How to Create an Azure Virtual Machine with PowerShell.

Creating Azure virtual machines through the portal is straightforward, but automation with PowerShell gives you repeatability, consistency, and the ability to integrate VM creation into your broader infrastructure workflows. In this guide, I’ll walk you through creating a Windows VM using PowerShell, explaining each step so you can adapt the script for your own needs.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

Getting Started

First, fire up a PowerShell console and login to your subscription:

1Connect-AzAccount # Modern replacement for Login-AzureRmAccount

Step-by-Step VM Creation

1. Create a Resource Group

Resource groups serve as logical containers for Azure resources, making management and organization easier.

1$resourceGroup = "test-infra"
2$location = "North Europe"
3
4New-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroup -Location $location

Tip: Choose a location closest to your users for better performance.

2. Create Storage Account

Your VM’s virtual hard disks need somewhere to be stored. Storage account names must be globally unique across all of Azure.

1$storageAccountName = "teststorage1x2" # Must be globally unique
2New-AzStorageAccount -Name $storageAccountName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -SkuName Standard_LRS -Location $location

Note: For production environments, consider Premium storage for better performance.

3. Create Virtual Network

VMs need a network environment to communicate with each other and the outside world.

1$vnetName = "test-net"
2$subnet = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name frontendSubnet -AddressPrefix 10.0.1.0/24
3$vnet = New-AzVirtualNetwork -Name $vnetName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -AddressPrefix 10.0.0.0/16 -Subnet $subnet

Tip: Plan your network address space carefully, especially if you’ll connect to on-premises networks.

4. Setup IP Address and Network Interface

Configure how your VM will connect to networks and the internet.

1$nicName = "testvm-nic"
2$pip = New-AzPublicIpAddress -Name $nicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -AllocationMethod Dynamic
3$nic = New-AzNetworkInterface -Name $nicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -SubnetId $vnet.Subnets[0].Id -PublicIpAddressId $pip.Id

Security note: For production VMs, consider whether you need a public IP at all, and implement Network Security Groups.

5. Start Virtual Machine Configuration

Define the core settings for your VM, including its name and size.

1$vmName = "testvm1"
2$vm = New-AzVMConfig -VMName $vmName -VMSize "Standard_B1s" # Updated to modern size

Tip: Use Get-AzVMSize -Location $location to see available VM sizes in your region.

6. Set Virtual Machine Credentials

Create secure login credentials for your VM.

1$cred = Get-Credential -Message "Enter admin credentials for the VM"  # Interactive prompt (recommended)
2
3# Alternative approach (not recommended for scripts that will be committed to source control):
4# $username = "YOURUSERNAME"
5# $password = ConvertTo-SecureString "YOUR_PASSWORD" -AsPlainText -Force
6# $cred = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $username, $password

Security best practice: Never hardcode passwords in scripts. Use Azure Key Vault or other secure methods for production deployments.

7. Select Operating System for Virtual Machine

Choose which OS image to use from the Azure Marketplace.

1$vm = Set-AzVMOperatingSystem -VM $vm -Windows -ComputerName $vmName -Credential $cred -ProvisionVMAgent -EnableAutoUpdate
2$vm = Set-AzVMSourceImage -VM $vm -PublisherName "MicrosoftWindowsServer" -Offer "WindowsServer" -Skus "2019-Datacenter" -Version "latest"

Note: You can run Get-AzVMImageSku -Location $location -PublisherName "MicrosoftWindowsServer" -Offer "WindowsServer" to see available Windows Server versions.

8. Add Network Interface to Virtual Machine

Connect your VM to the network interface created earlier.

1$vm = Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -VM $vm -Id $nic.Id

9. Create Disk for Virtual Machine

Configure the OS disk for your VM.

1$diskName = "os-disk"
2$storageAcc = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Name $storageAccountName
3$osDiskUri = $storageAcc.PrimaryEndpoints.Blob.ToString() + "vhds/" + $diskName + ".vhd"
4$vm = Set-AzVMOSDisk -VM $vm -Name $diskName -VhdUri $osDiskUri -CreateOption FromImage

Modern alternative: Azure now supports managed disks, which simplify disk management. For managed disks, you can use:

1$vm = Set-AzVMOSDisk -VM $vm -Name "$vmName-osdisk" -StorageAccountType Standard_LRS -CreateOption FromImage

10. Create the Virtual Machine

Finally, create the VM with all configured settings.

1New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -VM $vm

Note: VM creation typically takes 5-10 minutes to complete.

Connecting to Your New VM

After the VM is created, you can connect to it using Remote Desktop:

1Get-AzPublicIpAddress -Name $nicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup | Select-Object IpAddress

Use the displayed IP address to connect via RDP.

Troubleshooting

  • Deployment fails with quota errors: Check your subscription limits and request increases if needed
  • Can’t connect to VM: Verify network security group rules allow RDP (port 3389) traffic
  • Name already exists: Remember that storage account names must be globally unique

Wrap Up

You now have a fully functional Windows Server VM in Azure, created entirely through PowerShell. This approach makes it easy to replicate the deployment or incorporate it into CI/CD pipelines.

Next Steps

  • Create a PowerShell script from these commands for easier reuse
  • Explore adding data disks to your VM
  • Set up monitoring and backup for your VM
  • Learn how to use ARM templates for more complex deployments

You can find the full script example on GitHub here.

Have questions or suggestions for future Azure topics? Feel free to reach out!