GitLab CI/CD to Azure App Service for a .NET Framework app

Every development team has unique requirements that can make implementing an efficient deployment pipeline difficult on any cloud service. This is the process we use to prevent downtime:

The CI/CD script

variables:
  MSBUILD: "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\2019\\BuildTools\\MSBuild\\Current\\Bin\\msbuild.exe"
  SOLUTION: IProcessorSolution.sln
  WEBJOB_PROJECT: ".\\IProcessorPdfParser\\IProcessorPdfParser.csproj"
  DEV_PUBLISH_PROFILE: "IProcessorWebsiteStaging - Web Deploy"
  DEV_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT: "IProcessorWebsiteStaging - Web Deploy.pubxml"
  DEV_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE: "iprocessorwebsitestaging-dr - Web Deploy"
  DEV_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT: "iprocessorwebsitestaging-dr - Web Deploy.pubxml"
  PROD_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE: "iprocessorwebsite-dr - Web Deploy"
  PROD_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT: "iprocessorwebsite-dr - Web Deploy.pubxml"

stages:
  - build
  - deploy

deploy_dev_dr:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: staging
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push" && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != "dev" && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH != "master"
  tags:
    - shared-windows
    - windows
    - windows-1809
  script:
    - 'nuget restore $SOLUTION'
    - '& $MSBUILD $SOLUTION /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$DEV_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE'
    - '& $MSBUILD $WEBJOB_PROJECT /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$DEV_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT'
  artifacts:
    expire_in: 1 week

deploy_dev:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: staging
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push" && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "dev"
  tags:
    - shared-windows
    - windows
    - windows-1809
  script:
    - 'nuget restore $SOLUTION'
    - '& $MSBUILD $SOLUTION /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$DEV_PUBLISH_PROFILE'
    - '& $MSBUILD $WEBJOB_PROJECT /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$DEV_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT'
  artifacts:
    expire_in: 1 week

deploy_prod:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: production
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "push" && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "master"
  tags:
    - shared-windows
    - windows
    - windows-1809
  script:
    - 'nuget restore $SOLUTION'
    - '& $MSBUILD $SOLUTION /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$PROD_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE'
    - '& $MSBUILD $WEBJOB_PROJECT /p:Configuration=Release /p:SignManifests=False /p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:PublishProfile=$PROD_DR_PUBLISH_PROFILE_WEBJOB_PROJECT'
  artifacts:
    expire_in: 1 week