Deploy from Dropbox to Windows Azure Web site

Currently, there are a number of options available for publishing source code to the Windows http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/13357.html >azure Web site. For example, you can publish from a development tool such as Visual Studio or Web Matrix, publish code from a local Git repository on your computer, or even from the team Foundation Service, GitHub, CodePlex, or BitBucket and other providers to set up a continuous deployment. Although these functions are powerful, it also takes a while to familiarize yourself with the tools, which have specific learning curves. Fortunately, the Azure management portal, released today, adds support for deploying from Dropbox, so that the learning curve disappears.

Dropbox is a free service that allows you to easily share files across multiple computers by simply copying files to a local Dropbox folder, and you can now easily deploy your Web site to Windows Azure in the same way. Simply copy the file to your Dropbox folder and press a button to deploy it. This is the simplest way. The following is the set up method:

1. In the Azure management portal, select Set up deployment from source control from the Dashboard or Quick Start page.

2. Select Dropbox in the wizard, and then click Next to grant Windows Azure access to the Dropbox\apps\azure folder.

3. Under Dropbox\apps\azure, select a name for the subfolder that contains the source code for the site.

To deploy, simply copy the code to the selected folder on your local computer, and then press the Sync button in the portal to synchronize the code in Dropbox with Windows Azure. It's that simple!

All platforms supported by Windows Azure SDK Support this deployment, so you can copy the source code for. NET, PHP, or node applications, and the server will automatically do the right thing to deploy and run your Web site. If you do want to control what happens during deployment, you can deploy the same custom deployment scripting functionality as Git.

Like other deployment methods, Windows Azure tracks the deployment history of your Web site, so you can easily see what has been deployed and when it takes effect. If you want to roll back at any time, you can redeploy the previous deployment by simply clicking a button in the deployment history.

Watch this 2 minute video to view the actual operation demo. Windows Azure deployment has never been simpler.

Give it a try and see for yourself!