Download, Install, and Sign In

Certain versions of Visual Studio 2015 actually preship with the Azure SDK. An easy way to find out if you already have the SDK installed is to create a new project in Visual Studio (File, New, Project). Next, select the Cloud node under your default language. If you see project types then you already have the SDK. If you see Get Microsoft Azure SDK for .NET, you do not have the SDK installed. You can double-click this option and you will be taken to a download page inside Visual Studio with a button to launch the web platform installer for the SDK.

You can also download and install the SDK directly. You can access the download from the Azure site: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/. Here you select the version of the SDK based on the version of Visual Studio (2015). There are also versions available for 2012 and 2013. Figure 12.61 shows the install process screen for the SDK version 2.6 (in this case, the SDK is already installed).

FIGURE 12.61 The many tools installed as part of the Azure SDK 2.5 for Visual Studio 2015.

When you launch Visual Studio after installation of the SDK, you will still sign into the IDE and to Azure the same way, as discussed at the start of this chapter. However, you now have access to many more Azure services directly from Server Explorer. Figure 12.62 shows the support for the many Azure services, including Cloud Services, HDInsight, Service Bug, Storage, and Virtual Machines.

FIGURE 12.62 The Azure SDK expands connectivity from Visual Studio Server Explorer to additional Azure services.

You can select the various nodes shown in Figure 12.62 and begin working with that service right inside the IDE. As an example, you can double-click a VM and be taken to a configuration screen for the VM. Figure 12.63 shows an example. Notice that you can connect to the VM, shut it down, change its size configuration, and more.

FIGURE 12.63 You can edit VM configuration information from Visual Studio.