Copying an Azure VM into Azure DevTest Lab

My Situation & Objective:
I have an Azure Virtual Machine used for development purposes and I want to move/copy into a my existing Azure DevTest Lab.

Purpose:
To take advantage of the great features and pricing discounts that DevTest Lab has to offer.

High Level Process:

  1. Identify and locate the .VHD file of the VM
  2. Copy .VHD file to DevTest Lab storage blob container, using Azure Storage Explorer
  3. Create a custom image
  4. Create VM from custom image
  5. Login via RDP connection

Step by Step Procedure:

  1. Identify the VMs .vhd file in the storage account blob container
  2. In an existing DevTest lab’s storage account’s blob container, create a folder called uploads
    CopyVM2DevTestLab1
  3. There are three ways to copy/upload the vhd file.
    Upload using the AzCopy command-line utility
    Upload using the Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer
    Upload using the PowerShell console
  4. My preference is to use Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer
    Simply copy the source .VHD file
    CopyVM2DevTestLab2
    Paste into the DevTest lab’s storage account’s blob container uploads folder.
    I chose to rename the .vhd file to something more user friendly.
    CopyVM2DevTestLab3
  5. Go to your existing DevTest Lab
  6. Click Configuration and policies
    CopyVM2DevTestLab4
  7. Select Custom Images
    CopyVM2DevTestLab6
  8. Click Add
    CopyVM2DevTestLab7
  9. Go to All virtual machines
    Click Add
    Choose a base by finding the newly created custom image
    CopyVM2DevTestLab8
  10. Add VM specific configuration to create the VM from the custom image
    CopyVM2DevTestLab9
    In Advanced Settings, choose additional configuration
    CopyVM2DevTestLab10
    Select Public for IP address configuration for convenient and direct access from the internet. Although not the most secured approach of course.
  11. Virtual Machine has been created
    CopyVM2DevTestLab11
  12. Click into the VM and click Connect to download the remote desktop connection .rdp file.
    CopyVM2DevTestLab12
  13. RDP Login
    Use the original username and password when you last logged into the server.

References:

One thought on “Copying an Azure VM into Azure DevTest Lab

  1. Pingback: My Favourite Azure DevTest Lab Features for the Developer Team Lead – Roy Kim on Azure, SharePoint, BI, Office 365

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