Step-by-Step Guide: Creating & Connecting to an Azure Virtual Machine

Introduction

Virtual machines remain one of the most fundamental building blocks of cloud infrastructure. Whether you’re deploying applications, testing environments, hosting internal systems, or building scalable production workloads, virtual machines provide the flexibility and control needed to operate efficiently in the cloud.

In this guide, I’ll walk through a step-by-step process for creating and connecting to a Virtual Machine (VM) in Microsoft Azure. Beyond simply provisioning the resource, this post focuses on understanding the core components involved, including resource groups, networking configuration, authentication methods, and secure access.

As cloud environments continue to power modern businesses, knowing how to properly deploy and securely connect to a VM is a foundational skill for anyone pursuing Cloud Engineering, DevOps, or Infrastructure roles.

Log in to Azure Portal and Search for "Virtual Machines

Select Virtual Machine from the Search Results

Click on "Create"

Select the appropriate Subscription.

Click "Create Resource Group" → Enter a name for it.

Configure Virtual Machine Details

• Enter VM Name (VMZEE)

• Select A Region

• Select Availability Zone in the Availability Option.

• Select Zone 1 in availablity zone drop down(You can select more than one zone depending on the level of latency that is desired for your project)

• spot discount(This is optional and you can use it if the project you are working on can tolerate on and off. Its most times used by the finOps engineers to reduce cost majorly for batch jobs. But for this project spot discount , I wont be using spot discount because I want my computer to be highly available

• Enter Operating System (Image option): Select windows 11

• VM Size: Keep the default option.

• Set Up Administrator Account by entering the username and password

Configure Inbound Port Rules

• Select SSH (for Linux) or RDP (for Windows).
  

• Click the checkbox to accept the license agreement.

Disable Boot Diagnostics

• Click Next → Navigate to Monitoring Tab → Disable Boot Diagnostics.

• Click Next → Navigate to Tags Tab → Input Tags

Review & Deploy the Virtual Machine

• Click "Review + Create"
  

• Ensure validation passes.

• Click "Create" to deploy.

• Deployment takes 3-5 minutes.

• If the status is "Running", your VM is ready!

Connect to the Virtual Machine

• Click "Connect" in the Azure VM blade.

Download & Open RDP File (Windows VM Only)

• Click "Native RDP" → Download RDP file.

• Open the RDP file on your computer.

Enter Admin Credentials

• Enter the Username & Password created earlier.

• Click "Connect" to access the VM.

• You are now connected! You can start using your Azure Virtual Machine

Conclusion

Setting up and connecting to a Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure, a cloud platform by Microsoft, is a fundamental step in building practical cloud computing skills. Deploying virtual infrastructure in the cloud enables developers, data professionals, and cloud engineers to run applications, create development environments, and manage scalable workloads with ease.

Gaining hands-on experience with Azure Virtual Machines provides a strong foundation for exploring more advanced cloud services such as networking, storage, monitoring, and automation.

Happy building in the cloud! ☁️🚀