After spending some time diving into Azure, I’m thrilled to share my experience of creating my very first Virtual Machine (VM) in this powerful cloud platform. If you’ve been wanting to get hands-on with Azure and learn how to set up a VM from scratch, this post is for you! 🚀
As someone who’s been working with cloud technologies for a while (mostly AWS), I knew it was time to level up my game and get proficient with Azure. Virtual Machines are the backbone of any cloud infrastructure, and mastering them means I’m well on my way to becoming a multi-cloud wizard. 🧙♀️💻
Plus, Azure VMs are versatile—they can run on a wide variety of OSs (Windows, Linux), and they’re great for everything from hosting websites to running development environments.
The Step-by-Step Process (It’s Easier Than You Think)
- Log in to Azure Portal
First, I logged into my Azure Portal (https://portal.azure.com). If you don’t have an account, don’t worry—Azure has a free tier that you can use to experiment! - Head to Virtual Machines
In the search bar at the top, I typed “Virtual Machines” and clicked on it. Then, I hit the + Add button to create a new VM. Simple so far, right? - Set Up Basic Configurations
- Subscription: Picked my subscription (easy choice).
- Resource Group: Created a new one for better organization (you should too if you're experimenting!).
- VM Name: Named it “windows-server”—gotta keep things simple.
- Region: Chose a region closest to my location for better performance (pro tip: always go for a region with availability zones if you plan to scale).
- Image: I went with Windows 10.
- Set up the Administrative account details
- Review and Create
Once everything was configured, I reviewed my settings. Azure made sure everything was in place and gave me the green light to hit Create. And just like that, my VM was deployed in a few minutes. 💨
Connecting to Your Windows Server Using RDP
After successfully deploying the VM, I needed to connect to it. For a Windows VM, the easiest way to access it remotely is by using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Here’s how you do it:
- Get the VM’s Public IP Address
- Go to the Azure portal, navigate to your Virtual Machine, and find the Public IP address of your VM under the Overview tab.
- Download the RDP File
- In the Azure portal, on your Virtual Machine page, click on the Connect button at the top.
- Select RDP (Windows) as the connection type, and then download the RDP file.
- Open the RDP File
- Once the RDP file is downloaded, double-click it to open. Windows will prompt you to enter the username and password you set up when creating the VM.
- Enter Credentials
- Enter the username and password you created earlier. The connection should now be established.
And just like that, I was in! 🚀
While I did set up the basic configurations, there are tons of other settings that can be customized depending on your needs. These include network configurations, storage options, and security settings like firewall rules. But for this post, the main focus was on getting the VM up and running. I’ll dive deeper into these other settings in future posts as I continue to experiment!
Author Of article : Kelechi Edeh Read full article
