Unleash the Power of Hybrid Cloud with Azure Arc

Introduction

Ready to unlock the full potential of your on-premises environment?

This guide will walk you through the process of seamlessly integrating your Windows server into the Azure ecosystem using Azure Arc. By extending Azure management and services to your on-premises infrastructure, you can gain the benefits of a unified management plane and hybrid cloud capabilities without the limitations of cloud-native environments.

While Azure VMs typically come pre-installed with the Azure Arc agent, this tutorial focuses on an AWS Windows VM to avoid the complexities of agent removal and reinstallation.

We'll cover the following steps:

• Creating a Windows VM on AWS
• Installing the Azure Arc agent on the Windows server
• Managing your Azure Arc-enabled server within the Azure portal

Let's begin!

Pre-requisites

• An active Azure subscription
• An active AWS account

Note: If you already possess a pre-configured Windows VM, you can skip to Part 2: Installing Azure Arc on a Windows VM.

Part 1: Creating a Windows VM on AWS

1. Log in to your AWS account and navigate to the VPC service:

   • In the search bar, type "VPC" and select it.

2. Create a VPC:

   • Click on "Create VPC."
   • Select "VPC and more" and choose a descriptive name for your VPC.
   • Since we'll be connecting to the VM remotely, ensure you have at least one Availability Zone selected.
   • Leave the number of private subnets at 0 for this basic setup.
   • For simplicity, set NAT gateways and VPC endpoints to "None" for now.
   • Click "Create VPC" to complete the process.

3. Launch an EC2 Instance:

   • Go to the EC2 service by searching for it in the search bar.
   • Click on "Launch Instance."

4. Configure Instance Details:

   • Provide a recognizable name for your EC2 instance.
   • Select a Windows Server Application Image that suits your needs.
   • Choose an appropriate instance type, keeping in mind higher tiers incur higher charges.

5. Create a Key Pair:

   • Click on "Create new key pair" and generate a Key Pair.
   • Give your Key Pair a descriptive name and download it securely. Store it somewhere you can easily access it later.

6. Configure Network Settings:

   • Leave "Create Security Group" selected.
   • For demonstration purposes, we will allow RDP traffic from "Anywhere" temporarily. You can restrict this later to specific IP addresses for increased security.

7. Launch the Instance:

   • Review all configurations and click "Launch Instances" to begin the creation process.

8. Connect to the Windows VM:

   • Once launched, locate the EC2 instance you created and check the "Launch" state.
   • Click on "Connect" to initiate the remote desktop connection.

9. Establish Remote Desktop Connection:

   • Choose the RDP client you prefer.
   • Click "Get Password" and select the option to "Upload private key file." Locate the downloaded Key Pair file and click "Decrypt Password."
   • Copy the decrypted password and download the provided remote desktop file.
   • Open the downloaded RDP file and paste the copied password when prompted. Connect to the VM.

Part 2: Installing Azure Arc on a Windows VM

1. Allow the VM to boot up and connect to Microsoft Edge.

2. Sign in to Azure Portal:

   • Open Microsoft Edge and navigate to portal.azure.com.
   • Log in to your Azure account.

3. Install Azure Arc Agent:

   • Search for "Azure Arc" in the search bar and select it.
   • Locate the "Manage resources across environments" section and click on "Add resources"
   • Navigate to the "Machines" category and click "Add/Create" followed by "Add a Machine."
   • In the "Add a Single Server" section, click "Generate Script."
   • Choose a suitable region for your environment.
   • Under "Resource Group," click "Create New" and give your resource group a descriptive name. Leave other settings as default and click "Download and Run Script."
   • Save the downloaded script (usually in your Downloads folder).

4. Run the Onboarding Script:

   • Open the Start Menu and search for "PowerShell." Right-click on PowerShell and select "Run as administrator."
   • Use the following commands to navigate to your Downloads folder and run the script:

    cd downloads
    ./OnboardingScript.ps1
   

   • Confirm any security warnings by typing "Y" and letting the script run.
   • Choose your Azure account and allow the script to complete the installation.

5. Verify Azure Arc Connection:

   • Go back to the Azure portal and search for "Azure Arc."
   • Under "Azure Arc resources" on the left side, click on "Machines."
   • You should now see your Windows VM listed. This confirms successful connection to your Azure environment.

Conclusion:
Congratulations, you have now installed an Azure Arc agent onto your Windows server.

Next Steps:
The next guide will explore managing Azure Arc-enabled Windows servers using Azure Policy for centralized configuration and control.