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Azure VPS setup notes » History » Version 8

Jon Goldberg, 08/07/2020 06:57 PM

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# Azure VPS setup notes
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Azure is more complex than, say, Linode.  To set up a free account, you must:
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* Get a Sponsorship.
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* Create a Subscription linked to the Sponsorship.
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* Create a Resource Group linked to the Subscription.
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* Create a Virtual Machine (and associated resources) linked to the Resource Group.
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[**NOTE**: Most of Microsoft's pages break with an ad blocker enabled.]
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### Get a Sponsorship
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* [Go to the Nonprofit Microsoft Getting Started page](https://nonprofit.microsoft.com/en-us/getting-started).  Fill out the paperwork to be approved as a 501c3.  Approval can take 1 day or 3-4 weeks - I've seen both multiple times.
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* Once approved, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/azure to claim credits.
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### Create a Subscription
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* Check that you have credits in your sponsored account: https://www.microsoftazuresponsorships.com/Balance
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* Visit the [Azure Portal](https://portal.azure.com).  
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* Click the **Subscriptions** icon.
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* Click the **Add** button.
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* Add a subscription of type "Microsoft Azure Sponsorship" from the Azure portal. You will likely need to select **Show other subscription types** to see it.
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 * **Note**: Even sponsored subscriptions require a credit card, make sure you have one available.
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#### Create a resource group
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* Select "Resource Group" from the main Azure portal.  
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* Select **Add** and give it a name.
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* Your subscription should be pre-selected since you only have the one.
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* Click **Review and Create**.
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#### Create a virtual machine
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* Click on your new resource group in the Azure Portal.
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* Click **Add**.
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* Search for the name of the image you want (e.g. Debian).
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* See the screenshots below for configuration of the "Basics" and "Disk" tabs.  The other tabs I keep with the defaults.
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* I've attached a downloaded template for this VM, which as of now I haven't used yet, not sure how it works.
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#### Post-provisioning configuration
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##### Modify Firewall Rules
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* Click on your new virtual machine in the Azure portal.
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* Click **Networking** in the side navigation.
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* You should see your firewall settings.  They should look like the screenshot below, except they'll be missing the two items circled.
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* Add the "allow_ping" and "Port_5665" rules to the *Inbound Port Rules* as shown in the screenshot.
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![Firewall Rules](https://hq.megaphonetech.com/attachments/download/1772/Selection_999(012).png)
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##### Add a swapfile
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[Complete instructions are here](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4010058/how-to-add-a-swap-file-in-linux-azure-virtual-machines) but in short, add this to `/etc/waagent.conf` for an 8GB swapfile:
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```
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    ResourceDisk.Format=y
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    ResourceDisk.EnableSwap=y
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    ResourceDisk.SwapSizeMB=8192
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```
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Then run `service walinuxagent restart`.