OakLeaf Systems: Configuring Windows 8 Client Developer Preview Features

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Configuring Windows 8 Client Developer Preview Features

If you plan to to create Windows Azure, Windows Phone 7+, or other desktop and Web applications with Visual Studio 2010 or 2011 under Windows 8 (Client) Developer Preview, you’ll need to add a substantial number of Windows Features to those Setup installs by default.

The feature addition process for Windows 8 (client) is quite similar to that of Windows 7, but Windows 8 offers a slightly different set of default and optional features. This post also covers installation of:

Windows Azure SDK v1.5 and its Tools for Visual Studio 2010
Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8
Windows Azure Platform Training Kit (WAPTK), September 2011 release
Windows Phone 7.1 Toolkit (RC) for Visual Studio 2010* (see below)

Note: There is a serious bug (cycle) in the WAPTK’s Dependency Checker detection and installation process with Windows 8 running in a VM created with Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Hyper-V OS. This bug prevents running the WAPTK Dependency Checker. See steps 28 through 37 at the end of this post.

Update 9/27/2011 12:45 PM PDT: Attempts to run the WAPTK Dependency Checker on a second WAPTK installation on Windows 8 Developer Preview on a physical client (not a VM) failed as above. This bug was reported to the Microsoft Connect Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program’s BUILD Attendees group (WERP: BUILD Attendees) on 9/27/2011.

* The Windows Phone 7.1 Emulator won’t run under Windows 8:

The KB article linked by the dialog relates to problems during installation of the WP 7.1 Emulator, not running it.

Following is the procedure I used to get ready for cloud development with Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate and 2011 Express running on Windows 8 (Client) Developer Preview:

Adding Windows 8 Required Features

1. To open the Turn Windows Features On or Off dialog, click the Control Panel tile, scroll down and click the More Settings link to open the desktop Control Panel window:

2. Click Programs to open the Programs window:

3. In the Programs and Features group, click the Turn Windows Features On or Off link to open the eponymous dialog. Windows Azure and Web development requires enabling Internet Information Services features, part of which is shown here:

4. You’ll also need to enable IIS Basic and Windows authentication. Enabling the IIS Hostable Web Core as an alternative to Full IIS for Worker Roles is a good idea, and you’ll find some applications, such as Windows Live Writer and PaintDotNet, require installing Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (v3.5.1):

5. Visual Studio 2011 requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 Advanced Services and the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 requires Windows Identity Foundation 3.5. Most of the remaining features shown here are enabled by default:

6. Click OK to download the required bits from Windows Update and install the added features:

7. Eventually, Control Panel confirms feature addition:

8. This process required about 30 minutes with a Windows 8 Developer Preview VM.

Installing Visual Studio 2010, Windows Azure SDK v1.5 and Visual Studio Tools for Windows Azure

Note: If you want to install Visual Studio 2010 Standard or higher edition, rather than VS Web Developer Express, install it and VS SP1 before starting the Web Platform Installer. If you want to install SQL Server 2008 R2 Express with SP1, don’t install SQL Server 2008 Express with VS 2010. You probably won’t be able to install VS’s local help files from the DVD because Windows 8 detects a protocol mismatch. Then install SQL Server 2008 R2 Express with Tools SPI (SQL2008R2EXPRWT_x64_ENU SP1.exe.)

9. You’re now ready to install Visual Studio 2010, the Windows Azure 1.5 SDK and VS Tools, Windows Phone 7.1 SDK and VS tools, and the Windows Azure Platform Toolkit with the Web Platform Installer. Click Install Now to start installing the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 2010, September 2011 release:

10. Click Run to open the Web Platform Installer 3.0 dialog:

11. Click the Items to be Installed link to list the components to be downloaded:

and

12. Click Close to return to the Web Platform Installer 3.0 page and click Install to open the Web Platform Installation dialog:

13. Click I Accept to start the download and installation process, which takes a few minutes (depending on the speed of your Internet connection):

14. Installing the bits usually takes considerably longer than downloading them. On completion, the following dialog opens:

15. Click Finish to open the Web Platform Installer with a list of additional components to install. Optionally, click the Add button for the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 (RC) and IIS 7 Recommended Configuration:

Note: You can download and install the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 (RC) and the Release Notes from here, also. However, Windows 8 is not one of the supported OSes (Windows 7 and Vista) and the Phone Emulator won’t run on a VM.

16. Click Install to start the installation of these optional components:

17. Click I Accept to review download details for the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 (RC). The dialog indicates that the IIS 7 Recommended Configuration is already installed. Click I Accept to download and install the SDK:

As was the case for the Windows Azure SDK and VS Tools, installing the bits takes much longer than downloading them.

Installing and Verifying the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 v1.0.1

18. Install the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 v1.0.1 from CodePlex:

19. Click the WATWindows.exe link, click Run, and accept the license agreement to open the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows 8 dialog:

20. Click Install to extract the Toolkit files to the destination folder and then open it in Windows Explorer:

21. Double-click Setup.cmd to run the Configuration Wizard:

22. Click Next twice to scan for Toolkit prerequisites:

23. Click Next to start installing the WAT Windows 8 extension to VS2010:

24. Click Install to accept the license terms and install the extension to VS 2010:

25. Click close and type Y to agree to change the Windows Firewall rules:

26. Press any key to close the Command Window and then click Close to close the Configuration Wizard:

Note: The Toolkit doesn’t install the Windows 8 Cloud Application project template in Visual Studio 2011 Express.

27. Click the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 tile and select the language setting to start Visual Studio 2010. Click New, Project to open the New Project dialog, select Cloud under the Visual Basic or C# node and verify that the following two templates appear:

Installing the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit, September Update and Attempting to Check Dependencies

28. Click Cancel, close VS 2010, and open the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit - September Update download page:

Note: Wade Wegner, a Microsoft Developer Evangelist, provides a detailed description of the WAPTK 9/2011 Update in his Windows Azure Platform Training Kit, September 2011 Release post of 9/23/2011.

29. Click the Download button and click Save or Run to start the 285-MB download and extraction process:

Note: You can disregard the “WAPTKVS2010-September2011.exe is not commonly downloaded and could harm your computer” warning, if it appears. (It appeared for me on 9/27/2011.)

30. If you saved the downloaded file, click Run to start the extraction process. Strangely, the file isn’t signed by Microsoft. Click Accept when the License Agreement opens:

32. Click Install to extract the files to the default installation folder:

Hopefully, you won’t receive this message near the end of the 20-minute process:

31. Click Allow Blocked Content to open the WAPTK’s home page:

32. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the WAPTK’s Assets folder, C:\WAPTK\Assets, and read Setup.docx in Wordpad.

33. Navigate to and open the C:\WAPTK\Labs.htm page and click Allow Blocked Content:

34. Click the Introduction to Windows Azure lab’s Check Dependencies link, which displays this message:

35. Click OK to install the Dependency Checker:

36. Click Next three times to complete the installation, then click the Check Dependencies link again. You receive the same message:

37. Repeating steps 33 through 35 repairs the Dependency Checker. However, the cycle (a bug) doesn’t let you run the Dependency Checker in this configuration.

38. Here’s my Start page in 1024 x 768 resolution after unpinning sample Metro apps, making minor adjustments, and installing Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate SP-1 and SQL Server 2008 R2 Express with Management Tools: