Microsoft Azure – Improvements in Linux Virtual Machine

In this article we will learn how to easily create a Linux virtual machine using SSH keys and to connect to it. Azure makes it super easy for you to create a VM and connect to it.

The new virtual machine creates an experience on Azure, the only input that you need here is the virtual machine name. Everything else Azure automatically defaults for you, so you can quickly and seamlessly create a virtual machine on Azure with just one click. 

Azure also automatically generates the SSH key pair for you, so you no longer have to use third-party tools or the SSH keygen command to go in and paste your key. Azure automatically now does that for you. You can also use an existing key stored in Azure because Azure saves this key, so you can reuse it for future VMs.

Looking right to the review and creation. And then you can go ahead and create your virtual machine. What happens is that Azure tells you to download private key pair first, so you can use that to connect to your VM later. And remember, the public key gets stored in Azure, so you can reuse it for other virtual machines if you like.

Let’s go to the VM overview for a VM that’s already been deployed. One of the first things you can see here is you have done a lot of work to improve the VM overview experience and one of the things you can immediately see is the new tabs that Azure has. The tabs are an effective way to organize different information, so you can different things about your virtual machine.

Now, You go to connect. You click SSH. And the one thing that you need to provide to Azure is your private key path. So, just tell Azure where it’s stored on your local machine.

Copy the command to your clipboard. And you go to my command prompt and all you have to do is simply just paste in the command, hit enter. It’s that easy to connect to your virtual machine on Azure. 

Now, suppose that connection was not successful. Azure also has in-context troubleshooting options where you can test your SSH connection or use the Azure troubleshooter experience to figure out what else is going on, so you can effectively diagnose your connection and get ready to connect to your VM.

As you see, Azure has made it super easy to create a Linux VM SSH key on Azure. All you have to do is provide the virtual machine name and to connect to it, all you have to do is copy and paste one command.