Quickstart: Create a Windows virtual machine in Azure with PowerShell

The Azure PowerShell module is used to create and manage Azure resources from the PowerShell command line or in scripts. This quickstart shows you how to use the Azure PowerShell module to deploy a virtual machine (VM) in Azure that runs Windows Server 2016. You will also RDP to the VM and install the IIS web server, to show the VM in action.


Launch Azure Cloud Shell


To open the Cloud Shell, just select Try it from the upper right corner of a code block. You can also launch Cloud Shell in a separate browser tab by going to https://shell.azure.com/powershell. Select Copy to copy the blocks of code, paste it into the Cloud Shell, and press enter to run it.

Create resource group

Create an Azure resource group with New-AzResourceGroup. A resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed.

New-AzResourceGroup -Name myResourceGroup -Location EastUS

Create virtual machine

Create a VM with New-AzVM. Provide names for each of the resources and the New-AzVM cmdlet creates if they don't already exist.

When prompted, provide a username and password to be used as the sign-in credentials for the VM:

New-AzVm `
    -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
    -Name "myVM" `
    -Location "East US" `
    -VirtualNetworkName "myVnet" `
    -SubnetName "mySubnet" `
    -SecurityGroupName "myNetworkSecurityGroup" `
    -PublicIpAddressName "myPublicIpAddress" `
    -OpenPorts 80,3389

Connect to virtual machine

After the deployment has completed, RDP to the VM. To see your VM in action, the IIS web server is then installed.

To see the public IP address of the VM, use the Get-AzPublicIpAddress cmdlet:

Get-AzPublicIpAddress -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" | Select "IpAddress"

Use the following command to create a remote desktop session from your local computer. Replace the IP address with the public IP address of your VM.

mstsc /v:publicIpAddress

In the Windows Security window, select More choices, and then select Use a different account. Type the username as localhost\username, enter password you created for the virtual machine, and then click OK.

You may receive a certificate warning during the sign-in process. Click Yes or Continue to create the connection

Install web server

To see your VM in action, install the IIS web server. Open a PowerShell prompt on the VM and run the following command:

Install-WindowsFeature -name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

When done, close the RDP connection to the VM.

View the web server in action

With IIS installed and port 80 now open on your VM from the Internet, use a web browser of your choice to view the default IIS welcome page. Use the public IP address of your VM obtained in a previous step. The following example shows the default IIS web site:

IIS default site

Clean up resources

When no longer needed, you can use the Remove-AzResourceGroup cmdlet to remove the resource group, VM, and all related resources:

Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name myResourceGroup

Next steps

In this quickstart, you deployed a simple virtual machine, open a network port for web traffic, and installed a basic web server. To learn more about Azure virtual machines, continue to the tutorial for Windows VMs.