Introduction

All the files inside a storage accounts are encrypted by default, but the case is different for an Azure Virtual Machine. The VHD file we have in an Azure VM is not encrypted by default, thus we would have to do that manually. Here in this video I will show, how you can do that. I hope you will like this video, Please do not forget to share me your feedback and subscribe to our channel.

Why Should We Encrypt Our VHD Disk?

Security is something that we all are concerned about, and by doing the Encryption on the VHD file in our Azure VM disk, we can assure some level of security and safeguard our data. Microsoft Azure uses the BitLocker feature in Windows and DMCrypt feature in Linux to do this encryption. As you might have already known that Azure Key Vault is used to store the key, secret, certificates of our applications, and while doing the encryption we are also saving our keys in the Azure KeyVault.

Prerequisites

You can not encrypt all of your VMs, there are some limitations.

1. Only the standard VMs are supported
2. The Basic A series VMs are not supported
3. The VM should have minimum of 2 GB memory

You can read more about this here.

Your turn. What do you think?

Did I miss anything that you may think which is needed in this article? Could you find this post as useful? Kindly do not forget to share me your feedback.

Kindest Regards
Sibeesh Venu

Introduction

When you have an on premises Virtual Machine and if you need to move the same to a cloud, you should create a Virtual Hard Disk. The virtual hard disks are of two types, one is VHD and the other is VHDX. Unfortunately the Microsoft Azure cloud supports only the generation 1 VMs which are VHD, These VHDs are fixed size and the maximum size allowed is 1023 GB. Here in this article, we are going to see how we can spin up a Virtual Machine in Azure from the VHD file we have. I will explain why I came to this situation in the Background section. I hope you will find this article useful.

Background

I was working with a product called UCS (Univention Corporate Server), you can consider it as a private play store where you can install and use your custom applications, you are also allowed to use the existing ones as well. Now I wanted to create an Azure VM with the UCS in it, but all I had in my hand was a VHDX file, which is not supported in Azure.

Steps

In this article, we will be doing the following tasks.

1. Converting the VHDX file to VHD
2. Upload it to the Azure Blob storage
3. Create a Managed Image from the VHD
4. Create the Virtual Machine from the Managed Image

Spin up the Azure VM from VHDX

As we have discussed, the first step is to convert the VHDX file to VHD.

Convert VHDX to VHD

We are going to use PowerShell for the conversion as it has some modules already to support this conversion.

Convert-VHD –Path c:\CreateVM\ucs.vhdx –DestinationPath c:\CreateVM\ucs.vhd -VHDType Fixed

Please be noted that the Argument -VHDType is very important, otherwise you may be getting an error as follows, when you try to create the Managed image using the command New-AzImage.

New-AzImage : Only blobs formatted as VHDs can be imported.
ErrorCode: InvalidParameter
ErrorMessage: Only blobs formatted as VHDs can be imported.
ErrorTarget: disks
StatusCode: 400
ReasonPhrase: Bad Request
OperationID : 16baa116-be93-4054-8ba9-265eda636f0c
At line:1 char:10
+ $image = New-AzImage -ImageName $imageName -ResourceGroupName $rgName ...
+          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : CloseError: (:) [New-AzImage], ComputeCloudException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Azure.Commands.Compute.Automation.NewAzureRmImage

Once you are done a new VHD image will be created in the destination path you have given. Please be noted that the size of this file may be huge, and when you upload it to the Blob storage, it may take a longer depends on the network speed you have.

Upload the VHD file to Azure Blob Storage

As a prerequisite, you should create a storage account before you start this process. Once you have created the storage account, you are good to go and start the upload. Go to your Storage account, and click on the Blobs under blob services.

Now you can click on the +Container menu item and create a new container which is nothing but the container for your files. Now we can go inside the container and click on the Upload button. In the upcoming pop up you can select the VHD file using the file picker option and upload the file. As I said earlier, this process is totally depends on your network speed.

Sometimes, due to the browser inactivity, the uploading of the heavy files to the blobs using Azure portal can be a headache as it throws error. One of the suggestion I can give you here is to use Azure Storage Explorer tool, which is quite easy to use and effective. Once you download the tool, login with your Azure credentials and got to the storage accounts and click on Blob Containers. In the new window click on Upload and then Upload files.

Please make sure that you are selecting the Blob type as Page Blob and then click upload. The uploading is really faster if you are using the tool instead of the portal.

Create a Managed Image from the VHD file

As we have our VHD file in our Blobs, now it is time to create an Image from the file. We are going to write some PowerShell commands to do the work for us. To set the configuration we are going to use the command New-AzImageConfig. If you are getting the error “The term New-AzImageConfig ‘ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet”, you should install and import the module Az.Compute.

Install-Module Az.Compute
import-module Az.Compute

It is possible to get some additional error when you try to install the Az.Compute module. In that case, you can try the preceding command.

 Install-Module Az.Compute -AllowClobber

Once that is done, we can set some variables in the PowerShell as follows.

$vmName = "ucs"
$rgName = "ucs"
$location = "West Europe"
$imageName = "ucs"
$osVhdUri = "https://ucs.blob.core.windows.net/files/ucs.vhd"

Now we can start the image creation as preceding.

$imageConfig = New-AzImageConfig -Location $location
$imageConfig = Set-AzImageOsDisk -Image $imageConfig -OsType Linux -OsState Generalized -BlobUri $osVhdUri
$image = New-AzImage -ImageName $imageName -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Image $imageConfig

As the UCS is a Linux based system, I had given the -OsType as Linux, you may have to change it as per your needs. If you are trying to run the command New-AzImage with the VHDX blob, you will get an error as below.

New-AzImage : Blob name in URL https://ucs.blob.core.windows.net/files/ucs.vhdx must end with ".vhd" extension.
ErrorCode: InvalidParameter
ErrorMessage: Blob name in URL https://ucs.blob.core.windows.net/files/ucs.vhdx must end with ".vhd" extension.
ErrorTarget: blobUri
StatusCode: 400
ReasonPhrase: Bad Request
OperationID : 668b8e66-85b3-4c7b-a182-4f155e16b66d
At line:1 char:10
+ $image = New-AzImage -ImageName $imageName -ResourceGroupName $rgName ...
+          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : CloseError: (:) [New-AzImage], ComputeCloudException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.Azure.Commands.Compute.Automation.NewAzureRmImage

But we don’t need to worry about it as we already converted our VHDX file to VHD format. Once the New-AzImage command is successful, you can see the image in the Azure portal if you go to the Images section. You can search for the keyword “Images” in the portal.

Create a VM from the Managed Image

As we have the image now, we can create our VM easily from the Azure portal. Go to the Images and select your image and then click on the button +Create VM. In the next page, you can give the details of your VM. You can also create the VM by using the PowerShell command as preceding.

New-AzVm `
    -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
    -Name "myVMfromImage" `
    -ImageName "myImage" `
    -Location "East US" `
    -VirtualNetworkName "myImageVnet" `
    -SubnetName "myImageSubnet" `
    -SecurityGroupName "myImageNSG" `
    -PublicIpAddressName "myImagePIP" `
    -OpenPorts 3389

Once you had filled all the details, you can either click on the Review+Create or you can go through each step. The creation of VM can take a few minutes. Once the task is done, you can go to your Virtual Machine and spin up the same. I would also recommend you to assign a static IP and DNS name to your VM.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned,

• What are VHDX and VHD files
• How to convert the VHDX file to VHD
• How to upload VHD files to Azure Blob storage
• How to create Managed Image from the VHD file in Azure
• How to create Virtual Machine using the Managed Image

Your turn. What do you think?

Thanks a lot for reading. Did I miss anything that you may think which is needed in this article? Could you find this post as useful? Kindly do not forget to share me your feedback.

Kindest Regards
Sibeesh Venu

If you are new to azure, I recommend you to read here: Azure

Background

I hope you read my articles related to Virtual Machines in azure. If not, please read those. I was being limited to use only 20 MB size since one of the MSDN subscription was providing me ClearDB. So I thought of creating a virtual machine and install MySQL. Then I restored my previous Database to my new Database. Here in this article, I will share you the steps to link the database you created to azure virtual machine and wordpress.

Steps to Back Up your ClearDB and restore

Login to your azure portal https://manage.windowsazure.com

Login to your Azure Virtual Machine

Hope you have already installed MySQL in your Virtual Machine. If so, we are ready to go.

First thing we need to do is to add the end points in our Azure virtual machine. To do so you need to follow the below steps.

Add end points in Azure virtual machine

Go to your virtual machine in azure management portal.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

Now click on the end points as shown in the preceding image.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

Click on the add option in the footer area.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

Now you will be getting a pop up, in that please click on the Add standalone end points.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

In the given area, please select MySQL as name and TCP as protocol. Port should be the one we did it while configuring the MySQL. For example 3306. I suggest you to do not edit in that area.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

Click on the tick icon once you have made entry for the required fields. Then you can see the progression and once it is completed, you will get a message as follows.

Adding end points in Azure Virtual Machine

So we have successfully created the end points for our virtual machine MySQL. The next step is, to change some settings in the firewall in our virtual machine. Please do this with some care. It is very much important.

Setting the firewall configuration in Azure virtual machine

Go to the start menu and type power shell. You will be given some search results.

Setting the firewall configuration in Azure virtual machine

Now you can see a command window with the name of logged in user as shown in the preceding image.

Setting the firewall configuration in Azure virtual machine

The next step is a bit complex one. You need to enter a complex command which is shown here.

Setting the firewall configuration in Azure virtual machine

For your convenience I am giving the command as below.

[sql]
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "MySQL56" -Direction Indound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3306 -Action Allow -Profile Public
[/sql]

You can type the command as shown below.

Setting firewall in azure virtual machine

And if you do the above step correctly, I am sure you will be given a result as follows.

Setting firewall in azure virtual machine

Wow, we have done the settings needed now.

Now we need to change some settings in our wordpress configuration. As you all know the wordpress configuration is in the file called wp-config.php. So we are going to change the configuration in that file.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

Again go to your manage azure page, click the web application you need to change the settings.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

Now go to the dashboard and click on edit in visual studio on-line.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

You can see your wordpress files now. Click on the wp-config.php.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

It is always better to take a back up or copy of the wp-config.php, so that you can revert back to your clearDB configuration whenever you want. I strongly recommend you to do this step.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

You can rename the pasted file, just right click on the file and click rename.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

As you can see in the below image, I have given the name as ClearDB-Wp-Config.php.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

Open your wp-config.php and change the MySQL host name.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

Now add the port number in the host name because it listen that port.

Changing the configuration to new settings in wordpress

Please do not forget to change the database name, user name , password too.

Now I am sure your blog with new MySQL database will be running . Keep blogging. Cheers!.

Conclusion

Did I miss anything that you may think which is needed?.Have you ever tried virtual machine in azure?. If not, I strongly recommend that. So we have successfully configured our new MySQL database to the Azure virtual machine and wordpress. We have also done the firewall changes needed in virtual machine. I hope you liked this article. Please share me your valuable suggestions and feedback.

Your turn. What do you think?

A blog isn’t a blog without comments, but do try to stay on topic. If you have a question unrelated to this post, you’re better off posting it on C# Corner, Code Project, Stack Overflow, Asp.Net Forum instead of commenting here. Tweet or email me a link to your question there and I’ll definitely try to help if I am able to.

Kindest Regards
Sibeesh Venu

Introduction

This article explains how you can back up and restore your clear db MySQL database in a virtual machine in Azure. If you are new to azure virtual machine, I strongly recommend you to read here: Create Virtual Machine In Azure. You can also find how to install MySQL in Azure Virtual Machine here Install MySQL in Azure . I hope you will like this.

If you are new to azure, I recommend you to read here: Azure

Background

I hope you read my articles related to Virtual Machines in azure. If not, please read those. I was being limited to use only 20 MB size since one of the MSDN subscription was providing me ClearDB. So I thought of creating a virtual machine and install MySQL. Then I restored my previous Database to my new Database. Here in this article, I will share you the steps to back up and restore your database.

Steps to Back Up your ClearDB and restore

Login to your azure portal https://manage.windowsazure.com

Login to your Azure Virtual Machine

Hope you have already installed MySQL in your Virtual Machine. If so, we are ready to go.

Go to start menu, and type MySQL, you will be shown some results. Click on the MySQL command line section.’

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

Provide your MySQL password.

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

You will be getting a welcome message as shown below.

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

Create a database by executing a query as follows.

[sql]
CREATE DATABASE DATABASENAME;
[/sql]

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

Go to start again, type cmd, right click and run as administrator on the result as follows.

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

Go to MySQL bin folder by executing the commands as shown in the below image.

Back Up your ClearDB and restore in Azure Virtual Machine MySQL

Before going through the back up process, we need to make sure that our website related files can be opened with on-line visual studio.

For that you need to follow the below steps.

Go to your windows azure portal, click on the web application you need to edit. Once you done that, you can see the dashboard for that web application. Click on the configure.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

Scroll down and switch on edit in visual studio on-line option.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

Now if you go to the options given in your dashboards right area, you can see edit in visual studio on-line option.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

Just click on that option, and you will be opened visual studio on-line with your application files.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

Now go back to your command prompt in your virtual machine and type a command as follows.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

In the above command, what we do is, creating back up from our old database to a new file . Make sure that you have given the correct details.

1. User Name
2. Host Name
3. Database Name

These information you can get from the wp-config.php file from your web application folder. Remember we have enabled open with visual studio on-line option? Please go back to that and copy the needed information from wp-config.php file.

So once you execute that command you can get a script file in your c folder, In my case I gave the path as C and the file name as myolddb. So I got the script file as follows.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

The next thing we need to do is, restoring the back up to our new database right? Hope you already got back up file.

Go to the command prompt again. Type the command as follows.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

Please be noted that you need to give your new username you have created for your new MySQL database and the new database name here.

In my case vmmysqluser was the username and sibeeshpassion is the database name.

Now it is time to check the database is restored or not. We have some set of queries for that.

First of all change the database to your new database.

[sql]
use yournewdatabasename;
[/sql]

When you run the above query, you will get a message saying database changed.

Now we will see the tables inside this new database.

[sql]
show tables;
[/sql]

It will result the list of tables inside this new database.

Back Up And Restore Your Old MySQL Database to New Database

So we have successfully done back up and restoring our MySQL database in azure virtual machine.

Conclusion

Did I miss anything that you may think which is needed?.Have you ever tried virtual machine in azure?. If not, I strongly recommend that. Is this post helped you do back and restore your old database to new one? I hope you liked this article. Please share me your valuable suggestions and feedback.

Your turn. What do you think?

A blog isn’t a blog without comments, but do try to stay on topic. If you have a question unrelated to this post, you’re better off posting it on C# Corner, Code Project, Stack Overflow, Asp.Net Forum instead of commenting here. Tweet or email me a link to your question there and I’ll definitely try to help if I am able to.

Kindest Regards
Sibeesh Venu