Deploy a Virtual Machine on Azure Using Azure CLI

📌 What You’ll Learn:

  • How to create a Resource Group.

  • How to deploy a Virtual Machine using Azure CLI.

  • How to connect to the VM.

  • (Optional) How to clean up resources.


✅ Step 1: Prepare Azure CLI

Make sure you have:

  • Azure CLI installedInstall guide here

  • An active Azure account → You can use the free tier.


✅ Step 2: Login to Azure

az login

This opens a browser window for you to sign in.


✅ Step 3: Create a Resource Group

az group create --name myharmzyRG --location eastus
  • Replace myharmzyRG with your preferred name.

  • You can also choose other locations like westeurope or centralus.


✅ Step 4: Create a Virtual Machine

az vm create \
  --resource-group myharmzyRG \
  --name myVM \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys
  • myVM is the VM name.

  • azureuser is the admin username.

  • --generate-ssh-keys creates SSH keys for you to connect securely.


✅ Step 5: Open Port 80 to Allow Web Traffic

az vm open-port --port 80 --resource-group myharmzyRG --name myVM


✅ Step 6: Connect to the VM

Get the VM public IP address:

az vm show --name myVM --resource-group myharmzyRG -d --query publicIps -o tsv

Use the IP address to SSH into the VM:

 azureuser@<your-public-ip>

when you successfully connect to the VM the Terminal Prompt Changes to:

This:

    •             azureuser@myVM:~$
      
      • This shows you’re now “inside” the VM, not on your local Mac.

        When you’re done, type:

         exit
        

        It will return you to your Mac’s terminal:


✅ Step 7: Clean Up Resources (Optional)

When you’re done, delete everything to save costs:

az group delete --name myharmzyRG --yes --no-wait

🎯 Final Thoughts

What I Learned

  • How to deploy cloud resources using Azure CLI.

  • How to connect to a VM using SSH.

  • Basic cloud resource management (setup and teardown).


Resources

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Written by

Anigbogu Chioma Paschaline
Anigbogu Chioma Paschaline

Hi, I’m Anigbogu Paschaline Chioma, an aspiring Cloud Engineer documenting my journey one step at a time. Through CloudSteps, I share beginner-friendly tutorials, personal projects, and insights from my hands-on learning in cloud computing, DevOps, and modern tech tools. Follow along as I learn, build, and grow — one step closer to the cloud.