Boost Your Development Speed: Automate Deployments with Alibaba Cloud Toolkit

Developers can increase efficiency in two main ways: by writing code faster or by automating repetitive tasks with plugins, freeing time for substantive work.

Traditional Deployment Methods

Write code and package a jar or war.

Log in to the server.

Upload the package to the server.

Execute commands to start the application.

Alibaba Cloud Toolkit (Cloud Toolkit) is a free IntelliJ IDEA plugin that automates deployment, provides an integrated terminal, file upload, Arthas diagnostics, MySQL executor, and other tools to simplify development, testing, and debugging.

CloudToolkit Overview

The plugin offers powerful features such as one‑click deployment to ECS, EDAS, Kubernetes, or any remote server via SSH, an embedded terminal, file upload, SLS log viewing, a built‑in SQL console for RDS, Arthas remote diagnostics, Dubbo project creation, and SSH proxy support.

Product Features

Deploy to ECS: quickly push code to a specified directory.

Deploy to EDAS: associate local code with cloud applications for automated deployment.

Deploy to Kubernetes: automate image upload and container deployment.

Deploy to remote servers via standard SSH.

Embedded Terminal: log in to any SSH‑compatible machine from the IDE.

File Upload: one‑click upload of local files or remote URLs to a server directory.

SLS Log Viewing: view and analyze Alibaba Cloud SLS logs within the IDE.

SQL Console: browse RDS resources and execute SQL statements directly.

Arthas Diagnostics: run Arthas for remote debugging.

Dubbo Application Creation: quickly generate Dubbo projects.

SSH Proxy: configure proxy machines to traverse network restrictions.

Support Windows Server Deployment

The plugin now supports deploying applications to Windows servers via a graphical interface.

Import your project into IntelliJ IDEA.

Add a server by navigating Tools > AlibabaCloud > AlibabaCloudView > Host, then click Add Host and fill in Host List, Username, Password, and Tag.

Deploy the application by right‑clicking the project, selecting Alibaba Cloud > Deploy to Host, configuring parameters, and clicking Run.

Support EDAS Kubernetes Cluster Deployment

For Alibaba Cloud EDAS users, Cloud Toolkit enables one‑click deployment to EDAS Kubernetes clusters.

Select Deployto EDAS->EDASforKubernetesApplication from the Cloud Toolkit menu.

Configure deployment parameters in the dialog (create an application on the EDAS console if needed).

Click Run to view deployment logs in the IDE console.

Support SSH Proxy (Jump Host)

When a local development machine cannot directly reach a remote server, a jump host can be used. Cloud Toolkit now supports SSH proxy configuration.

Add a proxy machine.

In Tools‑AlibabaCloud‑AlibabaCloudView‑Host, click AddHost and enter the proxy’s IP, username, and password.

Add the target deployment machine (e.g., IP 192.168.20.247).

Set the proxy machine for the target in the Advanced tab under SSH Proxy and click Add.

Real‑time Log Viewing for Deployments

The latest version adds a “view real‑time logs” feature.

Open the deployment configuration and go to the Advanced tab.

Enter the log command (e.g., tail -f /root/act_tomcat/tomcat/logs/catalina.out -n200) and enable “Automatic open after deploy”. The terminal will display logs during deployment.

Quick Create Open‑source RPC Framework Dubbo Projects

Cloud Toolkit can generate a Dubbo project with Spring configuration without any API intrusion.

Open IntelliJ IDEA and select File - New - Project....

Choose the Java SDK version and click Next.

Fill in basic information such as Dubbo version and Spring Boot version.

Finish to create a Dubbo project identical to the Apache Dubbo sample.

Summary

The Cloud Toolkit plugin offers a wide range of features that automate deployment, simplify debugging, and accelerate development across various cloud environments; installing it can help developers solve many pain points.