Ready, set, go download the latest release of the Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java

It’s ready…the February 2013 Preview release of the Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java from our team at Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc.

You’ve been asking for the ability to deploy JDKs, servers, and user-defined components from external sources instead of including them in the deployment package when deploying to the cloud, and that’s available in this release. There are also a few other minor updates for components, cloud publishing and Windows Azure properties. Have a look at the latest plugin documentation for a complete list of updates.

Deploy JDKs, Servers and user-defined components from Blob Storage

You can now deploy JDKs, application servers, and other components from public or private Windows Azure blob storage downloads instead of including them in the deployment package used to deploy to the cloud.

Having the option of referring to an external object instead including an object in the deployment package gives you flexibility when building your deployment packages. It also means faster deployment times and smaller deployment packages.

Here’s an example showing inclusion of a JDK. Note the new Deploy from download option:

Note the other tabs for server and applications – those options let you select a server (Tomcat, for example), or any component that you want to include in the install and setup but that you don’t want to include in the deployment package.

Getting the Plugin

Here are complete instructions for downloading and installing the Windows Azure Plugin for Eclipse with Java for the first time, which also works for updates.

Let us know how the process goes and how you like the new features!