Beginners Guide To Create Windows11 Pro Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure.
LOG IN TO MICROSOFT AZURE ACCOUNT
As a prerequisite to creating a Windows 11 Pro Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure, it is essential:
You create a FREE or a PAY-AS-YOU-GO Azure account if you don’t have an existing account (a free account is recommended at this stage).
It also requires that you have an ACTIVE-funded dollar card (virtual or physical).
CREATE A VIRTUAL MACHINE
There are three simple ways to create a virtual machine in Azure.
Click on the three 'vertical lines' at the top left corner of the Microsoft Azure welcome page and select Virtual Machine.
Type Virtual Machine in the search bar and select 'Virtual Machine' from the popped-up results.
Select and Click on 'Virtual Machine' directly from the Azure Home Page.
a. Type Virtual Machine in the search bar.
b. Select Virtual Machine from the list of popped-up resources
c. Click on 'Create'.
d. Select Virtual Machine at the top as indicated with a red marker
e. You will be redirected to the 'Basic' page. Under the basic page, you will find several items like Project details, Instance details, Administrator account, and Inbound port rule. Let us take one after the other for clarity.
Project Details
In this section, we have the subscription and resource group
a. Subscription is a term in Azure that means simply membership. It could be a free membership or a paid one that allows you access or permission to Azure services.
b. Resource Group is a container or folder that gives you the flexibility to logically organize and manage related resources for Azure solutions.
Click on 'Create New' to create a resource group.
Instance Details
a. Give your 'Virtual Machine' a name. Type it in the space provided
b. In the region section, click on the 'Drop Down Arrow' to select a region - a geographical location with one or more clusters of data centers for the hosting of IT resources as well as infrastructure.
c. Click on the 'drop-down arrow' button to select from the available zones. It is a cluster of various data centers in a particular location interconnected through networking using cables called fiber optic cables.
d. Select your 'Security type'. Click on the 'drop-down arrow' button and select security type.
e. Image: An Image in AZURE is simply an Operating System (OS), which could be Windows or Ubuntu Linux. In this case, Windows 11 Pro is our image.
Select the required image type which is Windows 11 Pro from the drop-down arrow button.
Note, that the VM architecture is programmed to select by default, so skip it.
f. Select the size of your 'Virtual Machine' or click on 'See all Sizes' to choose the size of your VM.
Note: Leave the 'Enable Hibernation (preview) unchecked.
Administrator account
a. Create a username
b. Create a password
c. Confirm your password
Note:It is important you remember your username and password
Inbound port rules
a. Select 'Allow selected port'
b In the 'Select inbound port', click on the drop-down arrow and select RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) HTTP (80) as the case may be.
c. Then, Check the licensing Box for you to confirm eligible windows and click on Next-Disk to take you to the next page.
Disk
In this section, the OS (Operating System) size has been set by default. Simply click on the 'drop down arrow' button and select Standard SSD
Skip Networking, management, Monitoring, and Advance
Tags
a. Give your tag name. They are labels given to different resources in the cloud environment for easy identification and management.
b. Then, click on Next: review+create
c. Click on the Review+create button and wait for the system to validate your virtual machine configuration. Once Validation is passed, click on 'create'
d. Your Virtual Machine has been deployed
e. Once the deployment is completed, click on 'Go to resources'
Remote connection for Windows Virtual Machine
a. Click on connect
b. Download RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) file
c. Click on the download arrow icon on the Menu bar or go to your file explorer, select download files, and search for the RDP file.
d. Click to open the file and select 'Connect'
e. This interface will display. Enter your Administrator password and then click on OK.
f. The Remote Desktop Connection interface will be displayed. Click YES.
Finally, your new Windows 11 Pro is live and ready for use
HOW TO DISSOCIATE IP ADDRESS
Remember the pay-as-you-go concept. In cloud computing, you only pay for what you use. To save cost, you should disconnect your IP Address when your resources are idle.
Here are the steps in this order
a. Click on IP Address (Public IP Address)
b. Click on Overview, then select 'Dissociate' on the Overview menu bar and click it.
c. Confirm Dissociation? Click YES.
I hope this material will help you create your Windows 11 Pro Virtual Machine.