Azure — Getting Started Guide

Create Your Azure Account

1.Go to azure.microsoft.com/free

2.Click "Start free" — you get:

- $200 credit for 30 days

- 12 months of popular free services

- Always-free tier (25+ products, no expiry)

(needs verification — Azure's free-account offer terms and exact figures change periodically; confirm against azure.microsoft.com/free before relying on these)

3.Sign in with Microsoft account (or create one)

4.Enter payment method (won't be charged during free period)

Install Azure CLI

macOS

bash

brew install azure-cli
az --version   # azure-cli 2.x.x

Ubuntu / Debian

bash

curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash
az --version

Windows

powershell

winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI
az --version

Login to Azure

bash

az login
# Opens browser for Microsoft login
# After login, terminal shows your subscriptions

# Verify
az account show
# Shows your subscription name and ID

# If you have multiple subscriptions
az account list --output table
az account set --subscription "My Subscription Name"

Create Your First VM

bash

# Create a resource group (like a folder for related resources)
az group create --name my-rg --location southindia

# Create a VM (Standard_B1s = 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM — historically free-tier eligible;
# confirm current free-tier VM size against azure.microsoft.com/free before relying on it)
az vm create \
  --resource-group my-rg \
  --name my-first-vm \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --size Standard_B1s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

# Output includes publicIpAddress
# SSH to it
ssh azureuser@PUBLIC-IP

# IMPORTANT: Delete resource group when done (deletes everything in it)
az group delete --name my-rg --yes --no-wait

Essential Azure CLI Commands

bash

# Resource groups
az group list --output table
az group create --name myRG --location eastus
az group delete --name myRG --yes

# Virtual Machines
az vm list --output table
az vm start --name myVM --resource-group myRG
az vm stop --name myVM --resource-group myRG
az vm deallocate --name myVM --resource-group myRG  # Stops billing

# AKS (Kubernetes)
az aks list --output table
az aks get-credentials --name myCluster --resource-group myRG

# Common locations for India
# southindia     = Chennai
# centralindia   = Pune
# westindia      = Mumbai
az account list-locations --output table | grep india

Check Costs and Set Budget Alert

bash

# Check current spending
az consumption budget list

# Create budget alert (via portal is easier):
# Cost Management + Billing → Budgets → Add
# Amount: $50, Alert at 80% → your email

Install VS Code Azure Extensions (Optional but Helpful)

•Azure Account

•Azure Resources

•Azure Virtual Machines

•Azure Kubernetes Service

Next Steps

Azure CLI is configured. Go to the Azure Fundamentals section to learn about resource groups, VNets, and managed services.

Virtual Machines — Installation