Getting started with the Azure SDK (PDC CTP) with SQL server 2008 (not express)

This is also a post from my old blog which I have to migrate as it will be deactivated next friday. (BTW why isn’t twitterfeed crossposting my blog to twitter).

Hi All,

I’ve downloaded the Azure SDK from Azure.com https://www.microsoft.com/azure/register.mspx. This allows you to get started with the development fabric while you wait for getting enrolled in the CTP.

Getting started an building a hello world (Or actually Hello Arie as I was sitting next to Arie Leeuwestein) kept breaking.I was running SQL server Standard edition in stead of the SQL Server Express edition which the fabric expected. I’m sure I’m not the only one that will run into this problem. To fix this you need to change the settings in C:\Program Files\Windows Azure SDK\v1.0\bin\DevelopmentStorage.exe.config in this file the SQL server instance is configured.

Once I changed this from .\SQLEXPRESS to . the dev fabric started and I’m now able to build Azure applications and debug them on my laptop.

I just recieved my password for Azure .NET services (the service bus and Identity) and Azure SQL Services (relational data) so I’ll be playing with them today and tomorrow.

I’m on PDC this week and the amount of technology that is being announced is really amazing and really fire my enthousiasm for our platform.

Other stuff I really enjoyed:

- Windows 7 in the keynote (this is looking good and at the expo I was able to play around with it and it really is as responsive as it looked on stage).

- Geneva the identity framework www.microsoft.com/geneva a identity framework that takes most the ID heavy lifiting (Authentication) out of the application and really makes it easy to setup federation

- Visual Studio Team System for Database Developers (My collegue knows Gert Drapers the Engineering Manager) really cool stuf in SQL Schema deployment check out the Release Candidate

- Oslo and the “M” language. This is really cool stuff a modeling language.