🌐 Setting Up Your Azure Environment: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Getting hands‑on experience in cloud computing often starts with a proper setup — especially when using Azure. Before you deploy virtual machines or manage storage, it’s important to create a clean, organized environment that’s easy to manage and clean up.

These steps walk you through preparing your Azure environment: creating a resource group, virtual network, virtual machine, and storage account. This base setup is ideal for learning Azure, experimenting with cloud workloads, or following a guided lab or certification path.

• If you don’t already have an Azure account, sign up for a free account.
• If you do, log in at the Azure Portal.

A resource group lets you keep related resources together, making management and cleanup much easier.

Create a Resource Group

1. In the portal search bar, type “Resource groups” and select it.
2. Click Create.
3. Fill in the details:
   • Resource group name – e.g., guided-project-rg
   • Region – leave the default or choose as needed
4. Click Review + create, then Create.

Create a Virtual Network (VNet)

1. In the portal search bar, type “Virtual networks” and select it.
2. Click Create.
3. Under Instance details:
   • Name – e.g., guided-project-vnet
   • Ensure the correct subscription and the resource group you just created are selected.
   • Use default settings for subnet and region unless you have custom requirements.
4. Click Review + create, then Create.

Create a Virtual Machine (VM)

1. In the portal search bar, type “Virtual machines” and select it.
2. Click Create → Virtual machine.
3. Configure the VM:
   • Resource group – guided-project-rg
   • VM name – e.g., guided-project-vm
   • Image – choose an Ubuntu Server version (e.g., Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS) for a Linux lab, or Windows if preferred.
   • Authentication type – Password (or SSH if preferred)
   • Admin username – e.g., guided-project-admin
   • Password – set a secure password.
4. Leave other fields at their defaults, then click Review + create and Create.

Create a Storage Account

1. In the portal search bar, type “Storage accounts” and select it.
2. Click Create.
3. Ensure the subscription and resource group are set to your project group.
4. Provide a globally unique name for the storage account (you may need to try a few variations).
5. Click Review + create, then Create.

Summary

After completing these steps, your Azure environment includes:

• A dedicated Resource Group for isolation and cleanup.
• A Virtual Network (VNet) for network isolation.
• A Virtual Machine (VM) ready for compute workloads.
• A Storage Account for persistent storage needs.

Starting any cloud project without a clean, organized environment often leads to resource sprawl and management headaches. By setting up a dedicated resource group, virtual network, VM, and storage account from the start, you ensure that your resources are easy to manage, scale, and clean up when needed. This preparation step is fundamental whether you’re practicing, experimenting, or following a learning path.