IN THIS CHAPTER
Installing the WASM cmdlets
Scripting Windows Azure deployments
Modifying Windows Azure deployments
Working with Windows Azure logs
Microsoft's cloud service offering, Windows Azure, is a robust and extendable infrastructure to host applications that can live in virtual machines (VMs) all over the world. The fact that these systems are dispersed requires not only a delicate hand when it comes to architecting the applications, but also the ability to easily automate tasks like deploying code and scaling the applications to more infrastructure. Although C#, Silverlight, and .NET are the tools being used for the applications that are created in Azure, Windows PowerShell is quickly becoming the automation tool of choice for the Microsoft cloud.
Note
When this book was written, the Windows Azure Service Manager (WASM) cmdlets were in Version 1.2. These cmdlets provide a way to do automation tasks like deployments, code changes, configure monitoring, and scaling applications, but it is expected that we will see them grow and mature in future versions. This chapter dives into what is currently available with Version 1.2 of the cmdlets.
To use the Windows Azure Service Manager (WASM) cmdlets, you must have the following installed on your computer:
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