How to create a virtual machine using the Azure CLI

Overview

With UKCloud for Microsoft Azure, you can leverage the power of Microsoft Azure to create virtual machines (VMs) for your on-premises applications. As UKCloud for Microsoft Azure is built on UKCloud’s assured, UK-sovereign multi-cloud platform, those applications can work alongside other cloud platforms, such as Oracle, VMware and OpenStack, and benefit from native connectivity to non-cloud workloads in Crown Hosting and government community networks, including PSN, HSCN and RLI.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure your Azure CLI environment is set up as detailed in Configure the Azure Stack user's PowerShell environment.

Creating a virtual machine

When you've created the resource group, you must choose which image template to use for your VM. To obtain a list of available images run the following command:

az vm image list --all --output table

You are retrieving all the images from server which could take more than a minute. To shorten the wait, provide '--publisher', '--offer' or '--sku'. Partial name search is supported.
Offer                Publisher               Sku                                   Urn                                                                                          Version
-------------------  ----------------------  ------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------------
UbuntuServer         Canonical               14.04.5-LTS                           Canonical:UbuntuServer:14.04.5-LTS:14.04.20180818                                            14.04.20180818
UbuntuServer         Canonical               16.04-LTS                             Canonical:UbuntuServer:16.04-LTS:16.04.20180831                                              16.04.20180831
UbuntuServer         Canonical               18.04-LTS                             Canonical:UbuntuServer:18.04-LTS:18.04.20180911                                              18.04.20180911
CentOS               OpenLogic               6.9                                   OpenLogic:CentOS:6.9:6.9.20180118                                                            6.9.20180118
CentOS               OpenLogic               6.10                                  OpenLogic:CentOS:6.10:6.10.20180803                                                          6.10.20180803
CentOS               OpenLogic               7.3                                   OpenLogic:CentOS:7.3:7.3.20170925                                                            7.3.20170925
CentOS               OpenLogic               7.5                                   OpenLogic:CentOS:7.5:7.5.20180815                                                            7.5.20180815
RHEL                 RedHat                  7.5                                   RedHat:RHEL:7.5:7.5.20182111                                                                 7.5.20182111
KaliServer           KaliLinux               14.04.12-LTS                          KaliLinux:KaliServer:14.04.12-LTS:1.0.0                                                      1.0.0
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2012-Datacenter                       MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2012-Datacenter:3.127.20180216                          3.127.20180216
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2012-R2-Datacenter                    MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2012-R2-Datacenter:4.127.20180912                       4.127.20180912
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2016-Datacenter                       MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2016-Datacenter:2016.127.20180912                       2016.127.20180912
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2016-Datacenter-with-Containers       MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2016-Datacenter-with-Containers:2016.127.20180912       2016.127.20180912
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2016-Datacenter-Server-Core           MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2016-Datacenter-Server-Core:2016.127.20180717           2016.127.20180717
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2019-Datacenter                       MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter:2019.127.20190521                       2019.127.20190521
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2019-Datacenter-with-Containers       MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter-with-Containers:2019.127.20190521       2019.127.20190521
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2019-Datacenter-Core                  MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter-Core:2019.127.20190521                  2019.127.20190521
WindowsServer        MicrosoftWindowsServer  2019-Datacenter-Core-with-Containers  MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter-Core-with-Containers:2019.127.20190521  2019.127.20190521
SQL2014SP2-WS2012R2  MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2014SP2-WS2012R2:Web:12.20.0                                           12.20.0
SQL2016SP1-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP1-WS2016:Web:13.1.900310                                         13.1.900310
SQL2016SP1-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      SQLDEV                                MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP1-WS2016:SQLDEV:13.1.900310                                      13.1.900310
SQL2016SP1-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Standard                              MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP1-WS2016:Standard:13.1.900310                                    13.1.900310
SQL2016SP1-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Enterprise                            MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP1-WS2016:Enterprise:13.1.900310                                  13.1.900310
SQL2016SP2-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP2-WS2016:Web:13.1.900310                                         13.1.900310
SQL2016SP2-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      SQLDEV                                MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP2-WS2016:SQLDEV:13.1.900310                                      13.1.900310
SQL2016SP2-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Express                               MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP2-WS2016:Express:13.1.900310                                     13.1.900310
SQL2016SP2-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Standard                              MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP2-WS2016:Standard:13.1.900310                                    13.1.900310
SQL2016SP2-WS2016    MicrosoftSQLServer      Enterprise                            MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2016SP2-WS2016:Enterprise:13.1.900310                                  13.1.900310
SQL2017-WS2016       MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-WS2016:Web:14.0.1000320                                           14.0.1000320
SQL2017-WS2016       MicrosoftSQLServer      SQLDEV                                MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-WS2016:SQLDEV:14.0.1000204                                        14.0.1000204
SQL2017-WS2016       MicrosoftSQLServer      Express                               MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-WS2016:Express:14.0.1000320                                       14.0.1000320
SQL2017-WS2016       MicrosoftSQLServer      Standard                              MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-WS2016:Standard:14.0.1000320                                      14.0.1000320
SQL2017-WS2016       MicrosoftSQLServer      Enterprise                            MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-WS2016:Enterprise:14.0.1000320                                    14.0.1000320
SQL2017-SLES12SP2    MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-SLES12SP2:Web:14.0.1000320                                        14.0.1000320
SQL2017-SLES12SP2    MicrosoftSQLServer      SQLDEV                                MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-SLES12SP2:SQLDEV:14.0.1000320                                     14.0.1000320
SQL2017-SLES12SP2    MicrosoftSQLServer      Express                               MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-SLES12SP2:Express:14.0.1000320                                    14.0.1000320
SQL2017-SLES12SP2    MicrosoftSQLServer      Standard                              MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-SLES12SP2:Standard:14.0.1000320                                   14.0.1000320
SQL2017-SLES12SP2    MicrosoftSQLServer      Enterprise                            MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-SLES12SP2:Enterprise:14.0.1000320                                 14.0.1000320
SQL2017-Ubuntu1604   MicrosoftSQLServer      Web                                   MicrosoftSQLServer:SQL2017-Ubuntu1604:Web:14.0.1000320                                       14.0.1000320

Declare variables

Variable	Variable description	Input
--resource-group	Name of the resource group to be created
--location	The location to deploy the VM in
--name	Name of the virtual machine to be created
--image	The image template to deploy the virtual machine from	Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTSUbuntu Server 16.04 LTSUbuntu Server 18.04 LTSCentOS-based 6.9CentOS-based 6.10CentOS-based 7.3CentOS-based 7.5Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5Kali LinuxWindows Server 2012 Datacenter - Pay as you useWindows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter - Pay as you useWindows Server 2016 Datacenter - Pay-as-you-useWindows Server 2016 Datacenter - with Containers - Pay as you useWindows Server 2016 Datacenter - Server Core - Pay as you useWindows Server 2019 DatacenterWindows Server 2019 Datacenter with ContainersWindows Server 2019 Datacenter CoreWindows Server 2019 Datacenter Core with ContainersWindows Server, version 1709 with Containers - Pay as you useFree License: SQL Server 2016 SP1 Developer on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2016 SP1 Standard on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2016 SP1 Enterprise on Windows Server 2016Free License: SQL Server 2016 SP2 Developer on Windows Server 2016Free License: SQL Server 2016 SP2 Express on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2016 SP2 Standard on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2016 SP2 Enterprise on Windows Server 2016Free SQL Server License: SQL Server 2017 Developer on Windows Server 2016Free SQL Server License: SQL Server 2017 Express on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2017 Standard on Windows Server 2016SQL Server 2017 Enterprise Windows Server 2016Free SQL Server License: SQL Server 2017 Developer on SLES 12 SP2Free SQL Server License: SQL Server 2017 Express on SLES 12 SP2SQL Server 2017 Standard on SLES 12 SP2SQL Server 2017 Enterprise on SLES 12 SP2
--admin-username	Username of the VM to be created
--admin-password	Password of the VM to be created

Create a resource group

Before creating a VM, you must create a resource group to deploy the VM to. If you've already created the resource group, you can skip this step.

az group create --name '
MyResourceGroup
' --location '
frn00006
'

Create the virtual machine

After you've selected which image you want to use, run the following command. The 'az vm create' command will also create any resources required for the VM (for example, a network interface card, a network security group, and so on):

az vm create --resource-group '
MyResourceGroup
' --name '
MyVM
' --image '
OpenLogic:CentOS:7.5:7.5.20180815
' --admin-username '
username
' --admin-password '
Password123!
' --location '
frn00006
'

This will produce the following output:

- Running ...
{
  "fqdns": "",
  "id": "/subscriptions/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/resourceGroups/
MyResourceGroup
/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/
MyVM
",
  "location": "
frn00006
",
  "macAddress": "111111111111",
  "powerState": "VM running",
  "privateIpAddress": "10.0.0.1",
  "publicIpAddress": "11.111.111.11",
  "resourceGroup": "
MyResourceGroup
"
}

Feedback

If you find an issue with this article, click Improve this Doc to suggest a change. If you have an idea for how we could improve any of our services, visit the Ideas section of the UKCloud Community.