🔹Azure Compute Fundamentals: Creating and Managing a Virtual Machine

🖥️ Introduction

Creating a Virtual Machine (VM) in Azure allows organizations to deploy scalable,on-demand computing resources in the cloud without investing in physical hardware. Virtual machines can host applications,run development and test environments,or support enterprise workloads securely and efficiently. In this guide, we will walk you through how to provision and configure an Azure Virtual Machine step-by-step.

👩‍💻Implementation Steps

🖥️ Create a Virtual Machine in Azure

🎯 Objective

Provision and configure an Azure Virtual Machine (VM) to host applications or perform testing in a secure cloud environment.

⚙️ Procedure

1️⃣ Create the Virtual Machine

1.Sign in to the Azure portal. 2i.Search for Virtual machines.

2ii.Select + Create.

2iii.Select Azure virtual machine.

3.Select or create a new Resource Group.

4.Provide a Virtual machine name.

5i.Choose a Region. 5ii.Select Availability.

5iii.Select Zone options

6i.Select Security type (Standard)

6ii.Select an Image (e.g., Windows Server 2022 or Ubuntu Server).

7.Choose a Size (e.g., B1s for testing).

8.Configure Administrator account (username & password or SSH key).

9.Under Inbound port rules, allow: •RDP (3389) which enables secure remote desktop access for administrators. •HTTP (80) which allows public web traffic to access the hosted application.

10.Enable licensing

11.Navigate to the Management tab: •Disable Boot diagnostics (if not required).

11.Navigate to the Tags tab. Add relevant tags such as: •Department = Security •Staff= Kelvin •Purpose = Staff Records

📝 Note:

Tags help with organization, cost tracking, and resource management.

12i.Select Review + Create → Create.

12ii.Wait for deployment to complete, then select Go to resource.

2️⃣ Configure Public IP Timeout Settings

1.On the VM Overview page, select the Primary NIC. 2.Click on the associated Public IP address.

3.In the Settings section, select Configuration. 4.Increase the Idle timeout (minutes) value to your desired duration. 5.Select Save to apply the changes.

📝 Note:

This ensures longer remote sessions are not disconnected due to inactivity.

3️⃣ Connect to the Virtual Machine

For Windows VM (RDP):

1.Select Connect from the virtual machine overview page → RDP.

2.Download the RDP file, (on this page you can also reset password and check VM access).

3.Open it and enter your admin credentials.

For Linux VM (SSH):

1.Select Connect → SSH. 2.Use the provided SSH command in your terminal.

4️⃣ Verify the VM is Running

1.Check the VM Status — it should show Running. 2.Confirm you can log in successfully. 3.Optionally install a web server or test application.

🧪 Testing

•Confirm remote access works (RDP or SSH). •Install a simple application (e.g., IIS or Nginx). •Access the public IP in a browser (if HTTP port 80 is enabled).

✅ Results

•A successfully deployed Azure Virtual Machine •Remote access configured •Network connectivity verified •VM ready for application deployment

💡 Key Takeaways

•Azure VMs provide scalable, on-demand compute resources. •Choose the right OS, size, and storage for your workload. •SSH keys or strong passwords improve authentication security. •Costs accrue only while the VM is running—stop or deallocate when idle.