DEV Community: Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel

How to create a Microsoft Azure storage account for securing private data and file backup

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Thu, 14 May 2026 18:13:18 +0000

Introduction
Step 1: Create a storage account for private data.
Step 2: Configure redundancy for the storage account.
Step 3: Create a storage container with restricted access & upload to test it.
Step 4: Configure a shared access signature for partners.
Step 5: Implement lifecycle management to move content to the cool tier.
Step 6: Back up the public website storage.
Conclusion

Introduction

If you are a person or an organization that handles sensitive files in the cloud you need to have data security and a reliable backup solution. Microsoft Azure provides a secure and scalable platform through Azure Storage Accounts, allowing users to safely store private data, manage access permissions, and protect files against accidental loss or system failure.

In this article, we will learn how to create an Azure storage account for private data, configure redundancy, create a restricted storage container, generate a shared access signature (SAS) for partners, implement lifecycle management to move files to the cool tier, and back up public website storage for improved data protection and recovery.

Step 1: Create a storage account for private data.

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.

Step 2: Configure redundancy for the storage account.

In the storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.
Ensure Geo-redundant storage (GRS) is selected.
Save your changes.
Refresh the page.
Review the primary and secondary location information.

Step 3: Create a storage container with restricted access & upload to test it.

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.

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.

Step 4: Configure a shared access signature for partners.

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 5: Implement lifecycle management to move content 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.

Step 6: Back up the public website storage.

In your storage account, create a new container called backup. Use the default values. Refer back to my article on "Deploying Blob Storage for a Public website on Azure" for detailed instructions.

Navigate to your publicwebsite storage account. This storage account was created in the previous article on storage.
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.

Conclusion

To summarize, Azure Storage Accounts are a secure and reliable way to protect private data and manage file backups in the cloud. You can improve data security, accessibility, and efficiency for long-term storage on Microsoft Azure by setting up redundancy, restricting access, utilizing shared access signatures, applying lifecycle management, and backing up website storage.

Thank you for reading my blog. 😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comments or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DMs are open and love discussions on cloud topics as always! 😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Build a Windows 11 Virtual Machine on Azure with me

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Sun, 10 May 2026 11:20:16 +0000

Introduction
Prerequisites
Step 1: Create a resource group
Step 2: Create the virtual machine
Step 3: Configure the idle timeout
Step 4: How to Associate & Dissociate Public IP addresses
Step 5: Access the Windows 11 VM using RDP
Conclusion

Introduction

What is a VM (virtual machine)? This is a software emulation of a computer that runs in isolation on its own operating system on a physical host computer. In simple words, it is a computer inside a computer, a virtual computer inside a physical one, typically with its own OS (operating system) (e.g., Linux, Windows, MacOS).

In this tutorial, I will guide you in developing a fully functional Windows 11 VM using Azure and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and also show you how to associate and disassociate public IP addresses. By the end of the tutorial, we would have created a cost-efficient Windows 11 VM to carry out tasks.

Prerequisite

To successfully carry out this project, you will need the following:

An Azure account with an active subscription. Login/Sign-up
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) to launch the VM on your computer. If you use a Mac, you can try downloading the Windows app or the AnyDesk app in the App Store.

Now let's get right into the steps.

Step 1: Create a resource group

In the portal, search for and select Resource groups.

Select + Create.

Give your resource group a name.
Select a region.
Select Review and create to validate the resource group.

Select Create to deploy the resource group.

Step 2: Create the virtual machine

Search for and select Virtual machines.

Click on + Create and select "Virtual machine.

Select the resource group created earlier.
Give the VM a name.
For Availability options select No infrastructure redundancy required.
Select Windows 11 Pro for the Image.

Check the Run with Azure Spot discount box.
Navigate through to see all sizes and select a size.

Set a Username and a Password.
Under inbound port check HTTP (80) and notice RDP is already checked.

Confirm licencing
Click on Review and create If the validation passes, the deployment will proceed. If not, note any recommendations and fix them.

Go to resource

Step 3: Configure the Idle timeout

Open the VM
Navigate to Configuration under Settings.
Locate Idle timeout (minutes) increase to 30 minutes
Apply changes.

Step 4: How to Associate & Dissociate Public IP addresses

Search for and select Public IP addresses.

Notice there is already an IP address set up for the VM and select it

To dissociate it, simply click on Dissociate and select Yes to confirm.

To associate, select Associate
For the Resource type select Network interface then select the VM
Click Ok to apply changes.

Access the Windows 11 VM using RDP

Navigate back to the VM
Click on the Connect button in the Overview of the virtual machine blade in the Azure portal.
Confirm access by clicking Check access.
Download RDP file.

Open the RDP file and click connect.

Put in the Password set up earlier, then click Ok.

Click on Yes to connect.

Boot it up just like a new computer.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to create a resource group, create and deploy a virtual machine, and associate and dissociate IP addresses. With these skills, you can successfully deploy a fully functional Windows 11 VM (virtual machine) for carrying out tasks, personal use, or even exploring more advanced features.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics as always!😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Deploying Blob Storage for a Public website on Azure

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Sat, 02 May 2026 00:29:25 +0000

Table of Content

What is Blob Storage?
Create a storage account with high availability.
Create a blob storage container with anonymous read access
Practice uploading files and testing access.
Configure soft delete
Configure blob versioning
Conclusion

What is Blob Storage?

Blob Storage is a cloud storage solution used for storing large amount of unstructured data including text documents, emails, social media posts, multimedia (audio/video/images) Learn more.

Create a storage account with high availability.

Step 1: Create a storage account to support the public website.

In the portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

Select + Create.

For resource group select new. Give your resource group a name and select OK.
Set the Storage account name to publicwebsite. Make sure the storage account name is unique by adding an identifier.
Take the defaults for other settings.
Select Review and then Create.

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

Step 2: Enable read access to the secondary region for high availability.

In the storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.
Ensure Read-access Geo-redundant storage is selected.
Review the primary and secondary location information.

Step 3: Information on the public website should be accessible without requiring customers to login.

In the storage account, in the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.
Ensure the Allow blob anonymous access setting is Enabled.
Be sure to Save your changes.

Create a blob storage container with anonymous read access

Step 1: The public website has various images and documents. Create a blob storage container for the content.

In your storage account, in the Data storage section, select the Containers blade.
Select + Container.
Ensure the Name of the container is public.
Select Create.

Step 2: Customers should be able to view the images without being authenticated. Configure anonymous read access for the public container blobs.

Select your public container.
On the Overview blade, select Change access level.

Ensure the Public access level is Blob (anonymous read access for blobs only).
Select OK.

Practice uploading files and testing access.

Step 1: For testing, upload a file to the `public` container. The type of file doesn’t matter. A small image or text file is a good choice.

Ensure you are viewing your container.
Select Upload.
Browse to files and select a file. Browse to a file of your choice.
Select Upload.
Close the upload window, Refresh the page and ensure your file was uploaded.

Step 2: Determine the URL for your uploaded file. Open a browser and test the URL.

Select your uploaded file.
On the Overview tab, copy the URL.

Paste the URL into a new browser tab.
If you have uploaded an image file it will display in the browser. Other file types should be downloaded.

Configure soft delete

Step 1: It’s important that the website documents can be restored if they’re deleted. Configure blob soft delete for 21 days.

Go to the Overview blade of the storage account.
On the Properties page, locate the Blob service section.
Select the Blob soft delete setting.

Ensure the Enable soft delete for blobs is checked.
Change the Keep deleted blobs for (in days) setting to 21.
Notice you can also Enable soft delete for containers.
Don’t forget to Save your changes.

Step 2: If something gets deleted, you need to practice using soft delete to restore the files.

Navigate to your container where you uploaded a file.
Select the file you uploaded and then select Delete.
Select OK to confirm deleting the file.

On the container Overview page, toggle the slider Show deleted blobs. This toggle is to the right of the search box.
Select your deleted file, and use the ellipses on the far right, to Undelete the file.
Refresh the container and confirm the file has been restored.

Configure blob versioning

Step 1: It’s important to keep track of the different website product document versions.

Go to the Overview blade of the storage account.
In the Properties section, locate the Blob service section.
Select the Versioning setting.

Ensure the Enable versioning for blobs checkbox is checked.
Notice your options to keep all versions or delete versions after.
Don’t forget to Save your changes.

Step 2: As you have time, experiment with restoring previous blob versions.

Upload another version of your container file. This overwrites your existing file.

Your previous file version is listed on the Show deleted blobs page.

Conclusion

In conclusion, deploying Blob Storage for a public website on Microsoft Azure provides a cost-effective, scalable, and reliable solution for hosting static web content. Throughout this deployment process, we explored how to create a storage account with high availability, create a blob storage container with anonymous read access, practice uploading files and testing access, and configure soft delete and blob versioning. As cloud technologies evolve, Azure Blob Storage remains a powerful platform for building and maintaining fast, secure, and scalable public websites.

Thank you for reading my blog. 😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DMs are open and love discussions on cloud topics as always! 😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Create and Configure Azure Storage Account

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:45:55 +0000

Table of Content

What is a Storage Account?
Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Storage Account
Configure the Storage Account
Conclusion

What is a Storage Account?

A Storage Account is a secure, scalable cloud container with a name globally unique used for storing data objects (Blobs, Files, Queues, and Tables) in the cloud.

Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Storage Account

Now that we understand the meaning of Storage account, let’s assume you work in an IT department and your organization requires you to provide a storage account with simple configurations that can be changed easily for the training and testing of new employees.

Step 1: First thing you do is to create and deploy a Resource group

Select + Create.

Give your resource group a name. For example, Jasperrg01.
Select a region. Use this region throughout the project.
Select Review and create to validate the resource group.

Select Create to deploy the resource group.

Step 2: Next you Create and deploy a storage account

In the Azure portal, search for and select Storage accounts.

Select + Create.

On the Basics tab, select your Resource group.
Provide a Storage account name.
Remember the storage account name must be unique in Azure.
Set the Performance to Standard.
Select Review, and then Create.

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

Configure the Storage Account

Step 1: The storage accounts does not require high availability so you set to the lowest cost

In your storage account, in the Data management section, select the Redundancy blade.
Select Locally-redundant storage (LRS) in the Redundancy drop-down.
Be sure to Save your changes.
Refresh the page and notice the content only exists in the primary location.

Step 2: Make sure the storage account only accepts requests from secured connections

In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.
Ensure Secure transfer required is Enabled.

Step 3: Developers would like the storage account to use at least TLS version 1.2.

In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.
Ensure the Minimal TLS version is set to Version 1.2.

Step 4: Until the storage is needed again, disable requests to the storage account.

In the Settings section, select the Configuration blade.
Ensure Allow storage account key access is Disabled.
Be sure to Save your changes.

Step 5: Ensure the storage account allows public access from all networks.

In the Security + networking section, select the Networking blade.

Ensure Public network access is set to Enabled from all networks.
Be sure to Save your changes.

Conclusion

We have successfully created a storage account for training and testing. In summary Azure storage account is a container that holds all your Azure Storage data objects, including blobs, files, queues, and tables. It offers several types of storage accounts, Standard and Premium. Each type supports different features and has its own pricing model. Azure Storage always stores multiple copies of your data to protect it from planned and unplanned events. Redundancy models can replicate data in the primary and secondary regions.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics as always!😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Build and Manage Cloud Infrastructure with Terraform and AWS CLI

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 17:14:15 +0000

Introduction
Prerequisites
Step 1: Configure the AWS CLI
Step 2: Create a Terraform Configuration File
Step 3: Initialize Terraform
Step 4: Plan, Format, and Validate Configuration
Step 5: Create the Infrastructure (EC2 instance)
Step 6: Inspect and Verify the EC2 Instance
Step 7: Delete the EC2 Instance (After Use)
Conclusion

Introduction

It is important to have efficient cloud infrastructure management because it enhances the scalability, reliability, and also reduces the cost. Terraform and AWS CLI are great tools that allow you to automate and simplify the cloud resource provisioning process.

In this guide, we will guide you on how to set up an Amazon EC2 instance using Terraform and AWS CLI, how to define, deploy, and manage infrastructure as code. When you go through this tutorial, you will be able to set up an EC2 instance that is fully functional and be able to scale and automate the deployment process for future projects.

Prerequisites

Before setting up an EC2 instance with Terraform and AWS CLI, ensure you have the following:

An AWS Account (sign-in or sign-up).
AWS CLI Installed (Official documentation). Confirm installation by running the command below in your terminal:

aws --version

Terraform Downloaded and Installed (Terraform’s official site). Confirm installation by running the command below in your terminal:

terraform --version

A Code Editor and Terminal (VS Code, Vim, or any code editor with a terminal). We would be using VS Code in this tutorial.

After setting all these up, we can start managing and automating your AWS EC2 instance or any other infrastructure! 🚀

Step 1: Configure the AWS CLI

In your AWS account, click your Username at the top-right.
Select Security Credencials.
Click the Create access key button.

Check the box and click the Create access key button, and then your keys will be created.

Open your VS code terminal and enter the command below:

aws configure

Now enter your access key ID and secret key.

Step 2: Create a Terraform Configuration File

Create a working directory with the command:

mkdir terraform-ec2

Change directory into it with the command:

cd terraform-ec2

Create a Terraform file to define the infrastructure (main.tf):

touch main.tf

Open main.tf and paste in the configuration below, and save the file.

terraform {
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 4.16"
    }
  }

  required_version = ">= 1.2.0"
}

provider "aws" {
  region  = "us-west-2"
}

resource "aws_instance" "app_server" {
  ami           = "ami-830c94e3"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "ExampleAppServerInstance"
  }
}

Step 3: Initialize Terraform

After the configuration has been created run the command below to initialize the directory:

terraform init

This downloads and installs the AWS plugins in the configuration

Step 4: Plan, Format, and Validate Configuration

Preview the configuration plan with the command below:

terraform plan

Format to automatically update the configurations in the terraform-ec2 directory for readability and consistency with the command:

terraform fmt

Verify syntax and internal consistency of the configurations with the command:

terraform validate

Step 5: Create the Infrastructure (EC2 instance)

Apply the configuration to create the EC2 instance with the command:

terraform apply

Enter yes to confirm action.

Step 6: Inspect and Verify the EC2 Instance

Inspect the current state of the Instance using the command:

terraform show

To verify the instance navigate to the AWS Management Console in EC2 Dashboard. Make sure you're in the right region us-west-2.

Step 7: Delete the EC2 Instance (After Use)

For best practice, you can destroy the instance and resources with the command:

terraform destroy

Enter yes to confirm action.

Conclusion

After following all of these steps, you would have deployed an AWS EC2 instance with the use of Terraform and AWS CLI successfully.
NOTE: You can also SSH into the instance as long as you have a key pair associated with ssh -i my-key.pem ec2-user@<instance-public-ip>.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Understanding and Installing Terraform: A Beginner's Guide

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 21:01:01 +0000

What is Terraform?
Features of Terraform
Step-by-Step Guide to Install Terraform on Windows
Verify the installation
Conclusion

What is Terraform?

Terraform by HashiCorp is an open-source infrastructure as code (IaC) tool that lets us define, manage, and automate cloud infrastructure using a declarative (human-readable) configuration language called HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) across multiple cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud, and even on-premises data centers.

Key Features of Terraform

1. Manage any infrastructure: Terraform can interact with cloud platforms and multiple providers such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, VMware, GitHub, and many more to manage resources.

2. Standardize your deployment workflow:

Write Configuration We Define infrastructure in .tf files.
Initialize Terraform Set up the working directory and download provider plugins by running terraform init.
Terraform plan Preview changes Terraform will make to match your configuration by running terraform plan. This stimulates better control over your environment.
Terraform apply Create or update infrastructure as defined. By simply running terraform apply, you will be able to make the planned changes.

3. Collaboration: With Terraforms remote state backends, you can securely share your state with your teammates and provide a stable environment for Terraform to run in.

4. Version Control: You can connect Terraform to version control systems (VCSs) like GitHub, GitLab, and others, allowing you to manage changes to your infrastructure through version control, as you would with application code.

Step-by-Step Guide to Install Terraform on Windows

Setting up Terraform is straightforward. Follow the steps below to install it on your operating system.

Open PowerShell on your windows PC.
Install the Chocolatey software on your system with the code below

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

Run the command below to install Terraform using Chocolatey.
Then allow Chocolatey to run the installation by answering 'y'.

choco install terraform

Verify the installation

After placing Terraform in the correct directory, verify the installation by running:

terraform -help

NOTE: If you use other Operating systems or need other way to install visit the HashiCorp Terraform Installation page

Conclusion

Understanding the fundamentals of Terraform and successfully installing it prepares you to begin managing infrastructure as code. Terraform's declarative approach, multi-cloud support, and automation capabilities make it an extremely useful tool for DevOps and cloud engineers. To fully realize Terraform's potential, experiment with writing configuration files and running deployments.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Effortless File Management: Setting Up AWS S3 Buckets and Presigned URLs

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:39:59 +0000

Introduction
Prerequisites
Step 1: Creating and Configuring S3 Bucket
Step 2: Creating Folders
Step 3: Uploading Files
Step 4: Creating Presigned URLs
Conclusion

Introduction

Simple Storage Service (S3) is a service on Amazon Web Services (AWS) that provides a robust solution for storing, organizing, and accessing files in the cloud. With S3, you can create scalable storage buckets, upload files, and manage access effortlessly. One of the standout features of AWS S3 is the ability to generate presigned URLs, which allow temporary and secure access to files without exposing your bucket or file permissions.

By the end of this guide, you’ll not only have a functional S3 bucket but also the knowledge to share files securely and optimize your storage management strategy. Let's dive in!

Prerequisites

Go to the AWS management console.
Sign up if you don't already have an account.
Sign in to your account with your credentials.

Step 1: Creating and Configuring S3 Bucket

After you're logged in, search S3 and select the highlighted option.
Click on the Create bucket button.
Give the bucket a globally unique name e.g., tourism-s3. (You should go over the bucket naming rules.)
You can change the region from the top right corner.
For security, we will block public access to our bucket. (Uncheck the box is creating a public bucket.)
Disable bucket versioning. It can be enabled if you need multiple copies of a file stored in the bucket for retrieval purposes.
Let's add a tag for cost management. (Here Name is the Key and tourism is the Value.)
For encryption and other settings we leave as default.
Click the Create bucket button.
We successfully created a bucket. Click on the bucket to open.

Step 2: Creating Folders

Click Create folder and let's create folders to store pictures, tables, & videos.
Give the folder a name tour-pictures and click Create folder to save.
Create a folder for tables and videos using the same steps.
We successfully created folders for different purposes.

Step 3: Uploading Files

Open the tour-pictures folder and click on Upload.
Click Add files and select an image.
At the bottom right of the page, click Upload.
Let's upload a table as well. Open the tour-tables folder and click Upload.
Click Add files and select a table file.
Click Upload and notice you now have the table in your tour-tables folder.

Step 4: Creating Presigned URLs

Open the image file Uploaded to tour-pictures.
Click Object actions at the top right.
In the drop down select Share with a presigned URL.
Set the Number of minutes or hours you want the presigned URL to last for. Setting ours to 30 minutes.
Click Create presigned URL.
Copy the presigned URL.
Paste the URL in a browser to test it works.
Now let's do the same for our table. Open the table file in tour-tables
Click Object actions at the top right.
In the drop down select Share with a presigned URL.
Just like the image, set the Number of minutes or hours you want the presigned URL to last for. Setting it to 30 minutes here as well.
Click Create presigned URL.
Copy the presigned URL.
Paste the URL in a browser to test it works (it should download the table file we uploaded).

Conclusion

In this article, we created an AWS S3 bucket, organized files with folders, uploaded files, and generated presigned URLs for secure sharing. These steps make managing and sharing files in the cloud simple and secure.

With these skills, you’re ready to use AWS S3 effectively and explore more advanced features for your cloud storage needs.

Note: We can delete the S3 bucket after Use for cost-saving purposes

Select the S3 bucket and click delete.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

: Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Creating a Windows EC2 Instance on AWS and Installing IIS Server on it

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Sun, 08 Dec 2024 17:06:54 +0000

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides one of the most robust and versatile cloud platforms, allowing organizations and individuals to deploy scalable and secure solutions. Of all the features AWS offers, Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) stands out as a powerful tool for launching and managing virtual servers. In this guide, I'll walk you through creating a Windows EC2 instance and setting it up as a web server using Internet Information Services (IIS). Whether you're a cloud computing beginner or looking to expand your AWS skills, this tutorial will provide you with a hands-on approach to building a web server on the AWS cloud.

Let's dive into the steps!

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Windows EC2 in AWS and installing the IIS server on it

1: Create an AWS Free-Tier Account

Click here to navigate AWS and sign up for a free-tier account today.

You can watch this Youtube video where the YouTuber demonstrates in details.

2: Login to AWS Account

3: Search and select EC2 Instance

After signing in successfully, search EC2 in the search bar and select the first option.
Click launch instance.

4: Configure the EC2 Instance

Give the EC2 instance a name.
We can also add additional tags like department, city, e.t.c. (optional).
Select Windows as the AMI (Amazon Machine Image).
Select t3.micro as the instance type.
Click Create a new key pair, give it a name and Create.
It gets downloaded automatically on the computer.
In the Network settings, select HTTP so the IP can be accessible on the web.
We can also change the storage assigned and the region from the top right corner.
Leave all other things as default and launch instance.

5: Connect to the EC2 Instance

Open the instance from the ID.
Select the instance created and click Connect. The instance state should indicate Running.
Select RDP client section and click Get password.
Upload the key pair downloaded earlier, then click Decrypt password.
Copy the password, then download the Remote desktop file.
Open the RDP file and connect
Enter the password copied from earlier.

6: Install Internet Information Services (IIS) server

Search Powershell in the EC2 instance and Run as administrator
Enter the command below in the Windows PowerShell to install the IIS server.

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

Wait for the server to install completely.
Copy the Public IP address and open in a browser, and we should see the Windows Server.
Note: If you are having trouble opening the IP in the bowser, go to settings in the instance and navigate Edit Inbound rules, and make sure the HTTP is associated with the IP.

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined in this article, you’ve successfully launched a Windows EC2 instance on AWS and installed the IIS web server on it. Our setup not only demonstrates the power and flexibility of AWS but also serves as a foundation for hosting web applications in the cloud. With your IIS server up and running, you’re ready to explore further configurations, deploy websites, or scale your instance to meet growing demands.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

: Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

SQL: A Guide to Create a Relational Database with SQLite (and Export to Excel)

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 10:14:25 +0000

SQL (Structured Query Language), which could also be pronounced as sequal, is a programming language used to manage and manipulate data stored in a relational database management system. SQL syntax is similar to the English language, which makes it relatively easy to write, read, and interpret. This guide will walk you through creating an SQL table using SQLite and exporting the table data to an Excel spreadsheet.

What is SQLite?

SQLite is a popular open-source SQL database. Unlike other database systems such as MySQL or PostgreSQL, SQLite can store an entire database in a single file. One of the most significant advantages it provides is that all of the data can be stored locally without having to connect your database to a server. SQLite is commonly used in mobile apps, desktop applications, and websites.

Setting Up SQLite

Before we dive into creating a table, you need to have SQLite installed on your system. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Install SQLite

Download the precompiled binaries of your operating system from the SQLite website: Download here
Unzip into a folder

2. Access SQLite

Open your terminal or command prompt.
To start the SQLite command-line interface, type sqlite3 followed by the name of your database file. If the file does not exist, SQLite will create it for you.

sqlite3 Database_file.db

This command opens the Database_file.db database (or creates it if it doesn't exist).
Enter .help to browse commands usage hints.

Step 1: Creating a Table in SQLite

Once you're inside SQLite, the first step is to create a table. A table is the structure that stores your data, consisting of rows (records) and columns (fields). We will be creating a table for tourist database records.

Here’s the basic SQL syntax to create a table:

CREATE TABLE table_name (
  column1 datatype,
  column2 datatype,
  ...
);

In SQLite, the most common datatypes are:

INTEGER for integer values
TEXT for text strings
REAL for floating-point values
DATE for date values in the format of (yyyy-MM-dd)

Let's create the table to store information about the tourists.

CREATE TABLE Tourists (
  ID INTEGER,
  Name TEXT,
  Age INTEGER,
  Destination TEXT,
  Departure DATE
);

Step 2: Inserting Data into the Table

Once the table is created, you can insert data into it. The SQL command to insert data into a table is as follows:

INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2, ...)
VALUES (value1, value2, ...);

Let’s insert a few records into our Tourists table:

INSERT INTO Tourists (ID, Name, Age, Destination, Departure)
VALUES (1, 'James Stone', 35, 'Califonia', '2024-12-15');
INSERT INTO Tourists (ID, Name, Age, Destination, Departure)
VALUES (2, 'Steve Jones', 29, 'Florida', '2024-12-20');

You can also insert multiple records in one go using multiple VALUES clauses:

INSERT INTO Tourists (ID, Name, Age, Destination, Departure)
VALUES (3, 'Jack Cage', 33, 'New York', '2024-12-20'),
(4, 'Mark Tyson', 56, 'New York', '2024-12-29'),
(5, 'John Dep', 50, 'Texas','2025-01-08'),
(6, 'James Brook', 45, 'Texas','2025-01-10');

Step 3: Viewing the Data

Once you've inserted data, you can retrieve it using a simple SELECT query:

SELECT * FROM Tourists;

This query retrieves all rows and columns from the Tourists table.

Step 4: Updating Data

To modify existing data, you can use the UPDATE statement:

UPDATE Tourists
SET Name = 'Johnny Dep'
WHERE ID = 5;

With this, we updated John Dep's name to 'Johnny Dep'.

Step 5: Deleting Data

To remove records, use the DELETE statement:

DELETE FROM Tourists
WHERE ID = 6;

This command deletes the tourist named James Brook from the Tourists table.

Step 6: Altering Data in the Table

To make changes to an existing table, we use the ALTER statement:

ALTER TABLE Tourists
ADD COLUMN Phone INTEGER;

This command adds a new column Phone to the table.

NULL is a special value in SQL that represents missing or unknown data. Here, the rows that existed before the column was added have NULL (∅) values for Phone.
Now let's update the Phone column created using the UPDATE statement.

UPDATE Tourists
SET Phone = 09011111111
WHERE ID = 1;
UPDATE Tourists
SET Phone = 08022222222
WHERE ID = 2;
UPDATE Tourists
SET Phone = 07033333333
WHERE ID = 3;
UPDATE Tourists
SET Phone = 08011111111
WHERE ID = 4;
UPDATE Tourists
SET Phone = 09022222222
WHERE ID = 5;

Step 7: Exporting the Table

SQLite allows this by exporting data to a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file, which can be opened directly in Excel for further analysis or reporting.

Add the headers i.e. column names

.headers on

Set the Output Mode to CSV with the command:

.mode csv

Set the Output File you want to export.

.output Tourists.csv

Run a SELECT query to fetch the data you want to export.

SELECT * FROM Tourists;

Reset the output back to the terminal and quit SQLite:

.output stdout
.quit

Locate the Tourists.csv file and open it in Excel. Alternatively, open Excel, go to File > Open, and select the CSV file.

Conclusion

SQLite is an easy-to-use and lightweight database engine, perfect for applications where simplicity and portability are key. In this guide, we covered how to create a table, insert data, and export the table data to an Excel-compatible CSV file. This makes it easier to share and analyze data outside the SQLite environment.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

: Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

How to Create and Configure Virtual Network in Azure

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 04:27:03 +0000

What is a Virtual Network?

A Virtual Network (VNet) in Azure is a logically isolated network that provides secure communication between resources like virtual machines, databases, and other services in the cloud. It allows you to define IP address ranges, subnets, and network configurations, enabling private communication within the VNet or with on-premises networks through VPN or ExpressRoute. VNets are essential for organizing, securing, and connecting resources in Azure.

Azure Virtual Network Peering and subnets are essential for building secure, connected, and scalable cloud environments. Virtual Network Peering enables seamless communication between Azure virtual networks, while subnets allow you to segment and organize your network for better management and security.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to create and configure both, ensuring your Azure networking setup is optimized for your workloads.

Tasks

Create virtual networks.
Create subnets.
Configure virtual network peering.

Architecture diagram

Steps:

Create hub and spoke virtual networks and subnets

Sign in to the Azure portal.
Search for and select Virtual Networks.
Select + Create.
Assign to a Resource group RG11.
Set the name as app-vnet.
Region to East US.
The IPv4 address space is 10.1.0.0/16
This virtual network requires two subnets, frontend and backend.
Set the Subnet address range of the frontend subnet to 10.1.0.0/24.
Click Add to save.
Select Add a subnet for the backend subnet.
Set the Subnet address range to 10.1.1.0/24
Click Add to save.
Note:Leave all other settings as their defaults. When finished, select Review + create and then Create.

Create the Hub-vnet virtual network configuration. This virtual network has the firewall subnet.

Search for and select Virtual Networks again.
Select + Create.
Assign to the same Resource group as app-vnet RG11.
Set the Name as hub-vnet.
Region to East US as well.
Click Next to the IP addresses section.

The IPv4 address space is 10.0.0.0/16
Select Add a subnet.
Name the subnet AzureFirewallSubnet.
Set the Subnet address range to 10.0.0.0/26
Click Add to save.
Select Review + create and then Create.

Configure a peer relationship between the virtual networks

Search for and select the app-vnet virtual network.
In the Settings blade, select Peerings.
+ Add a peering between the two virtual networks.

Set the Remote peering link name to app-vnet-to-hub.
The Virtual network peered to hub-vnet.

Set the local virtual network peering link name to hub-to-app-vnet.
Leave all other settings as their defaults.
Select *Add to create the virtual network peering.

Once the deployment completes, verify the Peering status is Connected.

Conclusion

With this step-by-step guide, you have now successfully created virtual networks, subnets, and peer two virtual networks, which helps to manage the Vnet better and secure communication between networks and their resources.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

: Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Azure VM Scale Set #Part 3: How to Create a Virtual Machine scale set in Azure

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:43:51 +0000

In the first two parts of this series, we connected to a Windows VM, added a data disk, and captured a reusable image with Azure Compute Gallery. Now, in Part 3, we’ll use that custom image to create a Virtual Machine Scale Set (VMSS), enabling scalable, load-balanced deployments to meet dynamic workload demands efficiently.

An important concept of VMSS is an Azure load balancer; it distributes incoming traffic to a pool of VMs or VM instances. It is always automatically configured in Azure VMSS.

Go over the other parts of the series before this.

Let's dive into the VMSS setup!

Part 3: How to Create a Virtual Machine scale set in Azure

In the VM image created, click the + Create VMSS button.
Give the VMSSS a Name
In orchestration mode, select Flexibile
Note: In flexibility mode, you manually create and add a VM of any configuration to the scale set. While in uniform mode, you define a VM model, and Azure will generate identical instances based on that model.
Leave everything else as default
Click on Review and create

Click Go to resource

Go to Availability + scale section
Select Scaling
Set the Instance count to the number of VMs you want to Create
Save the configuration
Confirm the VMs are running

Conclusion:

With this final step, you've successfully created a Virtual Machine Scale Set using a custom image from Azure Compute Gallery, building on the foundational tasks of connecting to a VM, adding a data disk, and capturing a reusable image. Your scalable, load-balanced infrastructure is now ready to handle dynamic workloads efficiently, completing the journey toward optimizing your Azure environment.

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

: Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel Oluwaloseyi

Azure VM Scale Set #Part 2: How to Capture the image of a VM with Azure Compute Gallery

Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 10:39:59 +0000

Capturing a virtual machine image is a crucial step in creating reusable, standardized deployments in Azure. In this second part of our Azure VM Scale Set series, we’ll walk you through the process of capturing a VM image using Azure Compute Gallery. This ensures consistency and efficiency when scaling your infrastructure or deploying identical VMs (VMSS) across your environment.

What is an Azure Compute Gallery?

Azure Compute Gallery (formerly known as Shared Image Gallery) is a service in Microsoft Azure that simplifies the management, storage, and sharing of custom virtual machine images. It allows you to create, manage, and distribute custom images efficiently across multiple Azure regions, enabling standardized deployments and scaling for large environments.

Note: this is a continuation from the article Azure VM Scale Set #Part 1: How to Connect and Add a Data Disk to a Windows VM Make sure to go over that before moving on.

Let us dive into the compute gallery setup!

Part 2: How to Capture the image of a Virtual Machine

Step 1: Create an Azure Compute Gallery

Search Compute gallery in the Azure portal and select the highlighted option
Click on Create
Select the same Resource group allocated to the VM
Give the compute gallery a Name
You can also add a Description (optional)
Take the rest of the settings as default
Click Review and create

Click Go to resource

Step 2: Capture the image of a VM and store in a Compute Gallery

Go back to the VM created
Click on the Capture button and select Image from the drop-down
Make sure the VM and the compute gallery are in the same resource group.
Select the Compute gallery created

In the Operating system state, select Specialized Note: If Generalized, the VMs created from the image would require admin user (user/password) and other VM setups, while Specialized is already configured.
In the Target VM image definition section, Create new
Give the VM image a Name
Select Ok
Give the VM image a Version number
Click on Review and create.

Wait till deployed and click Go to resource

CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PART
Azure VM Scale Set #Part 3: How to Create a Virtual Machine scale set in Azure

Thank you for reading my blog.😊😊

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comment or hit me up on Twitter. You can also follow me on GitHub. My DM's are open and love discussions on cloud topics!😁

DEV Community: Oluwaloseyi Oluwatofunmi Emmanuel

How to create a Microsoft Azure storage account for securing private data and file backup

Table of Contents

Introduction

Step 1: Create a storage account for private data.

Step 2: Configure redundancy for the storage account.

Step 3: Create a storage container with restricted access & upload to test it.

Step 4: Configure a shared access signature for partners.

Step 5: Implement lifecycle management to move content to the cool tier.

Step 6: Back up the public website storage.

Conclusion

Build a Windows 11 Virtual Machine on Azure with me

Table of Contents

Introduction

Prerequisite

Step 1: Create a resource group

Step 2: Create the virtual machine

Step 3: Configure the Idle timeout

Step 4: How to Associate & Dissociate Public IP addresses

Access the Windows 11 VM using RDP

Conclusion

Deploying Blob Storage for a Public website on Azure

Table of Content

What is Blob Storage?

Create a storage account with high availability.

Step 1: Create a storage account to support the public website.

Step 2: Enable read access to the secondary region for high availability.

Step 3: Information on the public website should be accessible without requiring customers to login.

Create a blob storage container with anonymous read access

Step 1: The public website has various images and documents. Create a blob storage container for the content.

Step 2: Customers should be able to view the images without being authenticated. Configure anonymous read access for the public container blobs.

Practice uploading files and testing access.

Step 1: For testing, upload a file to the public container. The type of file doesn’t matter. A small image or text file is a good choice.

Step 2: Determine the URL for your uploaded file. Open a browser and test the URL.

Configure soft delete

Step 1: It’s important that the website documents can be restored if they’re deleted. Configure blob soft delete for 21 days.

Step 2: If something gets deleted, you need to practice using soft delete to restore the files.

Configure blob versioning

Step 1: It’s important to keep track of the different website product document versions.

Step 2: As you have time, experiment with restoring previous blob versions.

Conclusion

Create and Configure Azure Storage Account

Table of Content

What is a Storage Account?

Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Storage Account

Step 1: First thing you do is to create and deploy a Resource group

Step 2: Next you Create and deploy a storage account

Configure the Storage Account

Step 1: The storage accounts does not require high availability so you set to the lowest cost

Step 2: Make sure the storage account only accepts requests from secured connections

Step 3: Developers would like the storage account to use at least TLS version 1.2.

Step 4: Until the storage is needed again, disable requests to the storage account.

Step 5: Ensure the storage account allows public access from all networks.

Conclusion

Build and Manage Cloud Infrastructure with Terraform and AWS CLI

Table of Contents

Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Configure the AWS CLI

Step 2: Create a Terraform Configuration File

Step 3: Initialize Terraform

Step 4: Plan, Format, and Validate Configuration

Step 5: Create the Infrastructure (EC2 instance)

Step 6: Inspect and Verify the EC2 Instance

Step 7: Delete the EC2 Instance (After Use)

Conclusion

Understanding and Installing Terraform: A Beginner's Guide

Table of Contents

What is Terraform?

Key Features of Terraform

Step-by-Step Guide to Install Terraform on Windows

Verify the installation

Conclusion

Effortless File Management: Setting Up AWS S3 Buckets and Presigned URLs

Table of Contents

Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Creating and Configuring S3 Bucket

Step 2: Creating Folders

Step 3: Uploading Files

Step 1: For testing, upload a file to the `public` container. The type of file doesn’t matter. A small image or text file is a good choice.