Azure .NET 4.5 support

Question

OK, I can't find a definitive answer on this online so I thought I'd ask the community on this one. .NET 4.5 has gone RTM last week and were looking at upgrading our products to use it. Before we make this leap, I first need to check if this will impact any Azure deployments with our product (ASP.NET MVC stuff) Does the latest production version of the Azure platform support .NET 4.5 in its web and worker roles yet? I'm aware that the RC of the framework could be installed using a startup power shell script during the VM/role warm up but I don't want this burden on my application, I'm just looking to know of its safe to go live with .NET 4.5 and MVC 4 etc... in Azure's current state?

Answer 1

Even after downloading and installing the October 2012 updates (through the WebPI link on the page) that @Bart listed above, you may still have to delete your Azure Project and remake it-- that was the only thing that removed the "Windows Azure Cloud Service projects currently support roles that run on .NET Framework version 3.5 and 4. Please set the Target Framework property in the project settings for project" error for me.

Even when i changed the osFamily to "3" the error continued until i blew the Azure proj away.

I didnt get to try this as a fix, but i wonder if setting the schemaVersion in the .cscfg to schemaVersion="2012-10.1.8" would've negated my need to blow it away.

Answer 2

The Azure SDK v1.8 (October 2012) is out for download: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35448

Supports: .NET 4.5, Windows Server 2012 and IIS 8.0: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683673.aspx#BK_October2012

To use Windows Server 2012 which supports .NET 4.5, change osFamily="2" to osFamily="3" in your Azure role .cscfg file.

Edit: I updated my two sites last night to Windows Server 2012/.NET 4.5 and they work like a champ. So, this is all the RTM/stable code just waiting for the announcement (maybe BUILD 2012?). If you are using Windows Server 2012, you need to enable .NET 3.5 features for backward compatibility with .NET 2.0-.NET 3.5 apps/modules.

Edit2: Azure 4.5 support was announced yesterday at the BUILD 2012 conference :) http://channel9.msdn.com

Answer 3

Microsoft announced today that Azure will now support .NET 4.5.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/31/azure-mobile-services-now-supports-windows-phone-8-announces-azure-store/

Answer 4

According to Scott Guthrie, as of October 25th, .NET 4.5 is supported on Windows Azure Web Sites

Windows Azure Cloud Services (Web and Worker Roles) will be supported "in the next few days" (presumably by the end of October 2012).

Answer 5

Microsoft just announced today that .NET 4.5 support is coming very soon for Azure and sent out upgrade guides for existing apps.

Seems the concern was that some of the .NET 4.0 changes and bug fixes that are rolled in .NET 4.5 can adversely affect existing web applications. The e-mail implied that the upgrade was rolling out this weekend and asked people to upgrade to .NET 4.5 in Visual Studio 2012.

Answer 6

Windows Azure Web Sites are apparently adding support for .Net 4.5 within a preview.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsazurewebsitespreview/thread/3fab0f32-23c9-4122-9ece-8c3edbadde47

Answer 7

For Windows Azure Cloud Services (PaaS) the Windows Azure SDK supports only .net 4.0 yet. As .net 4.5 is just RTM, it will take some time for the Windows Azure SDK to support .net 4.5 however there is not timeline discussed anywhere and if there will be any info on this regard, it will be communication to Windows Azure website.

If your application must have .net 4.5, you can use Windows Azure Virtual Machine with Windows OS and install .net 4.5 and build/deploy/run MVC4 application as you choose.

Answer 8

If you need to user .Net 4.5 on Azure, please go to the Azure UserVoice site and vote for it: http://www.mygreatwindowsazureidea.com/forums/34192-windows-azure-feature-voting/suggestions/2598170-iis8-and-asp-net-4-5-support-in-azure-platform