2: Click on the Register button
Step 3: Click on the OK button
Step 4: Click on the Test button
Step 5: Say hi to your Bot
Now that we have created our basic service we can return
back to the Bot Registration form and link our Bot Service
to the Bot itself.

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Now we will want to link the Bot Service with the Bot.
To do this we just paste the URL of the bot into the
Messaging endpoint field with a couple of changes.
First, change the URL from http:// to https://.
And then add /api/messages to the end of the URL.
Step 1: Update the Bot Messaging endpoint

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Now we can finish the registration process.
All we need to do now is click on the Register button at the
bottom of the form.
Step 2: Click on the Register button

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We will then get a message saying that the Bot has been
created.
Just click on the OK button.

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This will take us to our Bot details page.

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Before we move on we will want to make sure that our Bot
is really working.
To do this, just click on the Test button.
If everything is working properly we will see a message
saying the the Endpoint authorization succeeded.
Step 4: Click on the Test button

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Also if we like, we can test the interaction with the report.
To do this, just type in something into the Chat window.
For example, just say hi.
Step 5: Say hi to your Bot

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Step 1: Click on the Add link for the Teams Channel
Step 2: Click on the I’m done configuring Microsoft Teams
Step 3: Click on the Add to teams link
Step 4: Say hi again
Now that we have the Bot out in the wild we can start
adding it to some Channels.

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If we scroll down in the Bot details we will see all of the
different Channels that we can publish the Bot to. Sone
have already been selected, but for this example we want to
make the Bot available through Teams.
So all we need to do here is click on the Add link for the
Teams Channel.
Step 1: Click on the Add link for the Teams
Channel

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This will open the settings for the Teams Channel and
enable it.
All we need to do here is click on the I’m done configuring
Microsoft Teams button at the bottom of the page.
Step 2: Click on the I’m done configuring
Microsoft Teams

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Now Teams will be in the enabled Channels.
Now we just want to add the Bot to Teams so that we can
use it.
To do this, all we need to do is click on the Add to teams
link.

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This will make the Bot show up within Teams.

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If we want to make sure that the Bot is really there, just
start interacting with it.
For example, just say hi again.
Step 4: Say hi again

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How easy was that!
Now that we have a Bot published we just need to teach it how to
be a little more helpful.
Review
Creating and Deploying a Bot Service Using the Bot Framework and Visual Studio

About the Author
Murray Fife is an Author of over 20 books on Microsoft Dynamics including the Bare Bones
Configuration Guide series. These guides comprise of over 15 books which step you through
the setup and configuration of Microsoft Dynamics including Finance, Operations, Human
Resources, Production, Service Management, and Project Accounting.
Throughout his 25+ years of experience in the software industry he has worked in many
different roles during his career, including as a developer, an implementation consultant, a
trainer and a demo guy within the partner channel which gives him a great understanding of
the requirements for both customers and partners perspective.
If you are interested in contacting Murray or want to follow his blogs and posts then here is
all of his contact information:
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IM/Skype: murrayfife
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Blog: atinkerersnotebook.com
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