HOW TO CREATE AND CONNECT A WINDOWS 11 PRO VIRTUAL MACHINE IN AZURE
Published: 2024-04-08 10:39:45

To create a Windows 11 Pro virtual machine (VM) in the Azure portal, you can follow these general steps:

**1.SIGN IN TO THE AZURE PORTAL**
Go to https://portal.azure.com and sign in with your Azure account.

**2.CREATE A NEW VIRTUAL MACHINE**
Click on the "Create a resource" button in the upper left corner of the Azure portal. Then, in the search bar, type "Virtual Machine" and select "Virtual machine" from the list of results.

**3.CONFIGURE THE BASICS**
a. <u>Subscription:</u> Choose your Azure subscription.
b. <u>Resource group:</u> Create a new one or select an existing one.
c. <u>Virtual machine name:</u> Name your VM.
d. <u>Region:</u> Select a region close to you.
e.<u> Availability options:</u> You can select options based on your high availability needs.
f. <u>Image:</u> Here, select "Windows 11 Pro" 
g. <u>Size:</u> Choose a size for the VM. This depends on your workload and performance needs. For a basic setup, a Standard B2s size should be fine.
h. <u>Administrator account:</u> Here, setup your Administrator Username and Password.
i. <u>Inbound port rules:</u> Choose "Allow selected ports: RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) port (TCP port 3389) to connect to your Windows VM.
j. <u>Licensing:</u> If you are eligible, confirm you have the appropriate licensing.
k. <u>Click "Next: Disk >"Configure management:</u> Optionally, configure additional settings such as monitoring, management, and tags.
l. <u>Disks: </u>In the "Disks" tab, select the type of disks you want to use. 
m.<u> Networking:</u> In the "Networking" tab, leave the defaults if you're unsure. Azure will create a new virtual network, subnet, and a public IP for your VM.
n. <u>Management:</u> In the "Management" tab, you can choose whether to turn on auto-shutdown, enable backup, and other options. These choices will depend on your specific use case.
o. <u>Advanced:</u> In the "Advanced" tab, you can select additional features like extensions, host groups, etc. Most users can skip this tab for a basic setup.
p. <u>Tags:</u> In the "Tags" tab, you can set metadata tags for your resources if you want. This is optional.
q. <u>Review + create:</u> Review your settings and if everything looks good, hit the "Create" button. 


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4hbe8b137zqjp28xtdc8.png)

r. After validation runs, select the "Create" button at the bottom of the page.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9tbnkqttzj09hq6kutim.png)

s. Azure will start the deployment process.
t. After deployment is complete, select “Go to resource”.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/gf5a7p31ucr6vsam0ie6.png)

**4. CONNECT TO THE VM**
a. On the overview page for your virtual machine, select the “Connect > RDP”.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/c4t3n95a4nqoihgwjs13.png)

b. In the Connect with RDP tab, keep the default options to connect by IP address, over port 3389, and click “Download RDP file”.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/36uiplv8u1v36usfsk6i.png)

c. Open the downloaded RDP file and click “Connect” when prompted.
d. Input your username and password.
e. Congratulations! You are connected to your very own Windows 11 Pro.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ng59rbmrczbc3wa04jng.png)

**5. CLEAN UP RESOURCES**
a. When no longer needed, you can delete the resource group, virtual machine, and all related resources.
b. On the Overview page for the VM, select the “Resource group link”.
c. At the top of the page for the resource group, select “Delete resource group”.
d. A page will open warning you that you are about to delete resources. Type the name of the resource group and select “Delete” to finish deleting the resources and the resource group.

I hope this step-by-step tutorial helped you create and connect your Windows 11 virtual machine. Best Wishes!