Azure, PowerShell, Virtual Networks, VM's, Domains and Lab building, a three part series

chris e. avis - writing about microsoft and technology.... - Build a lab in Windows Azure for learning PowerShell – Part 3 of 3 – Configure the Virtual Machines

I have decided to use Windows Azure as my lab environment because it is the fastest and most accessible way for me to work on this from anywhere in the world. I travel a lot so I want to be able to access the lab while on the road. This is a self-contained lab environment that for right now is just for my PowerShell learning. But it has the potential to be used for other lab scenarios and is completely expandable.

I am using the following book to teach myself more about PowerShell -

“Learn Windows PowerShell 3 In A Month Of Lunches” by Don Jones and Jeffery D. Hicks

I have decided to use Windows Azure as my lab environment because it is the fastest and most accessible way for me to work on this from anywhere in the world. I travel a lot so I want to be able to access the lab while on the road. This is a self-contained lab environment that for right now is just for my PowerShell learning. But it has the potential to be used for other lab scenarios and is completely expandable.

You can create your own Windows Azure Lab by following along. The first step is to get signed up for a Free Windows Azure Trial account here -

To create the lab environment, we have to build out a few different pieces -

• Build a lab in Windows Azure for learning PowerShell 3
• Part 1 of 3 – Speed Build a Virtual Network
• Part 2 of 3 - Create the base Virtual Machines (we will use 3 for our base lab)
• Part 3 of 3 - Configure the Virtual Machines – One (1) Domain Controller and Two (2) Domain Joined Member Servers

Ongoing summary posts of what I learn as I read the book and learn more about PowerShell.

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Hopefully, if you are at the stage of wanting to learn PowerShell, you already know how to create a Windows Domain Controller. Even if you don’t have much experience with Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview, you should be able to stumble through this part easily. But there are a few configurations we need to look at to ensure all of the virtual machines can speak to each other.

Note - If you have not already created three (3) virtual machines, go back to Part 2 to review the steps for creating the additional virtual machines. We will need a total of three (3) for our lab. Once you have the required virtual machines, come back to this post to complete the configuration

*** Important *** – When creating the additional virtual machines, ensure they are all in the same Cloud Service, Virtual Network, and Storage Account. You can look at the configuration of the Virtual Machine we created in Part 2 to find this information

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Want to build a complete lab to play with, and learn, PowerShell? Or a series to help you learn about building such a lab on Azure? Want to see about creating your own little cloud hosted domain? Want to use your MSDN Azure allowance?

You'll want to read this series...