How to schedule automatic Azure VM creation with Image Gallery

Question

How to schedule automatic Azure VM creation with Image Gallery

Lewis Lee 40

Anusree Nashetty 4,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2024-09-05T14:27:53.61+00:00

Hi Lewis Lee,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

Here are the detailed steps for your query.

Create an Azure Compute Gallery with a published image.

Set up an Azure Automation account by providing the required details.

Create a System-assigned Managed Identity or User-assigned Managed Identity for the Automation Account. Assign the Virtual Machine Contributor or Contributor role to the managed identity to grant VM creation permissions.

Create an Azure Automation Runbook: In your Azure Automation account, create a runbook.

Define the Runbook Script:

# Authenticate with managed identity (if running in Azure Automation)

Connect-AzAccount -Identity

# Set variables

$resourceGroupName = "myResourceGroup"

$location = "eastus"

$imageGalleryName = "myImageGallery"

$imageDefinitionName = "myImageDefinition"

$imageVersion = "1.0.0" # Specify the version you need

$vmName = "myVM"

$vmSize = "Standard_DS2_v2"

$virtualNetworkName = "myVnet"

$subnetName = "mySubnet"

# Get the image from the Azure Compute Gallery

$image = Get-AzGalleryImageVersion `

-ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName `

-GalleryName $imageGalleryName `

-ImageDefinitionName $imageDefinitionName `

-ImageVersionName $imageVersion

# Define network settings (ensure your VNet and subnet exist)

$subnetConfig = Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name $subnetName -VirtualNetwork (Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name $virtualNetworkName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName)

# Create a new VM configuration

$vmConfig = New-AzVMConfig -VMName $vmName -VMSize $vmSize

$vmConfig = Set-AzVMOperatingSystem -VM $vmConfig -ComputerName $vmName -Credential (Get-Credential)

$vmConfig = Set-AzVMSourceImage -VM $vmConfig -Id $image.Id

$vmConfig = Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -VM $vmConfig -Id (New-AzNetworkInterface -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Name "${vmName}Nic" -Location $location -SubnetId $subnetConfig.Id).Id

# Create the VM

New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Location $location -VM $vmConfig

Replace placeholders with your actual values and make sure your virtual network and subnet exist.

Schedule the Runbook: In your Azure Automation account, create a new schedule or use an existing one and set the schedule. Link the schedule to the Create-AzureVMFromImageGallery runbook.

Configure the Managed Identity: In the Automation Account, go to Identity. Enable System-assigned Managed Identity or configure a User-assigned Managed Identity and Assign the appropriate roles.

Save and Test the Runbook: Save and Test the runbook by running it manually to ensure it successfully creates a new Azure VM from the image in the Azure Compute Gallery.

If you have any further queries, please do let us know.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and "Upvote it."
Anusree Nashetty 4,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2024-09-06T12:25:17.34+00:00

Hi Lewis Lee,

Just checking in to see if you had a chance to see my response to your question. Please tell us if it was helpful and feel free to reach out to us if you have any queries.

If you feel that your queries have been resolved, please accept the answer by clicking the "Upvote" and "Accept Answer" on the post.
Anusree Nashetty 4,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2024-09-10T13:30:19.5066667+00:00

Hi Lewis Lee,

I have reposted your solution as Answer as the Microsoft Q&A community has a policy that "The question author cannot accept their own answer. They can only accept answers by others "

If you have any other questions or are still running into more issues, please let me know. Thank you again for your time and patience throughout this issue.

Please remember to "Accept Answer" if any answer/reply helped, so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Anusree Nashetty 4,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2024-09-06T12:25:17.34+00:00

Hi Lewis Lee,

Just checking in to see if you had a chance to see my response to your question. Please tell us if it was helpful and feel free to reach out to us if you have any queries.

If you feel that your queries have been resolved, please accept the answer by clicking the "Upvote" and "Accept Answer" on the post.
Anusree Nashetty 4,375 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2024-09-10T13:30:19.5066667+00:00

Hi Lewis Lee,

I have reposted your solution as Answer as the Microsoft Q&A community has a policy that "The question author cannot accept their own answer. They can only accept answers by others "

If you have any other questions or are still running into more issues, please let me know. Thank you again for your time and patience throughout this issue.

Please remember to "Accept Answer" if any answer/reply helped, so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

Answer 1

Hi Lewis Lee,

I'm glad that you were able to resolve your issue and thank you for posting your solution so that others experiencing the same thing can easily reference this! Since the Microsoft Q&A community has a policy that "The question author cannot accept their own answer. They can only accept answers by others ", I'll repost your solution in case you'd like to "Accept " the answer.

Issue:

How to schedule automatic Azure VM creation with Image Gallery.

Solution:

It is resolved by using Managed ID with the following code

try
{
    "Logging in to Azure..."
    Connect-AzAccount -Identity
}
catch {
    Write-Error -Message $_.Exception
    throw $_.Exception
}

Details refer to this:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/migrate-run-as-accounts-managed-identity?tabs=sa-managed-identity

If you have any other questions or are still running into more issues, please let me know. Thank you again for your time and patience throughout this issue.

Please remember to "Accept Answer" if any answer/reply helped, so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Lewis Lee 40

Thanks for your reply and I eventually resolved this by using Managed ID with the following code:

try
{
    "Logging in to Azure..."
    Connect-AzAccount -Identity
}
catch {
    Write-Error -Message $_.Exception
    throw $_.Exception
}

Details refer to this:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/automation/migrate-run-as-accounts-managed-identity?tabs=sa-managed-identity

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How to schedule automatic Azure VM creation with Image Gallery

1 additional answer

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