Do I need a VM to run Jira on Windows Azure?

Question

I have been researching for the past two hours and am still unclear if I Jira and Confluence require a VM or if I can install them on an Azure website instance. I read a very informative article by our friend Scott that indicates for low traffic sites a VM is not necissary. I have also read this Microsoft post regarding Azure VM's vs Websites vs Webroles.

But none of that is answering my question - can I install Jira on an Azure website (shared hosting) or do I need to shell out for an Azure VM?

Answer 1

Can I install Jira on an Azure website (shared hosting) or do I need to shell out for an Azure VM?

Short answer, No. You can't install Jira on an Azure website.

Simply because Azure websites won't allow you to install custom software. If you want to run Jira in the cloud, your best bet would be to go with Windows Azure Virtual Machines. Even though you could install software in cloud services (Web Role/Worker Role) but they being stateless VMs would mean that you would need to reinstall the software if new VMs are commissioned for you (which you could do via start up tasks).

Just out of curiosity - have you considered using hosted JIRA: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing? I think for small number of users, it would be cheaper to go with that instead of installing and running JIRA in Windows Azure.

Answer 2

Try use Azure SDK for Java (http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/java-download-windows/) and Jira source code (https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/Building+JIRA+from+Source)