VMware Tanzu Application Platform 1.6 makes onboarding application developers quicker and easier than ever, no matter which programming language you use! There are some fundamental changes in the Tanzu Application Platform setup that improve the developer experience and that make it an even nicer platform to be around. Let’s take a look.
Simplified CLI installation
Installing the VMware Tanzu command-line interface (CLI) used to require downloading a binary file directly. This was an extra step that created friction for developers who were just getting started with Tanzu Application Platform.
In Tanzu Application Platform 1.6, you can now use native package managers to install the Tanzu command on your operating system. This makes setup quick and familiar for developers. No need to go hunting for the binary file on our website or figure out how to add the command to your PATH. Just use the package manager you already know.
The supported package managers are Chocolatey (Windows), Homebrew (MacOS and Linux), APT (Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives), and YUM/DNF (Fedora, RHEL, and derivatives).
Compared to the old way of installing the CLI, this is a huge improvement. See the new documentation for details and don’t forget to also install the Tanzu Application Platform plug-ins for the CLI!
The newly simplified Tanzu CLI
IDE extensions in the marketplace
The Tanzu Application Accelerator and Tanzu Developer Tools extensions can now be installed directly from the Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ marketplaces. Simply search for "Tanzu" to find them.
You can search for Tanzu Developer Tools in the Visual Studio Code marketplace.
These two extensions provide access to several Tanzu Application Platform services right within your integrated development environment (IDE) and are a huge productivity boost when developing apps on Kubernetes. For example, with the Tanzu Application Accelerator extension, starting new coding projects from pre-approved templates takes just a couple of clicks. Similarly, with the Tanzu Developer Tools extension, your IDE can deploy code straight to Tanzu Application Platform, start remote debug sessions, and change code live—all without leaving your IDE, using the command line, or disrupting your flow.
Now that these Tanzu tools are available in the marketplace, your IDE can not only manage the installation process for you but also upgrade these extensions as new versions become available. Pretty neat!
Local Source Proxy
The new Local Source Proxy feature in Tanzu Application Platform 1.6 provides a seamless way for developers to iterate on code while using the platform without worrying about those gnarly container registry configuration details. This makes features like the Live Update even easier to pick up and use.
Here’s how it works:
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When new application code is to be deployed to the platform, the source code is automatically uploaded by the client (IDE or CLI) to the Local Source Proxy running on the Tanzu Application Platform cluster.
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On the cluster, the Tanzu Application Platform Local Source Proxy then creates the required container image and stores it in the platform’s container registry ready for immediate use.
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This means that developers no longer need endpoints, credentials, or certificates for the platform’s container registry in order to run their code on the Tanzu Application Platform cluster.
This approach reduces some complexity and toil faced by developers and platform engineers using previous versions. For example:
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Developers no longer need to set registry endpoints and credentials in multiple places.
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Developers no longer need Docker in order to iterate on their code locally.
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Platform teams no longer need to maintain, rotate, and distribute registry credentials to individual developer workstations.
Local Source Proxy simply (and silently) improves your developer experience and improves your productivity. It’s a win win!
And finally
With improvements like these, Tanzu Application Platform continues to lead the way in enhancing the modern software development experience. Tanzu Application Platform 1.6 lowers the barriers to getting started and accelerates the delivery of cloud native apps on Kubernetes. For more information on any of these new features, check out the Tanzu Application Platform documentation.
The good news doesn’t end there! We’ve improved the support for Spring native images, made AppSSO easier to set up and use, and made it easier to access the software bill of materials (SBOM) for your builds. Read all about these changes and more in our Tanzu Application Platform 1.6 blog post.
Give Tanzu Application Platform 1.6 a try today and see how your developer workflow can benefit!
