How to Activate Windows Azure Roles for Windows Azure Connect

1. Open the Management Portal for Windows Azure.

2. On the lower left, click Virtual Network.

   The Windows Azure Connect interface appears.

3. In the console tree, click the subscription that you intend to use for your hosted service deployment. If you are prompted to enable the subscription for Windows Azure Connect, click OK.

4. With the subscription still selected, at the top, click Get Activation Token.

5. Click Copy Token to Clipboard, and then ensure that the token is pasted into an appropriate interface:

   • The Visual Studio interface for Windows Azure: This interface is included in the Windows Azure Software Development Kit (SDK), which you or a developer can download through the Microsoft Download Center. In the interface, in Solution Explorer, navigate to an existing role that you want to activate, right-click the role, and then click Properties. In the Properties sheet, select the Virtual Network tab. Select the Activate Windows Azure Connect check box, and then paste the activation token in the text box.
     
     
   • An existing configuration file: If you or a developer are familiar with working with an existing configuration file for a Windows Azure role, you can paste the token into an appropriate line in the file. The line that contains the token belongs in the <ConfigurationSettings> section. The format of the line is as follows, where tokenstring represents the token string that you paste into the configuration file:
     
     <Setting name="Microsoft.WindowsAzure.Plugins.Connect.ActivationToken" value="tokenstring" />
     
     

     Important

     The ActivationToken line, and other lines that you need in the configuration file (*.cscfg file) for a Windows Azure Connect role, are generated automatically when the following line is included in the <Imports> section in the definition file (*.csdef file) for the role: <Import moduleName="Connect" /> In the configuration file, you can paste values in appropriate locations within the lines, but do not delete lines that are automatically generated. All the lines are necessary.

6. Ensure that the token is included in the configuration for the Web roles, Worker roles, or VM roles that you want to activate.

• If you are planning to activate a Windows Azure role and also join it to a domain, also see Use Windows Azure Connect When Roles Are Joined to a Domain and Checklist for Joining a Windows Azure Role to Your Domain.
  
  

Overview of Windows Azure Connect

Checklist for Configuring Connections for Windows Azure Roles

Checklist for Joining a Windows Azure Role to Your Domain

Getting Started with Windows Azure Connect