Automating the simultaneous deployment of AzureRM Virtual Machines for a development environment
This post is details my method for automating the creation of AzureRM virtual machines for use in a development environment. I’m using this process to quickly standup an environment for testing configurations on.
In summary this process;
- parallel creation of the AzureRM Virtual Machines
-
All machines have the same configuration
- NIC, Disks etc
- All machines are created in a new Resource Group, with associated Virtual Network
Simultaneous Creating the AzureRM Virtual Machines for MIM 2016
For my MIM 2016 Lab I’m going to create 5 Virtual Machines.… [Keep reading] “Automating the simultaneous deployment of AzureRM Virtual Machines for a development environment”
Using Active Directory Security Groups to Grant Permissions to Azure Resources
The introduction of the Azure Resource Manager platform in Azure continues to expose new possibilities for managing your deployed resources.
One scenario that you may not be aware of is the ability to use scoped RBAC role assignments to grant limited rights to Azure AD-based users and groups.
We know Azure provides us with many built-in RBAC roles, but it may not be immediately obvious that you can control their assignment scope.
What do I mean by this?… [Keep reading] “Using Active Directory Security Groups to Grant Permissions to Azure Resources”
Simultaneously Start|Stop all Azure Resource Manager Virtual Machines in a Resource Group
Problem
How many times have you wanted to Start or Stop all Virtual Machines in an Azure Resource Group ? For me it seems to be quite often, especially for development environment resource groups. It’s not that difficult though. You can just enumerate the VM’s then cycle through them and call ‘Start-AzureRMVM’ or ‘Start-AzureRMVM’. However, the more VM’s you have, that approach running serially as PowerShell does means it can take quite some time to complete.… [Keep reading] “Simultaneously Start|Stop all Azure Resource Manager Virtual Machines in a Resource Group”
Microsoft Azure Stack is the New Hybrid Cloud
Last week Microsoft released the public technical preview of new Azure Stack. Azure Stack, along with its predecessor Windows Azure Pack, gives anyone the ability to extend Azure management capabilities to their on-premises datacentre.
Firstly, a bit of background.
With Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft made available Windows Azure Pack. Azure Pack offered an on-premise integration point between Windows Server, System Centre, and SQL Server to offer a self-service portal and private cloud services including virtual machine provisioning and management (IaaS), database as a services (DBaaS), and scalable web application hosting (PaaS).… [Keep reading] “Microsoft Azure Stack is the New Hybrid Cloud”
Easy Debugging of PowerShell DSC for Azure Virtual Machines
Many of the Kloud team have recently been buried deep in the world of Azure Resource Manager (ARM) as it becomes the preferred way to create and manage Azure resources.
One extension point offered via ARM for Virtual Machine automation is the use of PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to control the Windows OS (and now Linux too!) and application software setup on a VM post creation.
I hadn’t touched PowerShell DSC much prior to the last year and have found that it’s not that hard to pick up, especially if you come from a programming, scripting or Linux sysadmin background.… [Keep reading] “Easy Debugging of PowerShell DSC for Azure Virtual Machines”
Azure AD Connect – “The specified domain does not exist or cannot be contacted” when adding an untrusted AD forest
I ran into a little issue while on site with a customer who required AAD Connect to be configured for use in a multi-forest environment with three forests. There was a forest trust between two of the forests, however the third forest did not have any trusts in place. Prior to implementing this solution, we ran up a test environment to do a run through and document the steps required for an implementation plan.
The test environment consisted of three Windows Server 2012 AD forests all at 2012 functional level – kloudy.net,… [Keep reading] “Azure AD Connect – “The specified domain does not exist or cannot be contacted” when adding an untrusted AD forest”
Getting Started with the Azure Security Center
Microsoft recently announced the availability of the Azure Security Center which is designed to provide a single place to view your security stance for resources deployed to Azure.
In this post I’m going to walk you through what’s initially available and see how it can start helping you today.
Who ever said “no” to something that’s free?
The core features (today) are free. Yes – free. This isn’t just preview pricing either. During preview even the Standard Tier is free until early 2016.… [Keep reading] “Getting Started with the Azure Security Center”
Resource Manager Cmdlets in Azure PowerShell 1.0
Azure recently launched the 1.0 version of PowerShell cmdlets. The changes are huge, including new Azure Resource Manager (ARM), which resulted in deprecating Azure-SwitchMode between ASM and ARM. In this post, we only have a brief look at how new PowerShell cmdlets for ARM have been introduced, especially for managing resource groups and templates.
Installation
In order to get the newest Azure PowerShell, using MS Web Platform Installer is the quickest and easiest way.
… [Keep reading] “Resource Manager Cmdlets in Azure PowerShell 1.0”Note: At the moment of writing, the released date of Azure PowerShell is Nov.
Leveraging Cloud Storage for the Enterprise: Microsoft StorSimple – Part 1
Originally posted on Bobbie’s blog @ www.thecloudguy.info
It’s no secret that one of the biggest pain points for enterprises today is the rapid growth of unstructured data. The ability to manage, protect and archive an organisation’s most valuable assets is arguably one of the biggest strains on IT department budgets.
The advent of cloud technology has many organisations looking for a way to leverage Pay-as-You-Go cloud storage offerings to assist in the data life-cycle process. The difficulty with these offerings is that data is stored as objects rather than on file systems such as NFS and CIFS, meaning integration with existing business processes and solutions isn’t straight forward.… [Keep reading] “Leveraging Cloud Storage for the Enterprise: Microsoft StorSimple – Part 1”