🔹 Introduction
Getting hands-on experience in cloud computing often starts with proper setup — especially when using Azure. Before you deploy virtual machines or manage storage, it’s important to create a clean, organized environment that’s easy to manage and clean up.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how to prepare your Azure environment: creating a resource group, virtual network, VM, and storage account — all in a neat project folder. This base setup is ideal if you’re learning Azure, experimenting with cloud workloads, or following along a guided lab or certification path.
Step-by-Step Guide: Preparing Your Azure Environment
Use these steps in the Azure Portal to build a ready-to-use environment for your next cloud experiments.
1. Create (or sign in with) your Azure account
- If you don’t already have an Azure account, head to the Azure Free Account page and sign up.
- If you do, simply log in at the Azure Portal: https://portal.azure.com
2. Create a Resource Group
A resource group lets you keep related resources together — making management and cleanup much easier.
- In the portal search bar, type “Resource groups” and select it.
- Choose Create,
then set:
-
Resource group name — e.g.
guided-project-rg -
Region — leave default or choose as needed
- Click Review + create, then Create.
3. Create a Virtual Network (VNet)
For resources like VMs to communicate, a virtual network is essential.
- In portal search, type “Virtual networks” select it,
then Create.
-
Under instance details:
- Name the VNet, for example `guided-project-vnet
- Ensure the correct subscription and resource group (the one you just created) are selected
Use default settings for subnet and region unless you have custom requirements.
Click Review + create
then Create
4. Create a Virtual Machine (VM)
This gives you a compute instance to run tasks, apps, or test workloads.
- In portal search, type “Virtual machines”
choose Create → Virtual machine
-
Configure the VM:
-
Resource group: set it to your project resource group (e.g.
guided-project-rg) -
VM name: e.g.
guided-project-vm
-
Resource group: set it to your project resource group (e.g.
- Image: choose an Ubuntu Server version (e.g. Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS) for Linux lab — or Windows depending on your needs
- Authentication type: choose Password authentication (or SSH if preferred)
- Fill admin user name (e.g.
guided-project-admin) and password- Leave other fields default — then click Review + create
and finally Create
5. Create a Storage Account
Storage accounts are useful for blobs, file storage, or any other persistent storage needs.
- In portal search, type “Storage accounts”
then Create.
- Ensure the subscription and resource group are your project group.
- Provide a globally-unique name for the storage account (you might need to try a few variations).
- Click Review + create, then Create.
✅ Summary of what you now have
After following the above steps, your Azure environment includes:
- A dedicated Resource Group for isolation & cleanup
- A Virtual Network (VNet) for network isolation
- A Virtual Machine (VM) ready for compute workloads
- A Storage Account for persistent storage needs
Your Azure environment is now ready for the upcoming labs, where you will configure networks, manage VMs, secure storage, apply governance, and finally clean up your environment.
✅ Conclusion
Starting any cloud project without a clean, organized environment often leads to resource sprawl and management headaches. By setting up a dedicated resource group, virtual network, VM, and storage account from the start, you ensure that your resources are easy to manage, scale, and clean up when needed.
This “prepare” step is fundamental — whether you’re practicing, experimenting, or following a learning path. It gives your Azure workspace structure, making future tasks (like load balancing, scaling, storage management) much easier and safer.
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