Create a Windows 10 Virtual Machine in Azure
Create a Windows VM in Azure and RDP from Linux.
Estimate Azure VM pricing
Open the Azure pricing calculator here
Select Virtual Machine
and scroll down to see the calculator.
If you are using the VM only for Power BI then a 4GB of RAM might be good enough. However, if you use it for Power BI and one more program like Visual Studio, the applications will crash with only 4GB, then use 8GB RAM.
On the calculator, leave the defaults:
Region
: Central USOS
: WindowsType
: OS OnlyTier
: BasicInstance
: A2: 2 Cores, 3.5GB RAM, 60GB Temporary Storage, $0.085/hourVirtual machine
: 1Number of hours
:- Let’s say that you work on PowerBI 4 hours per day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks. Total hours
80
- Monthly cost so far is
$9.20/month
- Let’s say that you work on PowerBI 4 hours per day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks. Total hours
Compute (A2)
: Pay as you goOS (Windows)
: License included
Changing the instance to A3 with 7GB gives $17.44/month
However, when creating a VM below, there aren’t A
instances. The lowest letter is B
.
Create a Virtual Machine in Azure with 8GB RAM
Go to your Azure dashboard. (Or open a free Azure account)
In the search, type virtual machine
and select the service.
On the drop down, click Create
and then Azure virtual machine
Project details
- Choose a resource group or create one.
Instance details
- Enter a name
- Select the
region
closest to you. Availability options
: Leave defaultNo infrastructure redundancy required
Security type
: Leave defaultTrusted launch virtual machines
Image
: SelectWindows 10 Pro, version 21H2 - x64 Gen2 (free services available)
VM architecture
: By default it should bex64
Size
- The default is too expensive
Standard_D2s_v3 - 2vcpus, 8GiB memory ($96.36/month)
- Click
See all sizes
- Review the prices for
B-Series
(they are the cheapest)B2s
($30.37/mo) has 2 vcpus, 4GB RAM, 8GB temp storageB2ms
($60.74/mo) has 2 vcpus, 8GB RAM, 16GB temp storage
- Review the prices for
- Select
B2s
- The default is too expensive
4GB is too low
A few weeks after I installed PowerBI on a VM with the B2s
and installing Visual Studio. These two applications crash if you try to open them at the same time.
Either, only open one application at a time to save money. Or upgrade the instance to B2ms
.
Size not available for a Region
I am in Central US
so I usually pick that as a Region, however, sometimes the size I want is not available.
Follow these steps to check:
- Select Region
Central US
- Image
Windows 11 Pro, version 21H2, x64 Gen2
- Size, see all sizes, search for
B2ms
, results inSize not available
- Back to the VM settings
- Select Region
East US
(changing the location will create a new resource group if the rg is in another region) - Same image
Windows 11 Pro
- Size, see all sizes, search for
B2ms
, it shows as available.
Admin account
- Create a
username
- Create a
password
Inbound port rules
Public inbound ports
: Allow selected ports- Select
RDP
- (This will allow all IP addresses to access your VM. This is only recommended for testing. Use the Advanced controls in the Networking tab to create rules to limit inbound traffic to known IP addresses)
- Select
Licensing
Check I confirm I have an eligible Windows 10/11 license with multi-tenant hosting rights
Click on Next: Disks
Disks/OS Disk
OS disk type
: Change toStandard SSD
Click on Next: Networking
Networking
Leave defaults or assign the Vnet, subnet, and other settings.
Click on Review + create
Review + create
Review all details then click Create
.
When ready click go to resource
Configure Networking after Deployment
Once the VM is created go to:
- Networking
- Select the inbound port rule for
RDP
- Select a
Source
to choose which IPs to connect from
The VM starts when created
Azure charges you when the VM is running. If you don’t want to get charged:
- Go to the VM/Overview
- Click on
Stop
RDP on Linux
Follow my tutorial RDP from Linux to an Azure VM
Connect to the VM
Go to the VM, then Connect
drop down, select RDP
.
If you are on Windows or OSX. Click on Download RDP File
to connect to the VM.
If you are on Linux, the IP number of the VM is on this screen, then follow above steps.
If it asks to accept the certificate, select Yes
.
The Windows VM should start loading as if you just bought a new Windows laptop.
Choose privacy settings for your device. Set everything to No
and Accept
. Networks popup select No
Use choco to install programs with Powershell
See Use Chocolatey in Windows Powershell to Install Programs
Optionally install:
- SSMS
- Notepad++
- Azure Data Studio
- DAX Studio
Shut down the VM
When done working with the VM.
- Shut down the machine in Windows
- Go to the bottom bar, shut down.
- The RDP connection should close.
- Go to Azure
- Find the VM and click
Stop
. - The status MUST appear as
Stopped (deallocated)
(it takes a few seconds)
- Find the VM and click
As seen in this article, it is recommended to auto shutdown the VM in case you forget to do it.
- Go to Azure
- Find the VM
- Left menu Operations
- Enter a time to shutdown, then Save.