Microsoft Azure provides a robust platform for deploying virtual machines (VMs) with various operating systems, including Windows 11. This guide walks you through the process of launching and connecting to a Windows 11 VM on Azure. I will be using a Mac for this tutorial, however, the steps for Windows are the same with only very slight variations
What is a Virtual Machine (VM)
A Virtual Machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications just like a real computer. VMs allow users to run multiple OS environments on a single hardware system, providing flexibility for development, working, testing, and deployment in cloud computing environments like Azure.
Prerequisites
An active Microsoft Azure account
Azure subscription with VM creation permissions
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client (pre-installed on Windows; available for macOS/Linux). For Mac OS, download here. This will allow connections to the VM hosted in Azure
Configuring and launching the VM
In your Azure portal, search for and select virtual machines
Select Create, then Azure virtual machine
Configure the resource group. Select Create new, give it a name then select ok
Enter a virtual machine name
Choose a suitable region, in this example we will use East US
In this example, we will leave Availability options, Zone options, Availability zones and Security type as default
Under Image, select Windows 11 Pro
Select see all sizes,
Select desired VM size. Bigger and stronger VMs will be more expensive. In this tutorial, we will use B1s (free services eligible) to keep costs as low as possible
Click Select at the bottom of the page
Enter a User Name and a password to configure the Administrator account
Select these options under Selected inbound ports: HTTP(80), HTTPS(443), and RPD(3389)
Make sure the box
I confirm I have an eligible Windows 10/11 license with multi-tenant hosting rights.is checked
Scroll to the top of the configuration and select Networking
Select create new under virtual network
Select the first address range. Click ok
Select these settings as shown, feel free to configure other settings as needed. Click Review + create when ready
Click create. Notice the estimated cost. It is important to take down the VM once you are done with it
Wait for the deployment
Once finished, click go to resource:
Connecting to the VM
Select Connect
Click Select, then in the newly formed menu to the right, click download the RDP file
Open the RDP file. If you are on Mac, install the Windows App to be able to open this file
Enter the user name and password for the admin user you configured during the VM setup
Click continue
You will now be able to access the Windows VM and use is just like a regular Windows computer
Taking down the Windows VM:
In order to avoid unnecessary charges, we will delete the VM and its associated resources
In the Azure portal, navigate to virtual machines
Select the VM
Select delete
-
In the newly formed menu:
- Select Apply force delete
- Select OS disk, Network Interfaces and Public Ip addresses and any other resources for deletion
- Check the disclaimer
- Click delete
Top comments (1)
Very Informative and detailed, well done!