March 2011 Azure Cloud Events in Boston Area

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Are you interested in Cloud Computing generally, or specifically Cloud Computing using the Windows Azure Platform? Listed below are the upcoming Azure-related events in the Boston/Cambridge area which you can attend in person and for FREE.

They are listed in the order in which they will occur.

Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Have any more information or corrections on the events listed? Please let us know in the comments.

1. TechNet Events Presents: Transforming IT with Cloud Computing Firestarter

  • when: Tues 22-Mar-2011, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
  • where: Hilton Garden Inn Boston/Waltham, Presidential Ballroom, 420 Totten Pond Rd, Waltham MA 02451
  • wifi: (unknown)
  • food: Provided
  • cost: FREE (registration required)
  • what: The day includes the following sessions:
    • Session 1: Cloud Computing Essentials for IT Pros
    • Session 2: Windows Azure for IT Pros
    • Session 3: Public Cloud: What, Why, and How
    • Session 4: Private Cloud: What, Why, and How
  • More info & Register: https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032473675&Culture=en-US

2. Boston Azure User Group meeting with Casual Gaming Theme

  • when: Thu 31-M ar-2011, 6:00 – 8:30 PM
  • where: Hosted at NERD Center
  • wifi: Wireless Internet access will be available
  • food: Pizza and drinks will be provided
  • cost: FREE
  • what: One of the fastest-growing cloud segments, casual gaming spans all age groups and regions of the world. Examine the architecture of one example of a casual gaming cloud app, review the common event logic used, learn how to add in-app purchasing and ways businesses can capitalize on these break-time diversions. Examples are draw from real-world development projects and use Windows Azure as the cloud platform. Jason Milgram is a Windows Azure MVP and the founder and CEO of Linxter, Inc., provider of message-oriented cloud middleware.
  • More info: See Boston Azure cloud user group site for details
  • Register: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e3h83p6o5f9da75a&oseq=

Boston Azure Hackathon

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Do you know about the Boston Azure Hackathon to be held at NERD on Wed Feb 16, 2011?

A Hackathon You Say?

Yes, a Hackathon. This is in-person event where folks show up and hack (write code). In our case, we will meet at Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA, and our hacking will be on Windows Azure-related code.

  1. Rule #1: A Hackathon is fun! (Coding is fun when there is a lot of energy in the room… Plus, we’ll have give-aways – which always makes it even more fun, right?)
  2. Rule #2: We learn something! (We all learn better by doing. Plus, we’ll have many book give-aways – another great way to learn!)
  3. Rule #3: Aim to ship! (So don’t be overly ambitious with your idea – try to choose something that you can complete in the allotted time – then enhance it if you have extra time.)
  4. Rule #4: Goto Rule #1! (Yes, recursion abuse. Extra credit at the Hackathon if you employ recursion appropriately.)

(Did you say Windows Azure? Yes, Windows Azure is Microsoft’s platform for writing applications that will run in the cloud.)

A code base that we expect will get a lot of attention is www.bostonazure.org, which is the community’s web site, but is also a real honest-to-goodness-in-production Azure application using features like Web Role, Blob Storage, Table Storage, SQL Azure (with OData), and Azure Diagnostics. (And also an open source project on CodePlex.)

We will break up into small teams based on which subprojects people want to work on and… get coding.

Here’s the approx schedule:

  • 4:00-4:30 PM – Gather, get organized into teams, begin hacking! (We want this to be as efficient as possible so we maximize our time hacking. So please read the rest of this post to see how you can be prepared, such as by joining in the conversation on CodePlex in advance.)
  • 4:30-8:15 PM – Hack! We will break for pizza, but otherwise will crank away.
  • 8:15-9:00 PM – Show and Tell. What did you do? We will have fun seeing what everyone did, and some cool PRIZES and GIVEAWAYS. + +

Where and when?

Location: Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA. Parking available in the building (costs money), or take the T, or find on-street parking.

When: Wednesday February 16, 2011 from 4:00-9:00 PM. If you are late, that’s life, but something we can live with.

Food: Pizza will be provided.

What happens if I come late? Join a team when you get here. You will be “just in time” for something.

What do I need to do?

A few things:

  1. Sign up so we know you are coming
  2. Prepare your development laptop (www.bostonazure.org is running SDK 1.3)
  3. Join the conversation in this thread on the CodePlex space for the Boston Azure Project (where we can discuss ideas in advance of the event so we can “hit the ground running”)
  4. If you want to have access to a live, honest-to-goodness Azure-in-the-cloud instance of your own, please be sure to sign up A FEW DAYS IN ADVANCE for a Windows Azure Pass (use code: DPEA01). For very clear instructions, please check out Jim O’Neil’s screencast on signing up for Windows Azure Pass. Jim will be at the Hackathon helping out, and in case you don’t know him, Jim is definitely a friend of ours. [Note that an Azure development environment should be fine as well for most of us.]

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR OWN AZURE-CAPABLE DEV LAPTOP, then plan to pair up with someone who does…

What will we work on?

Here’s the rule: You can hack on anything you want that is either related to Windows Azure or related to the Boston Azure Community. The discussion thread mentioned above has some ideas. Add your ideas too.

This will break into three broad areas:

  1. Ehancing or adding Azure capabilities to www.bostonazure.org (generally speaking, this is what the group calls the Boston Azure Project). This does not need to be limited to .NET or ASP.NET MVC. Post your ideas to CodePlex.
  2. Writing Azure code unrelated to www.bostonazure.org (maybe a file upload utility, for example)
  3. Enhancing the Boston Azure community in ways unrelated to using Azure itself. For example, if you want to build a WP7 app for the Boston Azure community, go for it (though that could have an Azure-enabled back end). If you want to add features to www.bostonazure.org in jQuery or make it HTML5-capable, go for it. If you want to create a favicon or a privacy policy for the site, go for it.

Use your imagination.

Wait – I am not an Azure expert – is that okay?

Yes, that’s okay. We will have some folks in the room who do understand Azure, so we will help you. However, of course, it is better if you get warmed up in advance. Install the Azure dev environment. Learn a bit about Azure in advance. Download the code from bostonazure.codeplex.com to see the code for the site.

Do you have a hashtag for Twitter?

Yes: #bostonazurehack.

The Boston Azure User Group has a twitter handle: @bostonazure. My personal twitter handle is @codingoutloud.

Who do we have to thank for all this awesomeness?

Microsoft NERD Center provides the space and the food (thanks Leah!).

Microsoft people help make it happen (thanks Jim O’Neil and Mark Eisenberg – each is a friend of ours!).

And the following sponsors are providing software and books for prizes:

+ +

The event is organized by folks from the Boston Azure User Group.

February 2011 Azure Cloud Events in Boston Area

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For those interested in Cloud Computing, especially those interested in Cloud Computing using Microsoft Windows Azure, there are some events in the Boston/Cambridge area which you can attend in person and for FREE.

Here are the ones I know about, in the order in which they will occur.

Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure community? Please let me know in the comments.

1. Maximizing Your Monthly Recurring Revenue

2. Azure Hackathon hosted by Boston Azure User Group

3. Azure Hackathon hosted by Cloud Hackathon Meetup Group

  • when: Thu 17-Feb-2011, 6:30 – 9:30 PM
  • where: Hosted at NERD Center
  • food: (not sure)
  • cost: FREE
  • what: This is an Azure-focused Hackathon – writing code for Windows Azure
  • More info: (tbd)
  • Register: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-The-Cloud

4. Boston Azure User Group meeting with Cloud Security Theme

  • when: Thu 24-Feb-2011, 6:00 – 8:30 PM
  • where: Hosted at NERD Center
  • food: Food (pizza + maybe salad) and drinks will be provided
  • cost: FREE
  • what: This is an Azure-focused event which will focus this month on Cloud Security with an emphasis on two areas: Data Security and Identity Management.In the main talk, Walt Lapinsky, VP Cloud Security at Purposeful Clouds, will dig into Data Security concerns for the cloud – generally, and as applied to Windows Azure. Walt has diverse background in this area, with over 40 years of proven expertise in supporting bet-your-business IT environments, including in the military and intelligence communities.In the opening talk, Bill Wilder will introduce how to create a Single Sign On (SSO) experience in the cloud using capabilities such as Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) and Azure’s Access Control Service (ACS), including how to easily outsource your authentication to Facebook, Gmail, LiveId, or other existing providers – with Azure’s ACS and .NET’s WIF doing the heavy lifting.
  • NOTE: If you are brand new to the Cloud and need to get oriented before jumping in deeper, check out the Boston WebsiteSpark item below which will happen on the same night and at the same location as the Boston Azure event.
  • More info: See Boston Azure cloud user group site for details
  • Register: http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=v6qmy8dab&oeidk=a07e3cxgt9k20c9c5bf

5. Introduction to Cloud Computing and Windows Azure

  • when: Thu 24-Feb-2011, 6:00 PM
  • where: Hosted at NERD Center
  • food: (not sure)
  • cost: FREE
  • what: Mark Eisenberg  will tell us why cloud computing came to be and how it is defined and used.  As well as an overview of the development and deployment workflow. This is a great cloud computing 101 and how you can take advantage of cloud computing.
  • More info: See Boston WebsiteSpark Group page for details
  • Register: http://www.meetup.com/Boston-WebsiteSpark-Group/events/16409922/

Know of any more cloud events of interest to the Windows Azure cloud crowd? Please let me know in the comments.

Recognized as Windows Azure MVP

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On a personal note, I got an email on January 1st from Microsoft informing me that I have been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for Windows Azure. This is for my community work around Windows Azure: founding the Boston Azure User Group, blogging, speaking, and some customer advisor work with Patterns & Practices.

Thanks Microsoft!

Spoke on Azure Cloud at Harvard

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Recently (back towards the end of November), I teamed up with Jim O’Neil to talk about Azure and Cloud Computing to a class of students at Harvard University. Jim and I were guest lecturers for CSCI E-175 Cloud Computing and Software as a Service, a graduate school class taught by Zoran B. Djordjevic.

Jim set up the platform, then in my half I focused on storage, then scaling and robustness architecture and design patterns for the cloud and how they are enabled by the Azure platform. My slides are here: bill-wilder-azure-services-and-patterns-for-cloud-native-apps-harvard-19-nov-2010.

The class was feisty – in a really good way – with lots of smart questions and spirited discussion. Due to all the questions and discussion, we went at least an hour over the scheduled class time, but nobody disengaged. A really good session.

November and December Azure Cloud Events in Boston Area

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For those interested in Cloud Computing, especially those interested in Cloud Computing using Microsoft Windows Azure, there are some events in the Boston/Cambridge area which you can attend in person – one in late November, the others in December – and for FREE (though Cloud Camp Boston offers the option to make a contribution).

Here are the four I know about, in the order they will happen.

1. Windows Azure Firestarter

2. Boston Azure User Group 

 3. Boston .NET Architecture Study Group

Group meeting focusing this month on Azure

 4. Cloud Camp Boston

I may see you at all of them!

Boston Azure User Group – Notes from November 2010 Meeting

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Around 25-30 of us gathered together on November 18 to talk about Azure. What else would you expect us to do at a Boston Azure User Group meeting?

1. The featured talk led by Chander Khanna and Nazik Huq asked the provocative question Why choose the Azure cloud?  and (not surprisingly!) spirited discussion ensued. The slides are available (see link at the bottom of the page), and there is a blog post titled “Microsoft in the Clouds with Windows Azure Platform?” from Chander which considers some of the same material.

2. An Azure 101 talk was led by Mark Eisenberg. This is a challenging topic to cover, since the cloud has so many interesting concepts, and the audience at any given Boston Azure meeting always includes new faces. More Azure 101 to come at next meeting, Dec 13, 2010.

3. Several members discussed the Boston Azure Project. The most recent build includes some instrumentation changes made by Arra Derderian (part of which reused some code from Jason Haley).

4. After the meeting around 10 of us went down to the Muddy Charles Pub for a beer!

Follow me on twitter (@codingoutloud), follow the Boston Azure User Group on twitter (@bostonazure), join the low volume Boston Azure User Group email list, and come join us at an upcoming Boston Azure meeting such as our SPECIAL NIGHT FOR DECEMBER as we meet on Monday December 13, 2010 for a night of Azure-packed goodness!

As always, to see what’s COMING UP in Boston Azure meetings, check out our Azure-hosted web site at www.bostonazure.org – meetings beyond what is on the home page (if known) are listed on the Upcoming Events page.

An HTTP header that’s mandatory for this request is not specified: One Cause for Azure Error Message

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I recently posted sample code that shows copying a file up to Azure Blob Storage in One Page Of Code. In repurposing the code that deals with Azure Queues, I encountered a perplexing error message in using the Azure CloudQueue class from the SDK. I was able to figure it out, and the actual solution may actually be less interesting than how the solution was discovered, so here it is…

The story of “an HTTP header that’s mandatory for this request is not specified”

First of all, my call to get a queue reference had completed without incident:

queue = queueStorage.GetQueueReference(“myqueue”);

Next I executed this line of seemingly innocuous code:

queue.CreateIfNotExist();

An Exception was raised – a “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient.StorageClientException” to be exact – with the following message:

Exception Message: “An HTTP header that’s mandatory for this request is not specified” 

“An HTTP header that’s mandatory for this request is not specified.”

"An HTTP header that's mandatory for this request is not specified."

That didn’t help, so I then checked the Inner Exception:

Inner Exception Message: “The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.”

"The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request."

That didn’t help either. So I fired up Fiddler and looked at the http Request and Response (Raw views shown here):

Screen shot mentioning “Server: Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0” and “<HeaderName>x-ms-blob-type</HeaderName>”

If you look carefully in the Response, you will see there are two references to Blobs:

Circled “Server: Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0” and “<HeaderName>x-ms-blob-type</HeaderName>”

Blobs? Yes, blobs.

Blobs… That was my problem. This was supposed to be code to create a queue. A quick check back to my code immediately revealed a cut and paste error on my part. Two actually, as I tried this both against Development Storage and against live Cloud Storage with the same error.

This was the problem – the culpret – the issue – the bug:

    var clientStorageAccount = CloudStorageAccount.DevelopmentStorageAccount;
    CloudQueueClient queueStorage = new CloudQueueClient(clientStorageAccount.BlobEndpoint.AbsoluteUri,clientStorageAccount.Credentials);

As was this:

    CloudQueueClient queueStorage = new CloudQueueClient(String.Format(“http://{0}.blob.core.windows.net”, accountName), creds);

Replacing “Blob” with “Queue” did the trick for both snippets.

Pay the Fiddler

The error message was tricky, requiring that I fire up Fiddler to see the error of my ways. So..  Be careful out there when you Cut & Paste. Or don’t hack at 9:30 in the night. Or check out a Fiddler http trace, which may have additional information. Or all three..

Checking the Fiddler trace is really the interesting lesson from this post. If you are perplexed over some error condition, look at the raw http traffic for additional details – there may be a new clue in there.

Did This Post Help You?

Please leave me a comment if this blog post helped you or if you encountered the same exact error.

Why Don’t Windows Azure Libraries Show Up In Add Reference Dialog when Using .NET Framework Client Profile?

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You are writing an application for Windows – perhaps a Console App or a WPF Application – or maybe an old-school Windows Forms app.  Every is humming along. Then you want to interact with Windows Azure storage. Easy, right? So you Right-Click on the References list in Visual Studio, pop up the trusty old Add Reference dialog box, and search for Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient in the list of assemblies.

But it isn’t there!

You already know you can’t use the .NET Managed Libraries for Windows Azure in a Silverlight app, but you just know it is okay in a desktop application.

You double-check that you have installed Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010) (or at least Windows Azure SDK 1.2 (last refreshed from June in Sept 2010 with a couple of bug-fixes)).

You sort the list by Component Name, then leveraging your absolute mastery of the alphabet, you find the spot in the list where the assemblies ought to be, but they are not there. You see the one before in the alphabet, the one after it in the alphabet, but no Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient assembly in sight. What gives?

Look familiar? Where is the Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient assembly?

Confirmation Dialog after changing from Client Profile to full .NET

Azure Managed Libraries Not Included in .NET Framework 4 Client Profile

If your eyes move a little higher in the Add Reference dialog box, you will see the problem. You are using the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Nothing wrong with the Client Profile – it can be a friend if you want a lighter-weight version of the .NET framework for deployment to desktops where you can’t be sure your .NET platform bits are already there – but Windows Azure Managed Libraries are not included with the Client Profile.

image

Bottom line: Windows Azure Managed Libraries are simply not support in the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile

How Did This Happen?

It turns out that in Visual Studio 2010, the default behavior for many common project types is to use the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. There are some good reasons behind this, but it is something you need to know about. It is very easy to create a project that uses the Client Profile because it is neither visible – and with not apparent option for adjustment – on the Add Project dialog box – all you see is .NET Framework 4.0:

The “Work-around” is Simple: Do Not Use .NET Framework 4 Client Profile

While you are not completely out of luck, you just can’t use the Client Profile in this case. And, as the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile documentation states:

If you are targeting the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, you cannot reference an assembly that is not in the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Instead you must target the .NET Framework 4.

So let’s use the (full) .NET Framework 4.

Changing from .NET Client Profile to Full .NET Framework

To move your project from Client Profile to Full Framework, right-click on your project in Solution Explorer (my project here is called “SnippetUploader”):

image

From the bottom of the pop-up list, choose Properties.

image

This will bring up the Properties window for your application. It will look something like this:

image

Of course, by now you probably see the culprit in the screen shot: change the “Target framework:” from “.NET Framework 4 Client Profile” to “.NET Framework 4” (or an earlier version) and you have one final step:

image

Now you should be good to go, provided you have Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio 1.2 (June 2010) installed. Note, incidentally, that the Windows Azure tools for VS mention support for

…targeting either the .NET 3.5 or .NET 4 framework.

with no mention of support the .NET Client Profile. So stop expecting it to be there!



You can’t add a reference to Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient.dll as it was not build against the Silverlight runtime

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Are you developing Silverlight apps that would like to talk directly to Windows Azure APIs? That is perfectly legal, using the REST API. But if you want to use the handy-dandy Windows Azure Managed Libraries – such as Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient.dll to talk to Windows Azure Storage – then that’s not available in Silverlight.

As you may know, Silverlight assembly format is a bit different than straight-up .NET, and attempting to use Add Reference from a Silverlight project to a plain-old-.NET assembly just won’t work. Instead, you’ll see something like this:

Visual Studio error message from use of Add Reference in a Silverlight project: "You can’t add a reference to Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient.dll as it was not build against the Silverlight runtime. Silverlight projects will only work with Silverlight assemblies."

If you pick a class from the StorageClient assembly – let’s say, CloudBlobClient – and check the documentation, it will tell you where this class is supported:

Screen clipping from the StorageClient documentation with empty list of Target Platforms

Okay – so maybe it doesn’t exactly – the Target Platforms list is empty – presumably an error of omission. But going by the Development Platforms list, you wouldn’t expect it to work in Silverlight.

There’s Always REST

As mentioned, you are always free to directly do battle with the Azure REST APIs for Storage or Management. This is a workable approach. Or, even better, expose the operations of interest as Azure services – abstracting them as higher level activities. You have heard of SOA, haven’t you? 🙂