Azure changes in 3.1

In a reflection on changes made to Octopus Deploy's integration with Azure cloud services, Paul Stovell discusses the design shift introduced in version 3.0, which aimed to unify deployment targets by treating Azure cloud services like other targets such as Tentacles. However, this approach proved problematic because Azure services are not as reusable as other types, leading to a decision to revert to the earlier method used in version 2.6. This reversion in version 3.1 will reinstate the use of variables for deployment, while maintaining some improvements from version 3.0, such as the ability to run deployments directly from the Octopus server and enhanced UI features for Azure PowerShell scripts. Users of Azure services are advised to remain on version 2.6 until the release of 3.1, which will include a migration path for Azure deployment steps.