.NET 4.5 RTM on Azure?

Question

Now that .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2012 has RTM, is there a way to use it on Windows Azure yet? I'm aware of the hacks people used for .NET 4.5 RC, but I'm looking for a clean solution.

If it isn't possible yet, does anyone know when the tools, etc. will be updated to support it?

Answer 1

At the moment there is no way to use .NET 4.5 out-of-the-box on Windows Azure. What you can do is use the Windows Azure Bootstrapper to download .NET 4.5 and install it:

bootstrapper.exe -get http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/A/4/BA4A7E71-2906-4B2D-A0E1-80CF16844F5F/dotNetFx45_Full_setup.exe -lr $lr(temp) -run $lr(temp)\dotNetFx45_Full_setup.exe -args /q /norestart -block

Besides that I would keep an eye out for updates related to .NET 4.5 on the Guest OS Releases page .

Update 3-sep-2012 : Have you seen this message: " Beginning October 3rd 2012, Windows Azure will no longer support Cloud Services (Hosted Services) deployed on Guest OS versions 2.9 or older and 1.17 or older. ". This might indicate a change in Guest OS versions on October 3rd (maybe with support for .NET 4.5)...

Update 18-sep-2012 : Confirmation from Scott Guthrie that .NET 4.5 support is due for October 2012.

Answer 2

Scott Gu's twitter response: https://twitter.com/scottgu/status/240567829802414081

we are working hard on it - I should have a more precise eta soon

Update (Sep 17):

... we will enable new web and worker role images with Windows Server 2012 and .NET 4.5 next month

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2012/09/17/announcing-great-improvements-to-windows-azure-web-sites.aspx

Answer 3

The folks running the Azure Facebook Group responded to me with:

"We are working to deliver this based on customer feedback. We don't have exact timing to share just yet, but stay tuned!"

Answer 4

Sandrino is correct, it is not officially supported yet, and will not be until the framework is provided on the images used for the Cloud Services. If you ware looking for a clean solution only, then you'll need to wait; however, I don't think you'll wait too long.

I have seen no official release date announced; however, in a comment left on Jason Zander's Blog about the release of VS 2012 there is this response made by Scott Hanselman:

James, you should see Windows Server 2012 in Azure VM's shortly after the RTM is released, followed by Cloud Services and then Web Sites. It is coming soon.

In the past when we saw the new .NET Frameworks ship they were available on Azure within a few months (like less than 90 days if I recall correctly).

Answer 5

Here's a link for voting for .Net 4.5 support to be added to Azure. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing anyone should need to vote on but it should probably help to make the Azure program managers aware of how much people want this if it gets a lot of votes:

http://www.mygreatwindowsazureidea.com/forums/34192-windows-azure-feature-voting/suggestions/2598170-iis8-and-asp-net-4-5-support-in-azure-platform

Answer 6

From a Microsoft announcement:

"We are excited to announce that Windows Azure Web Sites will soon support applications built on .NET 4.5. "

Answer 7

Azure now supports 4.5 for Azure Websites see Scott Gus post http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2012/10/25/net-4-5-now-supported-with-windows-azure-web-sites.aspx

Support for Worker/Web roles coming in a few days

Answer 8

The newest version of the Azure Tools SDK now supports .Net 4.5:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683673.aspx#BK_October2012

Download it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35448