How to Create a Virtual Machine (VM) in Microsoft Azure – Step-by-Step Guide

In this guide, you’ll learn how to quickly create a VM in Azure using the Azure Portal, configure networking, enable Remote Desktop (RDP), and understand the basic VM settings.

Before creating a VM in Azure, make sure you have a valid Azure subscription.

Step 1: Open Azure Virtual Machines

1. Sign in to the Azure Portal.
2. Click Create a Resource.
3. Search for Virtual Machines.
4. Select Virtual Machines and click Create.

This opens the VM creation wizard.

Step 2: Select Subscription and Resource Group

Choose a Subscription

Select the Azure subscription you want to use for billing and resource management.

Create a Resource Group

A Resource Group is a logical container that holds related Azure resources such as:

• Virtual Machines
• Virtual Networks
• Storage
• Network Security Groups

Resources inside the same resource group typically share:

• Lifecycle management
• Permissions
• Policies

Create a new resource group or use an existing one.

Step 3: Configure the Virtual Machine

Enter the VM Name

Provide a unique and descriptive name for your virtual machine.

Choose the Azure region closest to your users or business requirements. Choosing the correct region helps improve performance and reduce latency.

Configure Availability Options - Azure provides availability options for higher reliability.

You can leave the setting as:

• Availability Zone

Azure allows you to deploy VMs across multiple zones for redundancy.

Important Note

If you select multiple availability zones:

• Azure creates one VM per selected zone.
• Selecting 3 zones results in 3 separate VMs being deployed.

This setup improves high availability and disaster recovery.

Choose Security Type and operating system image you want to install.

Choose a VM size based on your workload requirements and create administrator login credentials for the VM.

Azure allows you to specify which ports should be accessible from the internet.

Choose the disk type for your VM.

Common disk options:

• Standard HDD
• Standard SSD
• Premium SSD

Premium SSDs provide better performance for production workloads.

Azure provides an option to automatically delete the disk when the VM is deleted. Disable it if you want to preserve data after deleting the VM.

During deployment, Azure can automatically create supporting resources such as:

• Virtual Networks (VNet)
• Subnets
• Public IP addresses
• Network Security Groups (NSGs)

These resources can exist within the same resource group as the VM.

Azure provides additional settings for:

• Monitoring
• Backup
• Management
• Tags

You can review and customize these settings based on your environment requirements.

Review all configurations and check estimated hourly pricing.

Once validated, click Create.

Azure will begin provisioning the virtual machine.