🌐 Deploying a Web Server VM and Installing IIS on Windows

#aws #devops #cloud #azure

When building or testing web applications on Azure, creating a Windows Server VM and installing Internet Information Services (IIS) is a fundamental skill. IIS is Microsoft’s web server platform used for hosting websites and web applications.

This guide walks you through creating a Windows VM, connecting using RDP, installing IIS, and verifying your setup.

Create a Web Server VM in Azure

Sign in to the Azure Portal
Navigate to Virtual Machines → Create

-Select: Image: Windows Server (e.g., Windows Server 2019 Datacenter)

Size: Standard B1s or higher
Choose Authentication type: Password or Azure AD login

In the Networking tab:Ensure RDP port 3389 is open for remote access
Ensure RDP port 3389 is open for remote access

Disable Monitoring

Click Review + Create, then Create

📌 Tip:
Use an existing resource group if working within a structured environment.

Connect to the Virtual Machine(VM) Using RDP

Once deployment completes:

Go to the VM Overview page

Increase idle time

Click Connect → RDP

Download the .rdp file

Open it and click Connect
Enter your Admin username and password

You now have full remote access to the VM.

Open PowerShell as Administrator

Inside the VM:

Click Start Menu
Search Windows PowerShell

Right-click → Run as administrator

This gives you the privileges required to install server roles.

Install IIS Web Server

Run the command below in PowerShell:Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

🔹 This installs IIS, the web server software for hosting websites.

Optional: Install Specific IIS Features If you need additional role services, install them with: Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server, Web-WebServer, Web-Common-Http, Web-Default-Doc, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Static-Content, Web-Health, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Performance, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Security, Web-Filtering, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-App-Dev, Web-Net-Ext, Web-ASP, Web-CGI, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Mgmt-Tools, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service -IncludeManagementTools

Verify IIS Installation

✔️ Method 1: Using the Browser Inside the VM
Open Edge or Chrome and enter: http://localhost
You should see the default IIS welcome page.

✔️ Method 2: Using Public IP Address, which was used in this case
Copy the VM’s public IP from Azure and open: http://
If you see the IIS welcome page, the installation was successful.