DEV Community: Clinton Mbilitem

Cloud VM Reliability Strategy

Clinton Mbilitem — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 22:21:52 +0000

create a resource group as always

create our first vm called "vm1" in our resource group

create a second vm to make sure you have another machine running if the first one fails

Web App Deployment

We want to make sure we deploy the exact web app with all the same features to both our VMs to ensure the other VM reacts accurately if one VM is to fail.

we had to bypass the ssh key security check for first time upload into our VM

Create a load balancer.
We need load balancers in order to avoid a singular VM being overloaded. The load balancer works on both the frontend and the backend. It creates a load balancer that distributes incoming traffic across your backend VMs for high availability.

Attach load balancer to VM1 and VM2

The load balancer needs to be attached to the NIC (network interface) and IP configuration of our VMs. So here we attach them to the backend pool of our load balancers, which is where our VMs are.

Enable backups

It's important we have backups in case we experience data loss. having two VMs helps in cases of failed hardware but not with data loss cases, so we need to have the system taking periodic snapshots so we can always recover or restore our system to a particular point in time

Attach Backup Policy to VM1 and VM2

System Failover Test

We do need to test our system to ensure that the other VM takes on the workload if one VM is shot down or fails.
simulates a computation failure by deallocating (completely stopping) VM1. You then confirm that the application is still reachable via the public IP of the load balancer, which is fully served by VM2. Deallocates gets this done.

you can run the below command to check the status

You can see in the image below that we now need to start VM1, since it's been put off.

Push to Github

write read.md powershell format

Git add . and Git commit

Git add origin

you want to first go to your github and create a repository, which you would use the link to run the below

Git branch -M main
lists, establishes, or oversees branches.

Git push -u origin main
Your local commits are uploaded to the remote repository.

Deploy Azure App Service Using Terraform

Clinton Mbilitem — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:04:21 +0000

Alright, glad to have you all back with me. Today we will be taking a look at how to create a simple webapp service in Azure using Terraform.

as stated in our previous class, we need to first write the Terraform block for every deployment, which is where the required provider is stated.
Terraform and required provider block

The provider block instructs Terraform on how to connect to Azure in order to establish resources such as the Web App, App Service Plan, and Resource Group during an Azure web app deployment.
provider block

Terraform is informed by this block:

"In the westus2 region, create a Resource Group in Azure named terraform-lab-rg."

In essence, a Resource Group is a folder or container that houses Azure resources
Resource group block

An Azure App Service Plan defines
how much compute you get, what OS you run, how much it costs
Think of it as the server farm your web app runs on.
Service plan block

'
Azure requires web app names to be globally unique (across all Azure customers).
This resource generates a random 6-character lowercase string and avoids name collisions. Example of output: k9f3qa
Random string

What this creates: An Azure App Service (Linux) — basically:
Final name example: terraform-lab-webapp-k9f3qa
Main webapp block

What this does: After terraform apply, Terraform will print:
web_app_url = terraform-lab-webapp-k9f3qa.azurewebsites.net
That’s the public URL of your web app.
Web output block

Azure portal view

Terraform AWS RDS Deployment

Clinton Mbilitem — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 20:04:20 +0000

Think of Terraform like a magic instruction book that tells the computer how to build things in the cloud.

At the very start of this book, we have something called the terraform block. This is like the “setup page” where we tell Terraform what tools it needs and how to get ready before building anything.

When we want to create something like an AWS RDS database, this Terraform block makes sure everything is prepared so Terraform can follow the instructions and build it step by step, just like following a fun LEGO guide!

configuration file terraform block

Think of Terraform like a helper robot that builds things for you in the cloud.

The provider block is where we tell the robot who it will work with.

For example, if we want to build things in AWS (like a database), we use the provider block to say the following:
“Hey Terraform, please use AWS tools for this job!”

It’s like choosing which toy set to play with: LEGO, Minecraft, or something else.
Here, we’re choosing AWS so Terraform knows where to build our RDS database.

provider block

Think of Terraform like building with LEGO, step by step.

The Relational Database Service (RDS) resource block is the part where we tell Terraform exactly what we want to build, which is our database!

It’s like saying, "Hey Terraform, please build me a database with this name, this size, and these settings.”

Inside this block, we describe things like the following: the database name, the type (like MySQL or PostgreSQL), the size, and the username and password.

So, the resource block is where the real building happens, just like putting LEGO pieces together to create something awesome!

relational database service resource block

Now comes the fun part! When we run terraform apply, it’s like pressing the big “BUILD” button.

Terraform looks at all our instructions (like the Terraform block, provider block, and RDS resource block) and says, "Okay! I know what to do; let’s build it!”

Then it checks everything is correct and shows us what it’s going to create and if we say “yes,” it starts building our database.

So, terraform apply is the step where our plan turns into something real just like finishing your LEGO model and seeing it come to life!

run terraform apply

Deployed RDS

Terraform AWS EC2 Deployment

Clinton Mbilitem — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:25:11 +0000

Think of Terraform like your cloud-building robot, and now we want it to build a computer (EC2) in AWS.

The terraform block is the very first step where we tell the robot what it needs before it starts working

Provider Block asks, "Who are we working with?" This tells Terraform which cloud we are using.

The variable enable block turns things ON or OFF. This is like a switch.

Variable Region Block asks, "Where to build?" This tells Terraform where in the world to build the variable.

creating the config file, adding the aws provider

Now we’re telling Terraform to build a Linux virtual machine (VM), like creating your own computer in the cloud

The resource says, “Hey robot, build something!" linux_virtual_machine builds a Linux computer; vm is the name of our machine.
source_image_resource, which is the brain of the computer. This part chooses the Linux system to install, the publisher who made it (like Canonical for Ubuntu), the offer for the type of system (Ubuntu Server), and the SKU for the version (like 18.04).

the resource block making use of Linux

A security group block is like a safety gate that controls who can enter and connect to your cloud computer.
while ingress refers to traffic coming into your cloud computer and egress for traffic going out of your cloud computer.

write the security block to protect our instance/or

This step tells Terraform to create a cloud computer, attach a security group to keep it safe, and choose the type and size of the machine (like small or big) so it fits your needs.

creating the instance and adding the security ID.
telling terraform type of instance and size

Our deployed instance

terminal

destroy instance if no longer required

TerraForm Azure vm deployment

Clinton Mbilitem — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:45:24 +0000

welcome back, join me once again on our amazing terraform journey.

Terraform is informed by this block:

"What versions and providers are required for this project?"

Consider it similar to setting up the right equipment before beginning work.

Creating terraform configuration/main.tf

An Azure virtual network that serves as the primary private network for the operation of resources such as virtual machines.
A subnet within the virtual network. This subnet is where the virtual machine will be located.
A Network Security Group (NSG) that functions as a firewall, limiting the types of traffic that can enter and exit the virtual machine.
Before installing a virtual machine in Azure using Terraform, these blocks build the necessary network architecture (VNet → Subnet → Security Group).

Creating virtual network, subnet and Security group blocks for terraform Vm deployment

connects the subnet to the Network Security Group (NSG) so that all resources within the subnet are subject to the firewall rules.
establishes a Network Interface (NIC) to link the virtual machine to the network or subnet.

Associate security group with subnet and create Network interface

The Linux virtual machine in Azure is defined and created using azurerm_linux_virtual_machine.

network_interface: Enables communication between the virtual machine (VM) and the internet and other resources by connecting it to the Azure network.

admin_ssh_key: Provides a secure SSH key that can be used in place of a password to access the Linux virtual machine.

os_disk: Indicates the operating system disk settings for the virtual machine, including caching and storage type.

source_image_reference: Describes the operating system image that was used to generate the virtual machine (VM), such as Ubuntu or another Linux distribution.
Creating the virtual Machine with 5 properties

Using the specified.tf files, terraform apply creates or modifies infrastructure resources (such virtual machines, networks, or security groups) in the cloud provider.

Run terraform apply

In accordance with the Terraform configuration, Terraform adds, modifies, or removes infrastructure resources (such networks, virtual machines, or security groups) when you input yes after running Terraform apply.
Actions to be performed by terraform if you click yes

Our resource has been created!

Basic Commands in Linux

Clinton Mbilitem — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:55:01 +0000

Alright, glad to have you all back with me. Today we will be taking a look into the basic commands of a Linux operating system.

LINUX

First of all what is Linux? Linux is a free, open-source operating system that works like Windows or macOS. It manages the computer’s hardware and software, and many servers, smartphones (like Android), and devices around the world use it.

LINUX BASIC COMMANDS

User & File Management

sudo su → Switch to the superuser (admin) account.
Think of it like logging in as the boss of the computer who can do anything.
Example: sudo su → now you’re the root user.

Working with Folders & Navigation

mkdir → Make a new folder.
Example: mkdir test → creates a folder named dir1.

ls → Show the files and folders in the current location.
Example: ls → lists everything in your current folder.

cd → Change to a different folder.
Example: cd dir1 → moves into the dir1 folder.

pwd → Print where you are (your current folder path).
Example: pwd → might show /home/user/test.

Creating & Moving Files

touch → Create an empty file.
Example: touch newfile.txt → makes a new file called newfile.txt.

cp → Copy files or folders.
Example: cp newfile1.txt newfile2.txt → copies newfile1.txt to newfile2.txt.

mv → Move or rename files/folders.
Example: mv newfile.txt new.txt → renames newfile.txt to new.txt.

Viewing & Editing Files

vim → Open a text editor in the terminal.
Example: vim newfile.txt → opens newfile.txt to edit. ( Vim is tricky for beginners.)

cat → Show the contents of a file.
Example: cat newfile.txt → displays what’s inside newfile.txt.

less → View a file one page at a time (useful for big files).
Example: less newfile.log → scroll through newfile.log.

Searching & Deleting

rm → Remove (delete) a file.
Example: rm newfile.txt → deletes newfile.txt.
(Careful! Deleted files don’t go to recycle bin.)

grep → Search for text inside files.
Example: grep "hello" newfile.txt → finds all lines with the word hello in newfile.txt.

Thats all for now, hope we enjoyed our ride today, see you next time!

Creating and Setting up Azure Firewall

Clinton Mbilitem — Sat, 13 Sep 2025 00:56:41 +0000

Welcome back everyone, Today we will be putting the following perspective into consideration. Now lets say your organization needs a central way to secure the application’s virtual network. As more people use the app, it will need stronger filtering and protection against threats. The app will also need regular updates from Azure DevOps pipelines. Based on this, you found these requirements:

Use Azure Firewall to add extra security to the app’s virtual network.
Set up a firewall policy to control access to the app.
Create an application rule in the firewall policy to let the app connect to Azure DevOps for code updates.
Create a network rule in the firewall policy to allow DNS lookups (so domain names can be resolved).

Lets get started!

First we create Azure Firewall subnet in our existing virtual network

Now we create an Azure Firewall

key in the following

Now we update the Firewall Policy

we can now add an application rule

Note: The web application may use Azure Pipelines thanks to the AllowAzurePipelines rule. The rule permits the web application to visit the Azure website and use the Azure DevOps service.

now we add a network rule

Check the state of the firewall and firewall policy

Look for and choose Firewall on the portal.

Verify that the provisioning state is Succeeded by viewing the app-vnet-firewall. It could take several minutes.

Search for and choose Firewall policies on the portal.

Make sure that the provisioning state is met by looking at the fw-policy. It could take several minutes.

As we can see we are all set up and it is running fine. congratulation guys!

Creating and Configuring Security Groups to Protect Our Virtual Networks in Azure

Clinton Mbilitem — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 03:27:05 +0000

Glad to have you back guys, in our last post, we set up a two virtual networks app-net (for our app webservices in the cloud) and hub-vnet(for our Firewall). The app-vnet had two subnets frontend(for internet and web services with the app) and backend(for the apps database). Now we need the Security group to cover the web services of our Networks. In order to test this out, we will create virual machines in both of the Subnets.

Create two Virtual Machines vm1 and vm2

Search for Application Security Groups, it lets you group together servers with similar functions. For example, all the web servers hosting your application

Note: You are creating the application security group in the same region as the existing virtual network
Now we associate the application security group to the network interface of the VM

Add application security groups

Select our ASG name and select add

Now we create and associate the Network Security Group. The Network security groups (NSGs) secure network traffic in a virtual network.

name, review and create

Now we can associate the NSG with the app-vnet backend subnet.

NSGs can be associated with subnets and/or individual network interfaces attached to Azure virtual machines.

So we can create Network Security Group rules now, NSG use security rules to filter inbound and outbound network traffic.

In the Settings blade, select Inbound security rules

Awesom Job everyone!

How to Create and Configure Virtual Networks In Azure

Clinton Mbilitem — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 01:26:59 +0000

Welcome again guys, Today we will be going on another exciting trip in the beautiful clouds. Today we well be learning how to set up a vitual network and apply various configurations to them.

** Firstly we create a resource group as always **

search for and create a virtual Network for the App

Now we need to create two Subnets called frontend and Backend

search for and create an other virtual Network for the the firewall

Create its Subnet for firewall

Now we pair the two Networks togather

Here we want our remote virtual network to be the hub-vnet as it provides Security to the app-vnet.

As we can we see our Networks are now successfully linked and connected. Congratulations!

Scaling a virtual machine through your gallery in Azure

Clinton Mbilitem — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 01:29:33 +0000

Welcome back everyone join me on another wonderful adventure in the clouds. Today we will be looking at how to scale a virtual machine using your Gallery in Azure. Sounds like a myth right? well it is not :).

First of all, we will have to create a resource group as always and give it what ever name we like.
Then create a virtual machine

Select your resorce group, name virtual machine and select no infrastructure

Select password and fill in the form, then select http

attach Disk

Now to network

Now to Monitoring setting

No need for extensions

review and create

Now to create a template image we can choose to either generalize or specialize the VM first, then capture it as an image

Give your gallery a name and select specialized so no password is required to gain access to our system

Select a sytem verion and the number of systems we want

Now we deploy a Virtual Machine Scale Set from the image in our gallery

Give your swcale a name and select flexible for easy upscaling

We can see our gallery system

Thats our system done and functioning great

Thanks for tagging along, cheers!!!

Managing Virtual Machines in Azure

Clinton Mbilitem — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 01:09:09 +0000

hello everyone! today we will be having a fun look at how virtual machines are managedin Azure.

Before we begin managine the machines, we first need to move them to our Subnet

Search and select Virtual Machine

stop the virtual machine if running to save cost

select hyperlink

select the subnet option

now go to the home page

Well done! The virtual machine has been moved from one subnet to another. Recall that particular network security rules were added to the new subnet to enable it to serve as an FTP server. The Azure administrator's next assignment has to do with the virtual machine's processing capacity. To boost the machine's processing capacity, the administrator wants you to vertically scale it.

Scale the virtual machine vertically.

go to virtual machine from home page

your vm

Locate the Availability / scale submenu and select Size

Excellent work. The VM can manage the increased role now that it has been scaled up to a more powerful processor.

The Azure administrator now understands, nevertheless, that the virtual machine need additional storage if it is to act as an FTP server. To attach a fresh data disk to the virtual machine, the Azure administrator requested it.

for this we go back to the home page and select our virtual machine again and our project vm

now Locate the settings submenu and select Disks, give the disk the following name and size and apply

Good! The virtual machine now has sufficient storage to support a few uploads.

The cost of operating the machine around-the-clock is the last issue that worries the Azure administrator. Starting up the FTP server is the first thing they do each morning. But they want you to set it up to shut down automatically at 7 PM every day. Universal Coordinated Time (UTC)

Set up a virtual machine to shut down automatically.

for this we go back to the home page and select our virtual machine again and our project vm as we did earlier
Under the Operations submenu, select Auto-shutdown and set the shut down to 7:15pm

Well done! You have successfully finished all of the virtual machine administration activities that the Azure administrator requested assistance with.

How to Update A Virtual Network

Clinton Mbilitem — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 01:20:10 +0000

Welcome back everyone, today we will be taking a look on how to update a virtual Network. yes, a virtual Netwoik can be updated!

So imagine You're assisting an Azure Admin with specific resource tasks.
A new Linux VM is needed for an FTP server, while the current VM is underutilized.
To monitor network flow and usage, the admin requests a new subnet for the FTP server.
The existing subnet must remain unchanged for future VM deployments. So we need to create a new Subnet for our work.

** First we create a new subnet on an existing virtual network (vNet)**

search and select virtual machine

create subnet

give name and add

You have successfully finished creating a subnet. Only SFTP traffic will be sent over this subnet. You must set up a network security group to limit which ports on the subnet are permitted in order to improve security

select virtual Network

give group name

Now we create an inbound security rule

change name

Congratulations! You've set up rules to permit incoming FTP traffic and established a new network security group. The new network security group must now be linked to the ftpSubnet

select the subnet we created earlier and save

Well done. You appear to have finished the necessary steps to get the network ready for moving the existing Linux virtual machine to a new subnet that is intended to manage incoming FTP traffic.