Quickstart: Deploy a virtual machine in Azure public MEC using an ARM template
In this quickstart, you learn how to use an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template to deploy an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine (VM) in Azure public multi-access edge compute (MEC).
An Azure Resource Manager template is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file that defines the infrastructure and configuration for your project. The template uses declarative syntax. You describe your intended deployment without writing the sequence of programming commands to create the deployment.
Prerequisites
If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.
Add an allowlisted subscription to your Azure account, which allows you to deploy resources in Azure public MEC. If you don't have an active allowed subscription, contact the Azure public MEC product team.
Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.
If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.
Note
Azure public MEC deployments are supported in Azure CLI versions 2.26 and later.
Review the template
Review the following example ARM template.
Every resource you deploy in Azure public MEC has an extra attribute named
extendedLocation, which Azure adds to the resource provider. The example ARM template deploys these resources:- Virtual network
- Public IP address
- Network interface
- Network security group
- Virtual machine
In this example ARM template:
- The Azure Edge Zone ID is different from the display name of the Azure public MEC.
- The Azure network security group has an inbound rule that allows SSH and HTTPS access from everywhere.
{ "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "adminUsername": { "type": "String", "metadata": { "description": "Username for the Virtual Machine." } }, "adminPassword": { "type": "SecureString", "metadata": { "description": "Password for the Virtual Machine." } }, "dnsLabelPrefix": { "type": "String", "metadata": { "description": "Unique DNS Name for the Public IP used to access the Virtual Machine." } }, "vmSize": { "defaultValue": "Standard_D2s_v3", "type": "String", "metadata": { "description": "Size of the virtual machine." } }, "location": { "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]", "type": "String", "metadata": { "description": "Location for all resources." } }, "EdgeZone": { "type": "String" }, "publisher": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "Canonical", "metadata" : { "description": "Publisher for the VM Image" } }, "offer": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "UbuntuServer", "metadata" : { "description": "Offer for the VM Image" } }, "sku": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "18.04-LTS", "metadata" : { "description": "SKU for the VM Image" } }, "osVersion": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "latest", "metadata" : { "description": "version for the VM Image" } }, "vmName": { "defaultValue": "myEdgeVM", "type": "String", "metadata": { "description": "VM Name." } } }, "variables": { "nicName": "myEdgeVMNic", "addressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/16", "subnetName": "Subnet", "subnetPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24", "publicIPAddressName": "myEdgePublicIP", "virtualNetworkName": "MyEdgeVNET", "subnetRef": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', variables('virtualNetworkName'), variables('subnetName'))]", "networkSecurityGroupName": "default-NSG" }, "resources": [ { "type": "Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses", "apiVersion": "2018-11-01", "name": "[variables('publicIPAddressName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "extendedLocation": { "type": "EdgeZone", "name": "[parameters('EdgeZone')]" }, "sku": { "name": "Standard" }, "properties": { "publicIPAllocationMethod": "Static", "dnsSettings": { "domainNameLabel": "[parameters('dnsLabelPrefix')]" } } }, { "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups", "apiVersion": "2019-08-01", "name": "[variables('networkSecurityGroupName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "properties": { "securityRules": [ { "name": "AllowHttps", "properties": { "description": "HTTPS is allowed", "protocol": "*", "sourcePortRange": "*", "destinationPortRange": "443", "sourceAddressPrefix": "*", "destinationAddressPrefix": "*", "access": "Allow", "priority": 130, "direction": "Inbound", "sourcePortRanges": [], "destinationPortRanges": [], "sourceAddressPrefixes": [], "destinationAddressPrefixes": [] } }, { "name": "AllowSSH", "properties": { "description": "HTTPS is allowed", "protocol": "*", "sourcePortRange": "*", "destinationPortRange": "22", "sourceAddressPrefix": "*", "destinationAddressPrefix": "*", "access": "Allow", "priority": 140, "direction": "Inbound", "sourcePortRanges": [], "destinationPortRanges": [], "sourceAddressPrefixes": [], "destinationAddressPrefixes": [] } } ] } }, { "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks", "apiVersion": "2018-11-01", "name": "[variables('virtualNetworkName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "extendedLocation": { "type": "EdgeZone", "name": "[parameters('EdgeZone')]" }, "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName'))]" ], "properties": { "addressSpace": { "addressPrefixes": [ "[variables('addressPrefix')]" ] }, "subnets": [ { "name": "[variables('subnetName')]", "properties": { "addressPrefix": "[variables('subnetPrefix')]", "networkSecurityGroup": { "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName'))]" } } } ] } }, { "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces", "apiVersion": "2018-11-01", "name": "[variables('nicName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "extendedLocation": { "type": "EdgeZone", "name": "[parameters('EdgeZone')]" }, "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]", "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/', variables('virtualNetworkName'))]" ], "properties": { "ipConfigurations": [ { "name": "ipconfig1", "properties": { "privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic", "publicIPAddress": { "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses',variables('publicIPAddressName'))]" }, "subnet": { "id": "[variables('subnetRef')]" } } } ] } }, { "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines", "apiVersion": "2020-06-01", "name": "[parameters('vmName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "extendedLocation": { "type": "EdgeZone", "name": "[parameters('EdgeZone')]" }, "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/', variables('nicName'))]" ], "properties": { "hardwareProfile": { "vmSize": "[parameters('vmSize')]" }, "osProfile": { "computerName": "[parameters('vmName')]", "adminUsername": "[parameters('adminUsername')]", "adminPassword": "[parameters('adminPassword')]" }, "storageProfile": { "imageReference": { "publisher": "[parameters('publisher')]", "offer": "[parameters('offer')]", "sku": "[parameters('sku')]", "version": "[parameters('osVersion')]" }, "osDisk": { "createOption": "FromImage", "managedDisk": { "storageAccountType": "StandardSSD_LRS" } } }, "networkProfile": { "networkInterfaces": [ { "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces',variables('nicName'))]" } ] } } } ], "outputs": { "hostname": { "type": "String", "value": "[reference(variables('publicIPAddressName')).dnsSettings.fqdn]" }, "sshCommand": { "type": "string", "value": "[format('ssh {0}@{1}', parameters('adminUsername'), reference(resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses', variables('publicIPAddressName'))).dnsSettings.fqdn)]" } } }
Deploy the ARM template using the Azure CLI
Save the contents of the sample ARM template from the previous section in a file named azurepublicmecDeploy.json.
Sign in to Azure with az login and set the Azure subscription with az account set command.
az login az account set --subscription <subscription name>Create an Azure resource group with the az group create command. A resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed. The following example creates a resource group named myResourceGroup:
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location <location>Note
Each Azure public MEC site is associated with an Azure region. Based on the Azure public MEC location where the resource needs to be deployed, select the appropriate region value for the
--locationparameter. For more information, see Key concepts for Azure public MEC.Deploy the ARM template in the resource group with the az deployment group create command.
az deployment group create --resource-group myResourceGroup --template-file azurepublicmecDeploy.jsonPlease provide string value for 'adminUsername' (? for help): <username> Please provide securestring value for 'adminPassword' (? for help): <password> Please provide string value for 'dnsLabelPrefix' (? for help): <uniqueDnsLabel> Please provide string value for 'EdgeZone' (? for help): <edge zone ID>Wait a few minutes for the deployment to run.
After the command execution is complete, you can see the new resources in the myResourceGroup resource group. Here's a sample output:
{ "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Resources/deployments/edgeZonesDeploy", "location": null, "name": "edgeZonesDeploy", "properties": { "correlationId": "<xxxxxxxx>", "debugSetting": null, "dependencies": [ { "dependsOn": [ { "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup /providers/Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups/default-NSG", "resourceGroup": " myResourceGroup ", "resourceName": "default-NSG", "resourceType": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups" } ], "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxx/resourceGroups/ myResourceGroup /providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/MyEdgeTestVnet", "resourceGroup": " myResourceGroup ", "resourceName": " MyEdgeTestVnet ", "resourceType": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks" }, "outputs": { "hostname": { "type": "String", "value": "xxxxx.cloudapp.azure.com" }, "sshCommand": { "type": "String", "value": "ssh <adminUsername>@<publicIPFQDN>" } }, ... }
Access the virtual machine
To use SSH to connect to the virtual machine in the Azure public MEC, the best method is to deploy a jump box in an Azure parent region.
Follow the instructions in Create a virtual machine in a region.
Use SSH to connect to the jump box virtual machine deployed in the region.
ssh <username>@<regionVM_publicIP>From the jump box, use SSH to connect to the virtual machine created in the Azure public MEC.
ssh <username>@<edgezoneVM_publicIP>
Clean up resources
In this quickstart, you deployed an ARM template in Azure public MEC by using the Azure CLI. If you don't expect to need these resources in the future, use the az group delete command to remove the resource group, scale set, and all related resources. Using the --yes parameter deletes the resources without a confirmation prompt.
az group delete \--name myResourceGroup \--yes
Next steps
To deploy a virtual machine in Azure public MEC using Azure CLI, advance to the following article: