Quickstart: Back up a virtual machine in Azure with Terraform

2025-04-03

In this quickstart, you create an Azure Windows virtual machine (VM) and associated resources using Terraform. An Azure Windows VM is a scalable computing resource that Azure provides. It's an on-demand, virtualized Windows server in the Azure cloud. You can use it to deploy, test, and run applications, among other things. In addition to the VM, this code also creates a virtual network, subnet, public IP, network security group, network interface, storage account, Azure Backup recovery services vault, and Backup policy.

Terraform enables the definition, preview, and deployment of cloud infrastructure. Using Terraform, you create configuration files using HCL syntax. The HCL syntax allows you to specify the cloud provider - such as Azure - and the elements that make up your cloud infrastructure. After you create your configuration files, you create an execution plan that allows you to preview your infrastructure changes before they're deployed. Once you verify the changes, you apply the execution plan to deploy the infrastructure.

In this article, you learn how to:

Create an Azure resource group with a unique name.
Create a virtual network with a unique name and a specified address space.
Create a subnet within the virtual network with a unique name and a specified address prefix.
Create a public IP address with a unique name.
Create a network security group with two security rules for remote desk protocol and web traffic.
Create a network interface with a unique name, and attach it to the subnet and public IP address.
Associate the network security group with the network interface.
Generate a random ID for a unique storage account name, and insert a storage account for boot diagnostics.
Create a Windows VM with a unique name, and generate a random password for the VM.
Create a Backup recovery services vault with a unique name.
Create a Backup policy for the VM with daily frequency and a retention period of seven days.
Protect the VM with the created Backup policy.

Prerequisites

Create an Azure account with an active subscription. You can create an account for free.
Install and configure Terraform.

Implement the Terraform code

The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform. See more articles and sample code showing how to use Terraform to manage Azure resources.

Create a directory in which to test and run the sample Terraform code, and make it the current directory.

Create a file named main.tf, and insert the following code:

resource "random_pet" "rg_name" {
  prefix = var.resource_group_name_prefix
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
  location = var.resource_group_location
  name     = random_pet.rg_name.id
}

resource "random_string" "name" {
  length  = 12
  lower   = true
  upper   = false
  numeric = false
  special = false
}

# Create virtual network
resource "azurerm_virtual_network" "my_terraform_network" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-vnet"
  address_space       = ["10.0.0.0/16"]
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
}

# Create subnet
resource "azurerm_subnet" "my_terraform_subnet" {
  name                 = "${random_string.name.id}-subnet"
  resource_group_name  = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  virtual_network_name = azurerm_virtual_network.my_terraform_network.name
  address_prefixes     = ["10.0.1.0/24"]
}

# Create public IPs
resource "azurerm_public_ip" "my_terraform_public_ip" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-public-ip"
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  allocation_method   = "Dynamic"
}

# Create Network Security Group and rules
resource "azurerm_network_security_group" "my_terraform_nsg" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-nsg"
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name

  security_rule {
    name                       = "RDP"
    priority                   = 1000
    direction                  = "Inbound"
    access                     = "Allow"
    protocol                   = "*"
    source_port_range          = "*"
    destination_port_range     = "3389"
    source_address_prefix      = "*"
    destination_address_prefix = "*"
  }
  security_rule {
    name                       = "web"
    priority                   = 1001
    direction                  = "Inbound"
    access                     = "Allow"
    protocol                   = "Tcp"
    source_port_range          = "*"
    destination_port_range     = "80"
    source_address_prefix      = "*"
    destination_address_prefix = "*"
  }
}

# Create network interface
resource "azurerm_network_interface" "my_terraform_nic" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-nic"
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name

  ip_configuration {
    name                          = "my_nic_configuration"
    subnet_id                     = azurerm_subnet.my_terraform_subnet.id
    private_ip_address_allocation = "Dynamic"
    public_ip_address_id          = azurerm_public_ip.my_terraform_public_ip.id
  }
}

# Connect the security group to the network interface
resource "azurerm_network_interface_security_group_association" "example" {
  network_interface_id      = azurerm_network_interface.my_terraform_nic.id
  network_security_group_id = azurerm_network_security_group.my_terraform_nsg.id
}

# Create storage account for boot diagnostics
resource "azurerm_storage_account" "my_storage_account" {
  name                     = "diag${random_id.random_id.hex}"
  location                 = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name      = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  account_tier             = "Standard"
  account_replication_type = "LRS"
}

# Create virtual machine
resource "azurerm_windows_virtual_machine" "main" {
  name                              = "${random_string.name.id}-vm"
  admin_username                    = "azureuser"
  admin_password                    = random_password.password.result
  location                          = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name               = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  network_interface_ids             = [azurerm_network_interface.my_terraform_nic.id]
  size                              = "Standard_DS1_v2"
  vm_agent_platform_updates_enabled = true

  os_disk {
    name                 = "myOsDisk"
    caching              = "ReadWrite"
    storage_account_type = "Premium_LRS"
  }

  source_image_reference {
    publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsServer"
    offer     = "WindowsServer"
    sku       = "2022-datacenter-azure-edition"
    version   = "latest"
  }


  boot_diagnostics {
    storage_account_uri = azurerm_storage_account.my_storage_account.primary_blob_endpoint
  }
}

# Generate random text for a unique storage account name
resource "random_id" "random_id" {
  keepers = {
    # Generate a new ID only when a new resource group is defined
    resource_group = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  }

  byte_length = 8
}

resource "random_password" "password" {
  length      = 20
  min_lower   = 1
  min_upper   = 1
  min_numeric = 1
  min_special = 1
  special     = true
}

resource "azurerm_recovery_services_vault" "example" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-vault"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  sku                 = "Standard"
  soft_delete_enabled = var.soft_delete_enabled
}

resource "azurerm_backup_policy_vm" "example" {
  name                = "${random_string.name.id}-policy"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  recovery_vault_name = azurerm_recovery_services_vault.example.name

  backup {
    frequency = "Daily"
    time      = "23:00"
  }

  retention_daily {
    count = 7
  }
}

resource "azurerm_backup_protected_vm" "example" {
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  recovery_vault_name = azurerm_recovery_services_vault.example.name
  source_vm_id        = azurerm_windows_virtual_machine.main.id
  backup_policy_id    = azurerm_backup_policy_vm.example.id
}

Create a file named outputs.tf, and insert the following code:

output "resource_group_name" {
  value = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
}

output "azurerm_recovery_services_vault_name" {
  value = azurerm_recovery_services_vault.example.name
}

output "azurerm_backup_policy_vm_name" {
  value = azurerm_backup_policy_vm.example.name
}

output "azurerm_windows_virtual_machine_name" {
  value = azurerm_windows_virtual_machine.main.name
}

output "public_ip_address" {
  value = azurerm_windows_virtual_machine.main.public_ip_address
}

output "admin_password" {
  sensitive = true
  value     = azurerm_windows_virtual_machine.main.admin_password
}

Create a file named providers.tf, and insert the following code:

terraform {
  required_version = ">=1.0"

  required_providers {
    azurerm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
      version = "~>3.0"
    }
    random = {
      source  = "hashicorp/random"
      version = "~>3.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "azurerm" {
  features {
    recovery_service {
      vm_backup_stop_protection_and_retain_data_on_destroy = true
      purge_protected_items_from_vault_on_destroy          = true
    }
  }
}

Create a file named variables.tf, and insert the following code:

variable "resource_group_location" {
  type        = string
  default     = "eastus"
  description = "Location of the resource group."
}

variable "resource_group_name_prefix" {
  type        = string
  default     = "rg"
  description = "Prefix of the resource group name that's combined with a random ID so name is unique in your Azure subscription."
}

variable "soft_delete_enabled" {
  type        = bool
  default     = false
  nullable    = false
  description = "Is soft delete enable for the recovery services vault?"
}

Important

If you're using the 4.x azurerm provider, you must explicitly specify the Azure subscription ID to authenticate to Azure before running the Terraform commands.

One way to specify the Azure subscription ID without putting it in the providers block is to specify the subscription ID in an environment variable named ARM_SUBSCRIPTION_ID.

For more information, see the Azure provider reference documentation.

Initialize Terraform

Run terraform init to initialize the Terraform deployment. This command downloads the Azure provider required to manage your Azure resources.

terraform init -upgrade

Key points:

The -upgrade parameter upgrades the necessary provider plugins to the newest version that complies with the configuration's version constraints.

Create a Terraform execution plan

Run terraform plan to create an execution plan.

terraform plan -out main.tfplan

Key points:

The terraform plan command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources.
The optional -out parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the -out parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.

Apply a Terraform execution plan

Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan to your cloud infrastructure.

terraform apply main.tfplan

Key points:

The example terraform apply command assumes you previously ran terraform plan -out main.tfplan.
If you specified a different filename for the -out parameter, use that same filename in the call to terraform apply.
If you didn't use the -out parameter, call terraform apply without any parameters.

Verify the results

Get the Azure resource group name.

resource_group_name = $(terraform outout -raw azurerm_resource_group_name)

Get the Backup recovery services vault name.

recovery_services_vault_name = $(terraform output -raw azurerm_recovery_services_vault_name)

Get the Windows VM name.

windows_virtual_machine_name = $(terraform output -raw azurerm_windows_virtual_machine_name)

Run az backup protection backup-now to start a backup job.

az backup protection backup-now --resource-group $resource_group_name \
                                --vault-name $recovery_services_vault_name \
                                --container-name $windows_virtual_machine_name \
                                --item-name $windows_virtual_machine_name \
                                --backup-management-type AzureIaaSVM

Run az backup job list to monitor the backup job. When the Status of the backup job reports Completed, your VM is protected with Backup recovery services and has a full recovery point stored.
```
az backup job list --resource-group $resource_group_name \
                   --vault-name $recovery_services_vault_name \
                   --output table
```

Clean up resources

When you no longer need the resources created via Terraform, do the following steps:

Run terraform plan and specify the destroy flag.
```
terraform plan -destroy -out main.destroy.tfplan
```
Key points:
- The terraform plan command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources.
- The optional -out parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the -out parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.
Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan.
```
terraform apply main.destroy.tfplan
```

Troubleshoot Terraform on Azure

Troubleshoot common problems when using Terraform on Azure.

Next steps

See more articles about Azure Windows VMs.

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Quickstart: Back up a virtual machine in Azure with Terraform

Prerequisites

Implement the Terraform code

Initialize Terraform

Create a Terraform execution plan

Apply a Terraform execution plan

Verify the results

Clean up resources

Troubleshoot Terraform on Azure

Next steps

Feedback

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