DEV Community: PRECIOUS BEDEKEMO

How to create and attach a data disk to a windows 11 VM on Azure

PRECIOUS BEDEKEMO — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 14:44:13 +0000

A data disk is a managed disk that's attached to a virtual machine to store application data, or other data you need to keep.

How to go about creating and attaching data disk to a Windows 11 VM on Azure?

Firstly, login to your azure account and create a windows 11 virtual machine following the easy steps:
1 - Click on virtual machine

2 - Click on create

Then click on azure virtual machine

3 - Choose your subscription
4 - Create new resource group
5 - Type your virtual machine name
6 - Choose your region

7 - Choose a particular zone
8 - Choose a security type
9 - Choose an image in this case windows 11

10 - Choose a size from the drop-down of your choice
11 - Pick a username
12 - Input password
13 - Confirm your password
14 - Click on 'allow selected ports'

15 - Choose any port under select inbound ports
16 - Click on box for confirmation

17 - Click on disks to go to the next page
18 - Choose an OS Disk size
19 - Choose an OS disk type
20 - Click on delete with VM

Creating a disk data
24 - Click on 'Create and attach a new disk'

25 - Name your data disk
26 - Choose disk size
27 - Click delete with VM
28 - Click on OK

29 - Go to review and create page
30 - Click on create

Wait until the deploying process is complete...

31 - Once the deployment is complete, click on ' Go to resource'

32 - Click on connect

33 - Next, click on download RDP file

34 - open the location of the downloaded file

35 - Double click on the downloaded file

36 - Click on connect

37 - Enter your password

38 - Click yes

39 - Click on next

40 - Click on accept

41 - Right click on the windows icon on your newly opened windows 11 VM

42 - Then click on disk management

43 - Click on OK

44 - Scroll down to disk 2, right click on the box and select new simple volume

45 - Click on next about 3 times on the wizard box

46 - Click on finish

You will notice a new volume F. That's the newly created data disk as shown in the image below

47 - Open your file explorer on your Windows 11 VM, then click on this PC to access the data disk

You now see the new data disk we've created as shown in the image below

To rename your data disk, right click on the new volume F and click show more options

And then rename it ...

And there you have it!
A data disk for storing application data and other forms of data.

NOTE: In the image above, the disk labelled A is the OS Disk, the disk labelled B is the temporary disk while the one labelled C is called the data disk.

What though is the difference between the OS disk, Data disk and Temporary disk?

OS disk - It only contains the OS information including the boot volume. It is not advised to store application information here.

Data disk - A data disk is a managed disk that's attached to a virtual machine to store application data, or other data you need to keep. The size of the virtual machine determines how many data disks you can attach to it and the type of storage you can use to host the disks.

Temporary disk - The temporary disk provides short-term storage for applications and processes, and is intended to only store data such as page files, swap files, or SQL Server tempdb. Data on the temporary disk may be lost during a maintenance event, when you redeploy a VM, or when you stop the VM.

To learn more about storage disks, click here.

Please drop your comment on this post below. Hope this post has proved helpful to you. Thanks!

Creating a Linux Virtual Machine in Azure using an SSH Authentication Key

PRECIOUS BEDEKEMO — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 01:49:19 +0000

A Linux VM is a virtual machine that runs Linux as its operating system. A virtual machine is like having a computer within a computer, where the cloud provider allocates resources such as memory, processing capabilities, and storage to the VM. This enables the VM to operate independently, running its operating system and applications just like a physical system.

How can one create an Azure Linux VM?
It is done by either using
i) Password or
ii) Secure Socket Shell (SSH) KEY

Let's consider how it is done using an SSH Key.

Login into your Azure account based on subscription or you can check on how to get a free account. Then go to the home page and click on virtual machine. Apply the following steps:

STEP 1: Type in your subscription
STEP 2: Create a new resource group
STEP 3: Type a name for your virtual machine
STEP 4: Choose a region.

STEP 5: Select availability zone
STEP 6: Choose a particular zone
STEP 7: Select the security type you want
STEP 8: Choose an image(in this case, Linux)
STEP 9: Choose a size

STEP 10: Click SSH public key
STEP 11: Type a username
STEP 12: Under SSH public key source, click on generate new key pair
STEP 13: Under key pair name, enter the name of your choice
STEP 14: Under public inbound ports, Click on 'Allow selected
ports'
STEP 15: Under select inbound ports, click on SSH(22)

STEP 16: At the top, Click on Review and Create
STEP 17: Once you see validation passed, click on create

STEP 18: Click on 'download private key and create resource'

You will see on the screen 'Deployment is in progress'
On your browser check for the downloaded file (We will be needing it)

STEP 19: Once deployment is complete, click on 'go to resource'

STEP 20: Go to the downloaded file, right-click on it and click properties

STEP 21: Click on security, copy and save the object name perhaps on a sticky note for easy access. This is the key path

STEP 22: Now on your azure page, click on connect

On the next page, copy the ip address and admin username on your sticky note for easy access.

STEP 23: Open Windows PowerShell on your system by using the search bar to search for it.

STEP 24: On the PowerShell, type ssh -i (give a space) followed by the key path (give a space) followed by your admin username followed by @(no space)your ip address and press ENTER

STEP 25: Next type yes

Now your Linux VM is ready for use!

Feel free to comment, like and share your thoughts on the article.

Creating Windows 11 Virtual Machine in Azure

PRECIOUS BEDEKEMO — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 11:13:17 +0000

A virtual machine allows you to safely run any software you are reluctant to run on your main computer or make any risky changes you wish to carry out. Every change and program you install is encapsulated within the virtual machine and doesn't spread out onto your main PC.

How do you create a Windows 11 virtual machine (VM) in Azure?

Let's take it step by step!

Step 1: You must have an Azure account. You can sign up for a free account to get started. Now login to your Azure account using your email and password.

I strongly recommend using your laptop which is what I will be using to guide you through the steps.

Step 2: Create a resource (In Azure, a resource is a manageable item that is available through Azure. Examples of Azure resources include Virtual machines, Storage accounts, Web apps, Databases, Virtual networks, Resource groups, Subscriptions, etc.)

Step 3: Click on create under virtual machine

Step 4: Give your resource group a name (this is creating a resource group)

And then give your virtual machine a name

Step 5: Choose a region (A Region is a Specific geographical location to host your applications e.g. Windows 11). You can choose the recommended region.

Step 6: Choose an availability zone and then select a particular zone although multiple zones can be selected, I recommend one for now. (In Azure, an availability zone is a physically separate location within an Azure region that is designed to be highly resilient to power outages, network failures, and natural disasters. Each availability zone is made up of one or more data centers that have independent power, cooling, and networking. This allows for the creation of highly available and fault-tolerant applications and services.)

Step 7: Choose a security type. You can use the default one.

Step 8: Click on image which is where you chose the operating system in this case windows 11.

Next, click on size. It will bring out various range of sizes to choose from. Pick the one that meets your specification and it's cost-effective.

Step 9: Fill in your administrator account information, that is, your username and password (12 to 13 characters)

Next, select an inbound port. Multiple ones can be selected but stick with the default for now.

Next, click on disk (Recommend default setting)

Step 10: Click on management (Recommend default setting)

Step 11: Click on monitoring (Recommend default setting)

Step 12: Click on advance (Recommend default setting)

Next, click on Tags (Recommend default setting)

Step 13: Click on review and create ( and then click on create)

Wait till it finishes deploying…

Once the deployment is complete…

Step 14: Click on go to resource

Step 15: Click on connect

Step 16: Click on download RDP file

And then open the downloaded file
Step 17: Click on connect

Step 17: Enter the password you created during the administrator account information.

Then click on yes… Almost there!

Click on next and then accept

Finally…. Your Windows 11 has been created virtually and ready for use!

It is always good to clean up your resources when no longer in use to avoid charges. To do that:
i) Goto Home and click Resource Group

ii) Click on the resource you want to delete

iii) Click on delete resource group

iv) Copy the resource name, copy it in the box and click delete.

If you have found this helpful, please comment and share.
Thanks for reading!