How to Deploy a Linux Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure and Connect Using SSH

Introduction

Linux Virtual Machines are widely used in cloud computing for hosting applications, managing servers, running development environments, and practicing cloud administration.

In this guide, we’ll deploy a Linux Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure using the Azure Portal and securely connect to it using SSH authentication with a username and password.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll know how to:

• Deploy a Linux Virtual Machine in Azure
• Configure SSH access
• Connect securely using SSH
• Understand the basics of Azure Linux Virtual Machines

Let’s build your first Linux cloud machine.

What is a Linux Virtual Machine?

A Linux Virtual Machine (VM) is a Linux-based computer running inside the cloud instead of on physical hardware.

With Azure Linux Virtual Machines, you can:

• Host applications and web servers
• Run development and testing environments
• Practice Linux administration
• Access your server remotely from anywhere
• Learn cloud and infrastructure management

Think of it as renting a Linux server from Microsoft’s datacenter whenever you need one.

And today, we’re building one from scratch.

Scenario

A company requires a Linux-based cloud server for administration, testing, and application hosting.

The solution must allow administrators to securely connect remotely using SSH while maintaining proper networking and security configurations.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have:

• A Microsoft Azure account
• An active Azure subscription
• A stable internet connection
• A terminal application
  • Windows Terminal / PowerShell
  • macOS Terminal
  • Linux Terminal

Now come with me, let’s build your first Linux cloud machine.

Create the Linux Virtual Machine.

1. Use the top search box to search for and select Virtual machines.
   

2. Click + Create, and then select in the drop-down virtual machine. Notice your other choices.
   

3. On the Basics tab, continue completing the configuration:

   • Subscription: Select the name of your Azure subscription
   • Resource group: Click Create new, give the resource group a name and click Ok
   • Virtual machine names: Select any name for your virtual machine.
   • Region: Select a preferred region.
   • Availability options: Select No infrastructure redundancy required
   • Security type: Select Standard (review your other choices)
   • Image: Click on see all images, to have an overview and variety of images to choose from and select Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS -x64 Gen2
   • Size: Choose Standard_B4as_v2 (use See all sizes to view the CPU and memory) Authentication type: Select Password.
   • Username: Give it a Username. For example "azureuser"
   • Password: Select a Password you can remember and repeat the password in the confirm password tab below.
   • Public inbound ports: Choose Allow selected ports
   • Select inbound ports: Choose your desired allowed ports, please note that for a linux vm like the one we are creating by default SSH port 22 is selected, you can choose to add HTTP(80) and HTTPS(443)

4. Navigate to the monitoring tab, and under boot diagnostics of the Diagnostics section, select disable. Leave others with their default values
   

5. Click Review + Create.
   

6. After the validation passes, click Create.
   

Increase the Idle Timeout on the Public IP address of your Virtual Machine.

1. select Go to resource.
   

2. From the Overview blade, ensure the virtual machine Status is Running, and the public IP address is visible under the Networking section and also on the Primary NIC public IP section.
   

3. Click on Public IP under the Networking section on the VM overview page
   

4. Set the Idle timeout bar in the configuration section to the maximum (30) and click apply
   

Connect to the Linux VM Using SSH.

1. On the Overview tab of the VM, in the top menu, select Connect and Connect in the drop-down.
   

2. In the Native SSH page, select the Check access button to make sure port 22 is available.
   

3. Make a note of the public IP address and copy the SSH command. You will need this to connect to the virtual machine. Close the Native SSH page.
   

4. Open a CMD/Terminal window and paste the SSH command you copied from the azure portal.
   

5. You'll be prompted with an Are you sure you want to continue connecting? Please type Yes and press enter.
   

6. Please type in the password you created while deploying the VM. Please note that in Linux, when you are entering the password the screen is still going to be blank, just continue typing the right password and hit enter and you'll successfully connect to the vm.
   

7. Change to root user: type this command to change to root user "sudo su."
   

8. Fetch the list of available OS updates and install updates with "sudo apt update". When prompted, type yes to continue. Each command must complete successfully.
   

Install the Nginx web service and test to ensure it is working

1. Install the Nginx service with "sudo apt install nginx". When prompted indicate Y to continue the install.
   

2. Start the Nginx service with "sudo systemctl start nginx".
   

3. Configure Nginx to launch on boot. This is optional but good practice with "sudo systemctl enable nginx".
   

4. Check to ensure the Nginx service is active (running) with "service nginx status"
   

5. Launch the Nginx welcome page. Open the Nginx default page in a browser, http://public_ip_address.Be sure to substitute your virtual machine public IP address.
   

Conclusion

Congratulations on successfully deploying and connecting to your first Linux Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure.

In this lab, we explored the core concepts behind Azure Linux Virtual Machines, including compute provisioning, networking, authentication, and secure remote access using SSH.

Linux Virtual Machines provide a flexible and scalable way to host applications, practice Linux administration, and build cloud infrastructure without relying on physical hardware.

Some key takeaways from this lab include:

• Azure Linux Virtual Machines provide on-demand cloud computing resources
• SSH enables secure remote administration of Linux servers
• Azure networking and NSGs help control inbound SSH access
• Linux VMs are commonly used for hosting, administration, automation, and development workloads
• Cloud infrastructure can be deployed within minutes using the Azure Portal

By completing this exercise, you have taken another important step in building practical cloud engineering and Linux administration skills with Microsoft Azure.

See you in the next article.