AppCAT, an application and code assessment tool by Microsoft, has been released as part of Azure Migrate to aid users in migrating their on-premises .NET applications to Microsoft’s Azure cloud.
On January 3rd, Microsoft unveiled AppCAT, a tool within Azure Migrate designed to facilitate the migration of on-premises .NET applications to the Azure cloud platform.
AppCAT, short for Azure Migrate application and code assessment tool for .NET, empowers users to evaluate the .NET source code, binaries, and configurations of an application. Its purpose is to identify potential issues and opportunities that may arise during the migration of a .NET application to Azure. By conducting a comprehensive analysis, the tool aims to uncover any issues that might impact the application’s functionality when transitioning to Azure, while also enhancing performance, security, and scalability through the recommendation of modern, cloud-native solutions, as stated by Microsoft.
Once the analysis is completed, AppCAT generates a report outlining necessary checks or alterations to ensure the seamless functionality of an application after it has been moved from on-premises to Azure. The tool is available both as a Visual Studio extension and a .NET CLI tool. AppCAT utilizes static code analysis and examines dependencies to discover application technology usage. Microsoft has provided instructions for the CLI tool, and both the CLI tool and Visual Studio extension enable users to save analysis results in HTML, CSV, and JSON formats.
AppCAT facilitates a user-friendly experience, allowing users to navigate directly to lines requiring attention, address issues, mark them as resolved, and save the current state. The tool also provides estimates for the effort required to address each identified issue, encompassing estimates for app and project components. Microsoft plans to enhance AppCAT by incorporating AI capabilities, integrating it with Copilot AI assistance, and introducing a more curated assessment based on the chosen Azure target.
Users are encouraged to provide feedback on AppCAT via the Visual Studio feedback channel.
