News

Java Debugging Added to Updated Micro Cloud Foundry

• By John K. Waters
• February 23, 2012

VMware this week released a new version of its Micro Cloud Foundry platform-as-a-service (PaaS) with support for Java debugging. Available now, version 1.2 adds a Java debugger designed to allow developers to debug their applications the same way they would with locally running applications. 

Unveiled last August, Micro Cloud Foundry is a complete version of the VMware-sponsored, open-source Cloud Foundry PaaS, but designed to run on a virtual machine on a developer's desktop PC or Mac. It supports several frameworks, including VMware's own Spring for Java, Scala, Grails, and other JVM-based frameworks; Ruby on Rails; the Node.js JavaScript engine; and the MongoDB, MySQL, and Redis application services. Java developers write code for the Micro Cloud Foundry in the Eclipse-based SpringSource Tool Suite (STS). Rails and Node.js developers use a command-line version with VMware's VMC client for scripting routine procedures.

The new release also updates the versions of some of the runtimes it supports, including among others, Node.js 0.6, Java 6 1.6, and Ruby 1.8.7 and 1.9. It also supports MongoDB 1.8, MySQL 5.1, Postresql 9.0, RabbitMQ 2.4, and Redis 2.2.  

With the new Java debugger, developers can set break points in the source code, suspend and resume running applications, perform code stepping operations, and view the application stack. According to the Cloud Foundry Blog, Java debugging is enabled in the new version of Micro Cloud by pushing an application through the Cloud Foundry command-line (VMC) using the vmc push <my app> -d command option or by using the built-in debugger in the (STS).

"An upcoming release of STS will further improve Java and Grails debugging with Micro Cloud Foundry applications to a seamless user experience," the company said.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based virtualization vendor released Cloud Foundry last spring, billing it as the industry's first open PaaS that offers a "new generation of application platform, architected specifically for  cloud computing  environments." IDC analyst Al Hilwa saw the release as an important strategic move that positioned VMware as "another emerging pole for Java developers."

VMware also manages CloudFoundry.com, a public instance of Cloud Foundry that runs on the company's vSphere infrastructure.

All the frameworks supported on the Micro Cloud are also supported on Cloud Foundry, which means that Java developer susing the SpringSource Tool Suite can deploy their apps to a local Micro Cloud Foundry instance or to CloudFoundry.com, all within the STS.

Micro Cloud Foundry v1.2 is available now for download from the Cloud Foundry Web site.