Azure ARM Templates - Virtual Machines Tutorials

This tutorial will guide you through the process of deploying and managing Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates. ARM templates are JSON files that define the infrastructure and configuration for your Azure solutions.

Deploying a Basic VM

Let's start by deploying a simple Windows VM. We'll use a predefined ARM template for this.

Template Structure

A typical ARM template consists of the following sections:

`$schema`: Specifies the API version for the template language.
`contentVersion`: A version for the template itself.
`parameters`: Input values for the template.
`variables`: Values used within the template.
`resources`: The Azure resources to deploy.
`outputs`: Values returned after the deployment.

Example Basic VM Template

                
{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "vmName": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "myVM",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Name of the virtual machine."
      }
    },
    "adminUsername": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "azureuser",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Username for the administrator account."
      }
    },
    "adminPassword": {
      "type": "securestring",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Password for the administrator account."
      }
    },
    "vmSize": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_DS1_v2",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Size of the virtual machine."
      }
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
      "name": "[parameters('vmName')]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "[parameters('vmSize')]"
        },
        "osProfile": {
          "computerName": "[parameters('vmName')]",
          "adminUsername": "[parameters('adminUsername')]",
          "adminPassword": "[parameters('adminPassword')]"
        },
        "storageProfile": {
          "imageReference": {
            "publisher": "MicrosoftWindowsServer",
            "offer": "WindowsServer",
            "sku": "2019-Datacenter",
            "version": "latest"
          },
          "osDisk": {
            "createOption": "FromImage",
            "managedDisk": {
              "storageAccountType": "Standard_LRS"
            }
          }
        },
        "networkProfile": {
          "networkInterfaces": [
            {
              "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', concat(parameters('vmName'), '-nic'))]"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
      "apiVersion": "2020-07-01",
      "name": "[concat(parameters('vmName'), '-vnet')]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "properties": {
        "addressSpace": {
          "addressPrefixes": [
            "10.0.0.0/16"
          ]
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets",
      "apiVersion": "2020-07-01",
      "name": "[concat(parameters('vmName'), '-subnet')]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks', concat(parameters('vmName'), '-vnet'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "addressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
      "apiVersion": "2020-07-01",
      "name": "[concat(parameters('vmName'), '-nic')]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', concat(parameters('vmName'), '-vnet'), concat(parameters('vmName'), '-subnet'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "ipConfigurations": [
          {
            "name": "ipconfig1",
            "properties": {
              "subnet": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', concat(parameters('vmName'), '-vnet'), concat(parameters('vmName'), '-subnet'))]"
              },
              "privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "vmId": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines', parameters('vmName'))]"
    }
  }
}
                
            

Deployment Steps (using Azure CLI)

Save the template above as azuredeploy.json.
Create a resource group:
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus
Deploy the template:
az deployment group create --resource-group myResourceGroup --template-file azuredeploy.json --parameters adminPassword='YourSecurePasswordHere'
Note: Replace 'YourSecurePasswordHere' with a strong password. For production, use Azure Key Vault for secrets.

MSDN Documentation

Deploying Azure Virtual Machines with ARM Templates

On this page:

Introduction to ARM Templates

Prerequisites

Deploying a Basic VM

Template Structure

Example Basic VM Template

Deployment Steps (using Azure CLI)

Advanced VM Configurations

Availability Sets

Scale Sets (VMSS)

Custom Data & Cloud-init

Managed Disks

Managing VMs with ARM Templates

Next Steps