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Day 2 of 5
⏱ ~60 minutes
Azure in 5 Days — Day 2

Virtual Machines

Create a Linux VM, configure inbound ports, connect via SSH, and understand VM sizing and cost.

Creating a VM with CLI

Azure CLI — Create VM
az vm create \
  --resource-group myapp-rg \
  --name my-linux-vm \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --size Standard_B1s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

# Open port 80 for web traffic
az vm open-port --resource-group myapp-rg --name my-linux-vm --port 80
az vm open-port --resource-group myapp-rg --name my-linux-vm --port 443

# Get the public IP
az vm show -d -g myapp-rg -n my-linux-vm --query publicIps -o tsv

# SSH in
ssh azureuser@
Install Nginx on the VM
# Once SSH'd in:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo systemctl start nginx
# Visit the public IP in your browser — you should see the Nginx welcome page
Stop/Deallocate when done
# Deallocated = no compute charges (storage still billed)
az vm deallocate --resource-group myapp-rg --name my-linux-vm

# Start again
az vm start --resource-group myapp-rg --name my-linux-vm
⚠️
Stopped (not deallocated) VMs still incur compute charges in Azure. Always use az vm deallocate, not just stop, when you're done for the day.
📝 Day 2 Exercise
Deploy a Web Server on Azure VM
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Day 2 Summary

  • Standard_B1s is the smallest VM size — cheap for experiments. Production uses larger sizes.
  • --generate-ssh-keys creates a key pair and stores it locally. Use it — don't use passwords.
  • NSG (Network Security Group) controls which ports are open. Default: SSH (22) only.
  • az vm deallocate stops billing for compute. Don't just 'stop' — that still charges.
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Day 1: Azure Portal and Resource Groups
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Day 3: Storage: Blobs and Azure SQL
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