The Azure Dashboard

First steps

I started out by logging into the Azure dashboard (or Portal) and creating a Linux virtual machine. I used Chrome (25.0.1364.160) on OS/X 10.8.2.

Creating an Ubuntu LTS VM

The process was simple. Instead of the Quick Create option, I selected the Gallery. That started a wizard. As indicated, there is a 4 step process that allows me to specify various items like machine name, initial user name (default is azureuser), password, DNS name, region and some Azure specific settings, after which the VM is created.

One issue I had was on the second screen. After selecting the option to upload my own SSH key, the upload dialog did not appear when I clicked on Browse For File.

It worked on Windows 8 using Chrome (25.0.1364.152 m), so definitely a bug there.

I completed the process and the VM was created. I connected to it using the DNS name I provided. The DNS entry was on the domain cloudapp.net and the SSH daemon was configured to run on a port other than 22.

$ ssh -p 12345 azureuser@mytest01.cloupapp.net

Login was successful and the Ubuntu Server was running as expected. I could sudo to root and make changes, install packages and do the many other things expected.

That's all well and good, but I have an affinity for the command line. I deleted the server and downloaded and installed the Windows Azure Command Line Tools. That was no problem at all given that a Mac installer was available. The result is a command, azure, that can be used to manage the account.

First step after installing was to register my computer. That's a simple 3 step process. First download a .publishsettings file, then import it into the tool and finally delete the downloaded file. Ensure that you are logged into Azure before starting the process.

$ azure account download
$ azure account import ~/Downloads/3-Month\ Free\ Trial-3-10-2013-credentials.publishsettings
$ rm ~/Downloads/3-Month\ Free\ Trial-3-10-2013-credentials.publishsettings 

That's it! Now I can manage the service from the command line: -

$ azure vm image list

List of available VM images

Next up, creating a VM from the command line.