The PK blog

Using an API App in a Logic App – Cloud Cover Show episode

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 13:43:30 GMT

Introduction A couple of weeks ago, I’ve joined my good colleague Chris Risner at the Channel 9 studio and we’ve talked about API Apps and App Service in general. After receiving quite a few e-mails about the demo I’ve shown, I’ve...(read more)

How to set the RetryPolicy on the API App client

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 03:43:42 GMT

Introduction When you want to consume your API App from your application our Visual Studio tooling does all the magic (aka generation) for you. Because of Swagger, we can generate the code of the API App client with two clicks. All you have to do is point...(read more)

Taking advantage of API Management for API Apps

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:57:12 GMT

Introduction Once you publish your API App using any of the tutorials we provide (.NET, Node.js, Java) you might want to take advantage of the advanced API Management capabilities of by Azure API Management, capabilities like throttling, interactive console...(read more)

Why am I getting “A route named ‘swagger_docs’ is already in the route collection” after I publish my API App?

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 07:17:39 GMT

Question: After publishing my API App I’m getting the yellow error screen of ASP.NET. The error message says “A route named ‘swagger_docs’ is already in the route collection”. How can I fix this? Answer: This is not related...(read more)

Part 2: Running non-.NET API Apps on Azure App Service

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 01:43:52 GMT

On my last post I’ve talked in a bit more detail what API Apps are, what you can build with them, how they work and provided some answers to frequently asked questions. Another very common question is: “How do I run an API App that it’s...(read more)

Part 1: Azure App Service API Apps in more detail and some FAQ

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 08:25:47 GMT

What is Azure App Service? In case you missed it, on the 24th we announced Azure App Service. In simple words, it’s a common platform were you can develop Web, Mobile, Logic and API Apps. It’s based on proven technologies and more specifically...(read more)

My blog is not dead, I promise.

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 13:43:07 GMT

It’s not dead. I promise. I haven’t written a single thing for a loo<chuchu_train>oooooooooo</chuchu_train>ng time. It was for a good reason. So what happened? Well: I joined Microsoft. Which means I had to drop my MVP status....(read more)

Joining Microsoft

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 04:56:54 GMT

It’s been a while since I blogged about anything. I’ve been quite busy with a very interesting project that I hope I can share more news soon. There have been a lot of changes in my life, fortunately all positive, leading to this moment where...(read more)

VMDepot is now integrated into the Windows Azure Portal

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:19:26 GMT

A nice change I noticed today is that VMDepot images are now visible in the Windows Azure Portal. If you to Virtual Machines You’ll see an option that says “Browse VMDepot” If you click it, you get the list of the image already in the...(read more)

Windows Azure and VM Depot from MS Open Tech

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:58:26 GMT

VM Depot allows users to build, deploy and share their favorite Linux configuration, create custom open source stacks, work with others and build new architectures for the cloud that leverage the openness and flexibility of the Azure platform. How it...(read more)

Speaking at Windows AzureConf

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:20:13 GMT

What is Windows AzureConf On November 14, 2012, Microsoft will be hosting Windows AzureConf, a free event for the Windows Azure community. This event will feature a keynote presentation by Scott Guthrie, along with numerous sessions executed by Windows...(read more)

Windows Azure WebSites add support for .NET Framework 4.5

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 02:46:59 GMT

It’s a short post but worth it! It’s live, Windows Azure WebSites are now running with support for .NET Framework 4.5. As this is an in-place upgrade from 4.0 to 4.5 don’t expect anything breaking or things not working but make sure...(read more)

Windows Azure New Portal Improvements

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:11:39 GMT

I accessed the portal today and a nice surprise was waiting for me. Among other improvements that I either didn’t spot yet or they are not visible to us (backend changes) they were two new very welcome changes: 1) Service bus can now be managed...(read more)

How to run SugarCRM on Windows Azure Web Sites using WebMatrix 2

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 04:45:01 GMT

Windows Azure Web Sites (WAWS) is a powerful hosting platform provided by Microsoft on Windows Azure. One of the coolest features is that you can run your Web Sites/Web Apps pretty easily and it’s not limited to ASP.NET but it also supports PHP....(read more)

How to migrate and run your WordPress blog on Windows Azure WebSites

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:52:14 GMT

I was testing Windows Azure Web Sites (Codename Antares, for short WAWS) for about 3 weeks before it was announced two days ago at MeetWindowsAzure. Since the beginning I wanted … Continue reading →...(read more)

Windows Azure Trust Center

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:02:25 GMT

Windows Azure Trust Center was released to the public and it contains valuable information about security and privacy on the platform. You can find details about what kind of certificates the platform holds and generally why and how the platform is secure,...(read more)

Windows Azure MVP 2012 – Renewed

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:02:56 GMT

I received my renewal email today from the MVP Award program. I’m going to be a Windows Azure MVP for a second year in a total of 3 years being an MVP. I’m still proud to be on the first wave of Windows Azure MVPs when the MVP award was available...(read more)

Failed to attach debugger on Windows Azure Web apps troubleshoot

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:56:37 GMT

There is a common error sometimes when you try to start and debug a web site/web app on the Windows Azure Emulator that it’s caused for a couple of reasons that I will explain below. The error message is “There was an error attaching the debuger...(read more)

Running JBoss 7 on Windows Azure — Part II

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:44:01 GMT

Continuing on where I left it on my previous post, I’m going to explain how the Announcement service works and why we choose that approach. The way JBoss and mod_proxy work now is that every time something changes in the topology, either a new proxy...(read more)

Running JBoss 7 on Windows Azure

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:58:00 GMT

I’m going to start a series of posts to explain how we made JBoss run on Windows Azure, not just on standalone mode but with full cluster support. Let me start with one simple definition, I’m NOT a Java guy, but I work with some very talented...(read more)

Reviewing Neil Mackenzie’s Windows Azure Development Cookbook

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:35:22 GMT

In the next couple of days I’ll be reading and reviewing Neil’s book. Neil is a fellow Windows Azure MVP and judging from what I’ve heard and read up to this point, this is probably going to be a very nice book not that I expected anything...(read more)

Windows Azure SDK 1.5 and Windows Azure AppFabric SDK 1.5 released

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:34:00 GMT

Today Windows Azure SDK 1.5 and Windows Azure AppFabric SDK 1.5 were released, fixing issues and bugs detected during the beta. There are also some new enhancements to it: Re-architected emulator, which enables higher fidelity between local and cloud...(read more)

Windows Azure Wins Best Cloud Service at Cloud Computing World Series Awards

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:36:12 GMT

Earlier this week the Windows Azure platform was named Best Cloud Service at the Cloud Computing World Forum in London. Now in its third year, the Cloud Computing World Series Awards celebrate outstanding achievements in the IT market. This year’s winners were selected by an independent panel of industry experts. “It’s fantastic for us to see this type of recognition for the Windows Azure platform. We’re seeing companies creating business solutions in record times, reinforcing the new possibilities created by the cloud,” said Michael Newberry, Windows Azure lead, Microsoft UK. Click here to read the press release about this award. Source: Windows Azure Blog...(read more)

Advanced Installer

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:21:39 GMT

So, this is not a direct Windows Azure post, but I use it also on my roles, so here it goes: I've been looking for a decent alternative to what I was using in the past for my installations, that is InstallAware. Sometimes things were randomly breaking (support for .NET, SQL Server installations failing for nothing etc) all because of the re-packaging habbit of the InstallAware engineers. Then I found Advanced Installer . I use it on my Windows Azure roles whenever I want to do a chain install (MSI 4.5) and instead of doing startup tasks one by one, I just create an MSI package using it and do everything in there. It's fast, it's reliable and it works. I also use it on installation solutions for the software we get out through my company. Updates support is a really cool thing that I was looking to just work out of the box, instead of having to necessarily wrap it around some clusmy scripting code. It might get a little time to find out how you might be able to do something, some polishing details are missing but...(read more)

April Update of Windows Azure Platform training kit (WAPTK April v2.9)

Panagiotis Kefalidis — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:42:37 GMT

April's Update (v2.9) of Windows Azure Platform Training Kit is available now and you can get it here . " The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Windows Azure platform, including: Windows Azure, SQL Azure and the Windows Azure AppFabric. The April 2011 update of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit has been updated for Windows Azure SDK 1.4, Visual Studio 2010 SP1, includes three new HOLs, and updated HOLs and demos for the new Windows Azure AppFabric portal. Some of the specific changes with the April update of the training kit includes: [New] Authenticating Users in a Windows Phone 7 App via ACS, OData Services and Windows Azure lab [New] Windows Azure Traffic Manager lab [New] Introduction to SQL Azure Reporting Services lab [Updated] Connecting Apps with Windows Azure Connect lab updated for Connect refresh [Updated] Windows Azure CDN lab updated for CDN...(read more)