DEV Community: Afeez Adeyemo

How to create a presigned URL for an S3 bucket on AWS.

Afeez Adeyemo — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 20:15:55 +0000

This tutorial will guide us on how to create a presigned URL for an Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) bucket

What is S3?
S3 means Simple Storage Service on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is a service that provides secured, scalable, durable and cost-effective object storage.

S3 Bucket

An Amazon S3 bucket is a container for storing objects in Amazon S3. It is similar to Azure Bob container.

Please follow the steps below;

Step 1: Create an S3 bucket
Step 2: Upload an image
Step 3: Create a presigned URL

Step 1: Create an S3 bucket

Log-on to AWS Management Console.
Search for S3 on the home page. Pick Buckets under Top features.

Create bucket

Give the bucket a unique name.

For Object ownership ** and ensure **ACLs disabled is enabled.

Block all public access

Disable bucket versioning, and Add tag. Give the key a name add value. Tags are optional, but important for cost management purposes.

For encryption, enable SSE-S3, enable bucket key

Create bucket

Step 2: Upload an image

Select the just created bucket, double click to open it.

Upload

For storage class, pick the standard for frequently assessed data.

Add files

Browse for file that will be uploaded from your computer. Select open to upload.

Scroll down and upload

Wait for the image to be successfully uploaded. Notice that status is succeeded. Double click the file to open.

Open

Boom! the uploaded file is open

Step 3: Create a presigned URL
The uploaded file can be viewed VIA a presigned URL.

Select the uploaded file. From the Actions drop down menu, select share with a presigned URL.

Set the time interval until the presigned URL expires. Create presigned URL

copy presigned URL

Paste the URL in a new tab and enter.

Notice you can see the uploaded file.

Please drop comments and questions in comments session.

Creating an EC2 instance on AWS and installing IIS web server on it.

Afeez Adeyemo — Sun, 08 Dec 2024 13:04:38 +0000

This tutorial demonstrates how to create an EC2 instance on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and installing IIS web server on it.

What is AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive and widely used cloud platform with global reach that offers secured and cost-efficient cloud computing services i.e. Compute, Storage, Databases, Machine Learning, Networking etc. hosted in data centers located in various areas globally.

EC2 instance

An Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instance is a virtual server in the AWS cloud environment. EC2 instances are secure and scalable and are used for a wide range of applications, including web hosting, data processing, machine learning, gaming, and more.

Below are the steps that will be used in this tutorial

Step 1: Sign in into AWS management console and create the EC2 instance.
Step 2: Connect to the instance.
Step 3: Create the IIS web server.

Step 1: Sign in into AWS management console and create the EC2 instance.

On google, search for AWS management console

Sign in into the console or Create a profile.

Search for EC2 on the home page.

scroll down and launch instance

Give the instance a name, you can add other tags

In the Application and OS Images, in the quick start tab, select an OS image for your instance. Select Windows for this tutorial.

Select the free Microsoft Windows server 2025 Base as the Amazon machine image

For instance type, select t3.micro

For key pair, Create new key pair

Give the keypair a name, ensure key pair type is RSA then craete a key pair. Notice the keypair file is downloaded.

Scroll down to Firewall (security groups), select Ensure RDP from anywhere and Allow HTTP from the internet are both selected. This will ensure your server can be accessed anywhere over the internet.
- Launch instance and wait for it to be successful.

Step 2: Connect to the instance and create the IIS web server

Connect to instance

Select the RDP Client tab, check the Connect using RDP and Download the RDP file

Wait for the file to download. Select Get password

Upload private key file, navigate and select the key file downloaded previously.

Decrypt password

Copy password

Open the RDP file that was downloaded

Connect

Paste the password previously copied. OK

Boom here comes your remote desktop.

Step 3: Create the IIS web server

Search for PowerShell on the desktop, run as Admin

Enter the command Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools. Press Enter

Wait

Notice the Exit Code says successful

Exit the remote desktop to the AWS management console. Select the instance, copy the public IP address.

Paste the IP address in a new tab on your browser.

Press*Enter* and observe the web server that was deployed

Notice the IIS web server was successfully accessed from the public internet.

To ensure you dont run out your credit on AWS, Terminate and delete Instance immediately after usage.

I hope this was helpful. Please drop questions and comments in the comment session

Linux is fun with Multipass

Afeez Adeyemo — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:07:46 +0000

Multipass is a tool developed by Canonical that allows you to create and manage Ubuntu virtual machines (VMs) with ease. It is a container designed to provide a cloud-like experience on your local machine, making it ideal for developers who need quick access to Ubuntu environments for testing and development12.

Key Features of Multipass:

Cross-Platform: Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Quick Setup: Launches VMs with a single command, providing a fresh Ubuntu environment almost instantly.
Cloud-Init Support: Allows you to configure VMs using cloud-init, similar to how you would in a public cloud.
Minimal Overhead: Uses native hypervisors (KVM on Linux, Hyper-V on Windows, and QEMU on macOS) for efficient performance.
File Sharing: Easily share files and folders between your host and VMs.

Common Uses:

Development and Testing: Quickly spin up isolated environments to test applications or configurations.
Learning and Experimentation: Ideal for learning Linux, trying out new software, or experimenting with different configurations without affecting your main system.
Local Cloud Simulation: Create a mini-cloud on your local machine to simulate cloud deployments2.

This tutorial demonstrates how to download and deploy basic commands on multipass.

Downloading Multipass
- Search for download multipass on google.

Install now
Select the operating system of your computer
Launch multipass, select any of the options

Executing basic commands with Multipass

Entering the Root environment. The command (sudo su) allows users into the root environment without asking for password. This environment grants administrative rights which permits administrative commands i.e create folders/files, deleting etc.
Navigating the file system
- pwd command. This is the printing work directory command. This enables you find your current location starting from the home. More like showing you direction to your current location starting from home on a google map.
- mkdir name command. This is the create a directory command that creates the directory with unique name given. This is similar to create a cabinet/resource group that can be further partitioned used to store files or similar items. This has created 2 file - afeezspace1 and afeezspace2
- cd command. This is the change directory command which enables a user to enter into a pre-existing directory and also to leave a directory. cd command with a name takes you to the named directory while cd without a name takes you out of the current location to home. notice we are now in afeezspace2
- ls command. This is the list command that lists the items (files and directory) in a directory. Notice the ls command didn't list anything because the afeezspace2 directory is empty. The pwd command is showing us that we are in afeezspace2 located in the ubuntu-homepage.
- exit command takes the user out of the whole environment, in this case out of the administrative/root environment to home. Notice we have been taken out of the whole root environment. sudo su takes us back into the homepage of the administrative environment. -using the ls command at this point will show us the 2 directories previously created.
- Lets go back into afeezspace1. with the command cd afeezspace1
- cd .. command - This takes you out of the space you are to the space just above, as against the cd that takes you back to home
- Enter cd afeezspace1 to enter the afeezspace1 directory again.
Creating text files: touch name of file is the commands that create an empty test file to host codes and tect documents.

Notice 3 files (World, Africa and Nigeria) have been created. Using the ls command lists out the files in the afeezspace1 directory

Deleting - rm deletes a file. rm Nigeria will delete the Nigeria file. Enter ls command to see the files left in the directory.

Notice the file Nigeria is gone

Writing in a text file - The commands vi name of text file or vim name of text file will open up the text file for content to be added/edited.
- To write into the file, press i then go ahead to type
- Exiting a text file - Press esc to exit to writting mode and shift :wq will save and exit the text file.

Notice we are back to the multipass window

Viewing the content of a text file: The command cat name of text file will display the content of a text file. Enter cat world to see what we have just written in the world text file.

Notice the display

The copy command: The command cp name destination copies the content of the text file named to the destination directory. cp world afeezspace2 will copy the text file world to afeezspace2.

deleting a directory: the command rmdir name will delete the directory with the specified name, while rm name will delete a file with the specified name.
Generating a report of all commands used: The command history will list out all the commands that have been used in the current shell

Thanks for reading this article which shows that Linux is fun, taking us through basic commands in multipass.

Drop comments and questions in the comment session.

Creating a Virtual Machine scale set

Afeez Adeyemo — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 11:40:31 +0000

This is a tutorial that gives a step-by-step guide, with screenshots on how to create a virtual machine scale set. It is a sequel to the previous tutorials on adding hard disc to a VM and creating an image gallery.

A Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS) in Azure is a service that allows you to create and manage a group of identical, load-balanced VMs. The key feature of a VM scale set is its ability to automatically increase or decrease the number of VM instances in response to demand or a defined schedule12.

Here are some of the main benefits of using VM scale sets:

Automatic Scaling: VMSS can automatically adjust the number of VMs based on metrics like CPU usage, memory usage, or network traffic.
High Availability: By distributing VMs across availability zones or fault domains, VMSS ensures high availability and resilience.
Consistent Configuration: All VM instances in a scale set are created from the same base OS image and configuration, ensuring consistency across your environment.
Load Balancing: VMSS integrates with Azure Load Balancer and Azure Application Gateway to distribute traffic efficiently.

Fine below the steps in creating a virtual machine scale set.

From the previously create and saved image. Select + create VMSS.
.
Enter details of the VMSS

Enter the resource group name that contains the previously created VM and Image gallery. Set the Virtual machine scale set name.

For the orchestration mode, there are 2 optional (Flexible and Uniform). Flexible creates a scale set of VMs with high availability i.e. a set of machines that are very dependable with no downtime. The uniform options create a set of stateless machines that doesn't store historical information.
For the purpose of this tutorial select flexible
For scaling select manually update the capacity, this enables you to manually scale. Autoscaling can be used if conditions of overloading can be predetermined and configured into the Autoscaling criteria.
Select license type
- Review and create

Wait for the VMSS to deploy

4 - Go the VMSS just created. In the Availability + scale blade, select Scaling. Notice manual scale is pre-selected

The instance count defines the number of VMs to be created automatically in the VMSS. For this tutorial set it at 50 and save and wait for saving to be complete.

Navigate back to virtual machines from the home page. Observe that Azure is automatically creating 50 VMs in the scale set.

This VMSS comprising of 50 VMs are now available to support increased workload thereby ensuring high availability and performance.

Kindly drop questions and comments in the comment section

Capturing the image of a Virtual machine in Azure

Afeez Adeyemo — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 09:50:17 +0000

This tutorial demonstrates how to capture the image of a virtual machine in Azure.

In Azure, an image is essentially a template or blueprint for a virtual machine (VM). It includes the operating system, installed programs, settings, and configurations needed to create a replica of a VM. When you create a VM from an image, a copy of the virtual hard disks (VHDs) in the image is used to create the disks for the new VM.

Table of content

Step 1: Create a compute gallery.
Step 2: Capture and store VM's image.

Step 1: Create a compute gallery

Logon to Azure porter
On the homepage, search for Azure compute galleries

Select + create
Enter subscription details and Instance details
- Select resource group that contains the VM to be captured
- Enter a suitable name and description
- review and create
- create
- Notice resource has been completely deployed. Go to resource.

Step 2: Capture and store VM's image.

Navigate into the VM previously created, with the added and formatted disc.
Click capture and image from the drop down menu
Enter the Target azure gallery name is the one just created.
- Select new in the Target VM image definition
- Enter VM image definition name and click ok
- As this is the first image of the VM, set the version number to 0.0.1. Review and create.
- create
- Wait for the resource to deploy .

The image has been successfully captured and saved.

Please drop comments and questions in the comments section.

Adding a data disc to a windows VM

Afeez Adeyemo — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 21:34:08 +0000

This is a guide on how to add a data disc to a Virtual Machine (VM).

In the realm of virtualization, managing storage is a critical aspect of maintaining efficient and scalable virtual environments. One common task that administrators and users often encounter is adding a disk to a virtual machine (VM). This process is essential for creating and expanding storage capacity, improving performance, and ensuring that virtual machines can handle increasing workloads. Whether you are using VMware, VirtualBox, or another virtualization platform, understanding how to add a disk to a VM is a fundamental skill. This assignment will guide you through the steps required to add a new virtual hard disk to a virtual machine, highlighting the key considerations and best practices to ensure a smooth and successful implementation.

Table of Content

Create a VM or select an existing VM
Add a disc
RDP into the VM
Initialize the disc and make it useable.

1. Create a VM or select an existing VM

Login into Azure Portal. Go to home
Search for Azure virtual machine
Click create, pick Azure virtual machine
Create a virtual machine (check previous articles on how to create a windows virtual machine.
Select the virtual machine.

2. Add a disc
To add a disc go through the steps below

Go to overview. Under settings blade, select disc.
Click create and attach a new disc
Enter an appropriate disc name, select storage type and size. Apply changes.

3. RDP into the VM

Go to the connect blade, select connect and select native RDP.
Wait for it to configure. download RDP file
Wait for the file to download. Run the downloaded RDP file
Enter details username and password, click OK to connect to the VM.
Notice the VM has come up and you are now connected to the VM

4. Initialize the disc and make it useable.

In the search bar of the VM, search for disc management. Select create and format hard disc partition
Notice the system saying that you must initialize the disc. Click ok to initiate the initializing.
Right click and select new simple volume
Continue to select next until you get to format partition
From the format partition page, give the disc a name. Click yes to perform quick format.
On the complete the new simple volume wizard page, select finish
Notice the primary partition is now healthy

This VM now has a formatted disc and can now be used.

Please drop comments and ask questions in the comment section.

How to create an App service application and hosting an app on it

Afeez Adeyemo — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:36:01 +0000

This is a guide on how to create an app service application on Azure and how to host an app on it.

In this article, I will make use of Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) to issue the commands to create the app and deploy it. The Azure CLI is a powerful tool that allows you to manage Azure resources directly from your terminal or command prompt, it is a quicker way to deploy, monitor and manage azure resources.

Table of Content

Introduction.
Download Azure CLI
Creating Web App service using Azure CLI.
Uploading content.

1. Introduction

Azure App Service
An Azure App Service application is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering from Microsoft Azure. It enables developers to build, deploy, and scale web applications, mobile backends, and RESTful APIs quickly and efficiently. Here are some key features and benefits of Azure App Service applications:

Key Features

Multiple Language Support: Azure App Service supports various programming languages, including .NET, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby1. Integrated Development Environment: It integrates seamlessly with popular development environments like Visual Studio and GitHub, making it easier to deploy and manage applications2.
Scalability: You can scale your applications up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency3. Security: Azure App Service provides built-in security features, including authentication and authorization, SSL/TLS certificates, and compliance with industry standards3.
Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): It supports CI/CD pipelines, allowing for automated deployment and updates2.
Monitoring and Diagnostics: The platform offers comprehensive monitoring and diagnostic tools to track application performance and troubleshoot issues2.

Benefits

Ease of Use: Azure App Service simplifies the process of deploying and managing applications, reducing the need for extensive infrastructure management.
Cost-Effective: With various pricing tiers, you can choose a plan that fits your budget and scale as your application grows3.
High Availability: The platform ensures high availability and reliability, with options for automatic backups and disaster recovery3.
Global Reach: Azure’s global data centers allow you to deploy applications closer to your users, improving performance and user experience2.

Azure App Service is ideal for developers looking to focus on building their applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. It provides a robust, scalable, and secure environment for modern web and mobile applications.

2. Downloading Azure CLI

Download Azure CLI
On Google search for Azure CLI, click Install

Pick the version compactible to your computer (Windows or MacOS) to download

Wait for the installation file. Install Azure CLI. Wait for it to install and close it.

3. Creating the web App with Azure CLI and PowerShell

A - Open Terminal or PowerShell on your computer. They are mostly preinstalled on every system.

B - To login into Azure.

Enter the command "az login"
It will pop up the Azure login page on the browser. Login your azure account.

Observe on PowerShell that you are logged in.
Enter to confirm the default/active subscription was picked.

C - Create a resource group.
A resource group in Azure is a logical container that holds related Azure resources, such as virtual machines, storage accounts, web apps, databases, and more.

To create, enter the command "az group create --name YesAppRGAfeez --location eastus"

D - Create an App service plan

An App Service plan in Azure defines a set of compute resources for a web app to run. It is basically a compute resource that host a web app.

To create, enter the command "az appservice plan create --name YesAppAfeezPlan --resource-group YesAppRGAfeez"

This will create YesAppAfeezPlan inside the already created YesAppRGAfeez resource group

Notice the App Service Plan with name YesAppAfeezPlan has been created.

E - Create a Web App
A web app, or web application, is a software application that runs on a web server and can be accessed through a web browse.

To create, enter the command az webapp create --name YesAppServiceApp --resource-group YesAppRGAfeez --plan YesAppAfeezPlan

This will create Webapp named YesAppServiceApp inside the resource group YesAppRGAfeez inside the plan YesAppAfeezPlan.

F - Explore the webapp that has been created

Search for App services on the home page in your Azure.
- Notice the app that was created
- Click on the webapp just created YesAppServiceApp

Click on the default domain to see that the webapp is running and empty

4 - Uploading content in the webapp

A. Copy the source code from predetermined location. For the purpose of this article, a source code for a Quran app will be created using ChatGPT.

Type sample HTML CSS script application for a holy Quran application in ChatGPT or it can be any app you wish to develop.

Enter and copy code

B. Prepare environment and upload the code

In the search box search for and select Advanced tools
Click go
notice it opens up a fresh tab on your browser
Select debug console and CMD
Click on site
Click on WWWroot
Click on the pencil icon on hostingstart.html
Delete the default code in the page
Paste the code for the App generated with ChatGPT
Save ![Paste code in Kudu(https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/px19xo88y71y8my8srg2.png)

C. Check uploaded App

Go back to Azure, enter into the YesAppServiceApp
Click on the default domain to revisit the webapp
See the WebApp displayed

The next article will be on how to upload code from Github into a WebApp.

Please drop comments and questions in the comment session

How to create a linux VM using custom template, associating and dissociating IP address

Afeez Adeyemo — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 17:03:48 +0000

This is a step by step procedure on how to create a Linux virtual machine (VM) using custom templates, associating and dissociating IP addresses to shut down the machine.

This will guide on how to create a Linux VM within the shortest possible time, also how to save cost by dissociating the VM's IP address when it's no longer in use and association the VM's IP when needed.

We will also learn how to create new IP addresses and associating it to an existing VM. Also how to connect a VM using windows power shell with ssh.

Below are the steps to follow:

Step 1. Creating a VM using custom templates.

Step 2. Associating and dissociating a VM's IP address.

Step 3. Creating new IP address for a VM.

Step 4. Connect and configure the VM with ssh on windows PowerShell.

1. Creating a VM using custom templates

Log on to azure
search for deploy a custom template on the task bar
Select Create a Linux virtual machine
On the Basics tab. You will be required to just create the resource group, username and password.
Create new resource group. Give it a unique name and click OK
In the instance details
Set the Admin username and Admin password or Key
Review and Create
Create
Wait for the resource to create, the Go to resource

2. Associating and dissociating a VM's IP address

Select the simpleLinuxVM
In the Overview, under the Properties tab, click on the Public IP address in the Networking section.
Drag out the Idle timeout to the maximum 30 minutes. This will ensure the VM does not time out after the default 4 minutes
Click on Stop, to stop the VM from running
- Click on OK
Stopping a VM does not stop all the cost associated to the VM. The VM's IP address is a cost on its own and can be stopped when not needed.
Search for Public IP address on the task bar.
Select the simpleLinuxIPaddress
Select Dissociate and click on Yes
Notice Dissociate is greyed out
Select Associate to re-associate the VM with an IP address. Pick Network Interface in the resource type drop-down menu. Pick SimpleLinuxVMNetInt in the Network interface drop-down menu. Click OK
Notice Associate is greyed out.
Go to properties of the simplelinuxVM, notice the Public IP address is now masked i.e no longer showing

3. Creating new IP address for a VM.

On the home page, search for ** Public IP address** and ** create a resource**
Give it a name, Review and create
Create
To dissociate the old IP address from the VM.
Go to home and search for Public IP address
Select Dissociate, click OK
Go back to Public IP address and select the new IP address
To associate the new IP address to the new VM. Select associate, on the menu select network interface and the VMname. OK
In the settings/configuration tab of the new IP address, drag out the idle time to maximum. To ensure the IP address does not time out too often

4 - Connect and configure the VM with ssh on windows PowerShell.

Search for an open Microsoft PowerShell on your computer
Enter command prompt ssh username@IPaddress, and enter
Confirm you want to connect by entering Yes and enter
tEnter Password previously set. Notice you won't see the password typing out. This is a security feature for Linux. Press enter
To do anything into the VM, you need to enter root. Enter the command sudo suand enter.
- From this point you can go ahead to install anything in the VM

Please drop questions and comments in the comments section.

How to create a resume and push to GitHubs pages

Afeez Adeyemo — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:23:16 +0000

This is a step-by-step guide on how to create a resume and push to GitHubs pages

Steps

Download Git Bash.
Configure Git Bash.
Work with the configured environment.
Clone your Github repo.
Push to Github
Show the content

Step 1: Download Git Bash
Instructions on downloading and installing Git Bash.

Download Gitbash

git-scm.com
click the link above
Choose the appropriate windows of the computers being used.

Finish the download by selecting all the defaults.
Open the App

Step 2: Configure Git Bash.

To Configure username, enter the command git config --global user.name “name” then press the enter key

To configure user email, enter the command git config --global user.email “email” then press enter key.

To check the configuration just completed, enter the command git config --list. This will display the just configured username and user email.

Step 3: Working with the configured environment.

To Create directory (A directory is a place where all similar items are kept together), enter the command mkdir website, press enter. This will create a directory named website.

To enter directory into the directory, enter the command cd website, press enter.

To initialize the directory, turns the directory into a Git repository. Enter the command git init website.

To create a text file in the directory called index.html, enter the command touch index.html

Opening the index.html file. Enter the command vim index.html

Press i to enable writing into the file

create a sample index.html resume with ChatGPT. Go to chatGPT and create an index.html resume

paste the resume into the index.html file. You can edit as appropriate to enter your details.

exit the index.html file after editing.

Step 4: Clone your Github repo.

Go to Github. and create a repository

Give a unique name
Choose public
Add a readme
Create repository

Clone using the web URL by copying the code. Click in code, under the HTTPS tab, click copy

Enter the command git remote add origin (paste the url). This will add the text resume.

Step 5: Push to Github

git add index.html
- To check the git status. This will confirm nothing has been added to the file, but there are untracked files present. Enter git status
- Enter git add index.html. This will add the file to the staging area.
Enter git status again. This will confirm successful addition.

Enter git commit -m “Create index.html”. This will take a snap short of the file and add a message (create index.html) to it. - creates will the m adds a message

Enter git push origin master. This will push the file to GitHub.

Compare and pull request.

Noticed the request is pulled but nothing to compare because this is your file and it's the initial pull.

Step 6: Show the content

click on settings
- Go to pages tab
- from the source drop down, select deploy from a master
- from the Branch, select master
- click in save

refresh

notice site is now live

click on visit site

Provide storage for a new company app

Afeez Adeyemo — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 15:57:23 +0000

This is a step by step tutorial on how to provide storage for a new company app.

The company is designing and developing a new app. Developers need to ensure the storage is only accessed using keys and managed identities. The developers would like to use role-based access control. To help with testing, protected immutable storage is needed.

Table of Content

Step 1: Create the storage account and managed identity.
Step 2: Secure access to the storage account with a key vault and key.
Step 3: Configure the storage account to use the customer managed key in the key vault
Step 4: Configure a time-based retention policy and an encryption scope.

Step 1: Create the storage account and managed identity.

1. Provide a storage account for the web app.

In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

Select + Create.

For Resource group select Create new. Give your resource group a name and select OK to save your changes.

Provide a Storage account name. Ensure the name is unique and meets the naming requirements.

Move to the Encryption tab.
Check the box for Enable infrastructure encryption.
Notice the warning, This option cannot be changed after this storage account is created.
Select Review + Create.

Wait for the resource to deploy

2. Provide a managed identity for the web app to use.

Search for and select Managed identities.

Select Create.

- Select your resource group.
- Give your managed identity a name.

Select Review and create, and then Create.

3. Assign the correct permissions to the managed identity. The identity only needs to read and list containers and blobs.

Search for and select your storage account.
Select the Access Control (IAM) blade.
Select Add role assignment (center of the page).

On the Job functions roles page, search for and select the Storage Blob Data Reader role.

On the Members page, select Managed identity.
Select Select members, in the Managed identity drop-down select User-assigned managed identity.
Select the managed identity you created in the previous step.
Click Select and then Review + assign the role.

Select Review + assign a second time to add the role assignment.

Your storage account can now be accessed by a managed identity with the Storage Data Blob Reader permissions.

Step 2: Secure access to the storage account with a key vault and key.

To create the key vault and key needed for this part of the lab, your user account must have Key Vault Administrator permissions.

In the portal, search for and select Resource groups.

Select your resource group, and then the Access Control (IAM) blade.
Select Add role assignment (center of the page).

On the Job functions roles page, search for and select the Key Vault Administrator role.

On the Members page, select User, group, or service principal.
Select Select members.
Search for and select your user account. Your user account is shown in the top right of the portal.
Click Select and then Review + assign.

Select Review + assign a second time to add the role assignment.

You are now ready to continue with the lab.

Create a key vault to store the access keys.

In the portal, search for and select Key vaults.

Select Create.

Select your resource group.
Provide the name for the key vault. The name must be unique.

Ensure on the Access configuration tab that Azure role-based access control (recommended) is selected.
Select Review + create.

Wait for the validation checks to complete and then select Create.

After the deployment, select Go to resource.

On the Overview blade ensure both Soft-delete and Purge protection are enabled.

Create a customer-managed key in the key vault.

In your key vault, in the Objects section, select the Keys blade.
Select Generate/Import and Name the key.

Take the defaults for the rest of the parameters, and Create the key.

Step 3: Configure the storage account to use the customer managed key in the key vault.

1.Before you can complete the next steps, you must assign the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role to the managed identity.

In the portal, search for and select Resource groups.

Select your resource group, and then the Access Control (IAM) blade.
Select Add role assignment (center of the page).

On the Job functions roles page, search for and select the Key Vault Crypto Service Encryption User role.

On the Members page, select Managed identity.
Select Select members, in the Managed identity drop-down select User-assigned managed identity.
Select your managed identity.
Click Select and then Review + assign.

Select Review + assign a second time to add the role assignment.

Configure the storage account to use the customer managed key in your key vault.

Return to your the storage account.

In the Security + networking section, select the Encryption blade.
Select Customer-managed keys.
Select a key vault and key.

Select your key vault and key.
Select to confirm your choices.

Ensure the Identity type is User-assigned.
Select an identity.

Select your managed identity then select Add.
Save your changes.

If you receive an error that your identity does not have the correct permissions, wait a minute and try again.

Step 4: Configure a time-based retention policy and an encryption scope.

The developers require a storage container where files can’t be modified, even by the administrator.

Navigate to your storage account.
In the Data storage section, select the Containers blade.
Create a container called hold. Take the defaults. Be sure to Create the container.

Upload a file to the container.

In the Settings section, select the Access policy blade.
In the Immutable blob storage section, select + Add policy.
For the Policy type, select time-based retention.
Set the Retention period to 5 days.
Be sure to Save your changes.

Try to delete the file in the container.
Verify you are notified failed to delete blobs due to policy.

The developers require an encryption scope that enables infrastructure encryption.

Navigate back to your storage account.
In the Security + networking blade, select Encryption.
In the Encryption scopes tab, select Add.

Give your encryption scope a name.
The Encryption type is Microsoft-managed key.
Set Infrastructure encryption to Enable.
Create the encryption scope.

Return to your storage account and create a new container.

Notice on the New container page, there is the Name and Public access level.
Notice in the Advanced section you can select the Encryption scope you created and apply it to all blobs in the container.

Creating a windows 11 virtual machine

Afeez Adeyemo — Thu, 26 Sep 2024 04:51:26 +0000

A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a physical computer. It runs an operating system and applications just like a physical computer, but it operates within a window on your current operating system. Here are some key points about virtual machines:

Isolation: VMs are isolated from the host system, meaning the software inside a VM can’t interfere with the host’s primary operating system1.
Flexibility: You can run multiple VMs on a single physical machine, each with its own operating system. This allows you to run different OSes simultaneously2.
Use Cases: VMs are used for various purposes, such as testing new software, running applications that require different OSes, and creating development environments12.
Cost Efficiency: They help save costs by reducing the need for physical hardware and allowing better resource utilization2.

This is a step by step procedure on how to create a windows 11 virtual machine.

Step 1: Create a windows 11 virtual machine.

Configure the virtual machine.

In the portal, search for virtual machines.

Select + create.

Go to the Basics tab.

On the project details
- Create new resource group and give it a unique name.

On the Instance details
- On the virtual machine name, give your virtual machine a unique name. Just like other computers, virtaul machines have names
- Set the region as appropriate.
- Set the Availabilty zone to Zone 1. This will back-up the virtual machine in 3 data centers. You can pick more Zones to create the VM in more data centers

on drop down menu for image select Windows 11 Pro, version 22H2 - x64 Gen2.
- On the Administrator account.
- Set the Username to your name.
- Set password and confirm password.

Set the inbound port rules.
- Select the Allow selected ports for the public inbound ports. This will ensure the VM can be accessed via public internet.
- On the drop-down menu for Select inbound portst, select RDP 3389

Go to the Monitoring tab.

Check Disable for boot diagnostic. This will ensure azure does not have access to the activities of the virtual machine.
- Select Review and create

Wait for it to validate
select create

Wait for it to complete deployment.

When deployment is complete. Select go to resource.

Configuring the Virtual machine.

Click the Public IP address

Drag the Idle timeout (minutes) to 30. This will ensure the VM doesnt time out to often while in use.
Save.

Step 2: Starting up the Virtual machine.

Select Connect

Wait for the VM to get configured.
Click on Download RDP file.

Open the downloaded file. Enter password that was previously set. Click OK.

The VM is launched

The VM can now be used as your regular computer.

I hope this is helpful, please drop questions/comments/observations in comment section.

Provide private storage for internal company documents

Afeez Adeyemo — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:28:12 +0000

Skilling tasks

Create a storage account for the company private documents.
Configure redundancy for the storage account.
Configure a shared access signature so partners have restricted access to a file.
Back up the public website storage.
Implement lifecycle management to move content to the cool tier.

Table of content

Step 1: Create a storage account and configure high availability.

Step 2: Create a storage container, upload a file, and restrict access to the file.

Step 3: Configure storage access tiers and content replication.

Follow these basic steps to create private storage for internal company documents

Step 1: Create a storage account and configure high availability.

Create a storage account for the internal private company documents.

In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

Select + Create.

Select the Resource group created in the previous lab.
Set the Storage account name to private. Add an identifier to the name to ensure the name is unique.
Select Review, and then Create the storage account.

Wait for the storage account to deploy, and then select Go to resource.

This storage requires high availability if there’s a regional outage. Read access in the secondary region is not required. Configure the appropriate level of redundancy.

In the storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.
Ensure Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is selected.
Refresh the page.

Review the primary and secondary location information.
Save your changes.

Step 2: Create a storage container, upload a file, and restrict access to the file.

Create a private storage container for the corporate data.

In the storage account, in the Data storage section, select the Containers blade.
Select + Container.
Ensure the Name of the container is private.
Ensure the Public access level is Private (no anonymous access).
As you have time, review the Advanced settings, but take the defaults.
Select Create.

For testing, upload a file to the privatecontainer. the type of file doesn’t matter. A small image or text file is a good choice. Test to ensure the file isn’t publically accessible.

Select the container.
Select Upload.
Browse to files and select a file.
Upload the file.

Select the uploaded file.

On the Overview tab, copy the URL.

Paste the URL into a new browser tab.
Verify the file doesn’t display and you receive an error.

An external partner requires read and write access to the file for at least the next 24 hours. Configure and test a shared access signature (SAS).

Select your uploaded blob file and move to the Generate SAS tab.

In the Permissions drop-down, ensure the partner has only Read permissions.
Verify the Start and expiry date/time is for the next 24 hours.
Select Generate SAS token and URL.

Copy the Blob SAS URL to a new browser tab.

Verify you can access the file. If you have uploaded an image file it will display in the browser. Other file types will be downloaded.

Step 3: Configure storage access tiers and content replication.

To save on costs, after 30 days, move blobs from the hot tier to the cool tier.

Return to the storage account.
In the Overview section, notice the Default access tier is set to Hot.

In the Data management section, select the Lifecycle management blade.
Select Add rule.

Set the Rule name to movetocool.
Set the Rule scope to Apply rule to all blobs in the storage account.
Select Next.

Ensure Last modified is selected.
Set More than (days ago) to 30.
In the Then drop-down select Move to cool storage.
As you have time, review other lifecycle options in the drop-down.
Add the rule.

The public website files need to be backed up to another storage account.

In your storage account, create a new container called backup. Use the default values. Refer back to Lab 02a if you need detailed instructions.

Navigate to your publicwebsite storage account. This storage account was created in the previous exercise.
- In the Data management section, select the Object replication blade.
- Select Create replication rules.

Set the Destination storage account to the private storage account.

Set the Source container to public and the Destination container to backup.
Create the replication rule.

Optionally, as you have time, upload a file to the public container. Return to the private storage account and refresh the backup container. Within a few minutes your public website file will appear in the backup folder.