To create an Azure Storage Account login to your Azure Subscription and select Storage

Click on new in the lower left corner of the screen.

Select Storage and Quick Create

You will need to select a name for the storage account, a location for the storage account and a redundancy option.

Once that is done click Create Storage Account and you are done.

There are a wide variety of Storage Explorers that will allow you to add, remove and view the contents of your storage account.

A list of Storage Account Explorers can be found here.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazurestorage/archive/2014/03/11/windows-azure-storage-explorers-2014.aspx

In order to access your new Blob store account with a Storage Explorer you will need the name of the account and a key.

You can get the key by selecting the blob store in Azure and click on Manage Access Keys

Once you click on Manage Access Keys you will be presented with your keys and click the copy icon to copy and paste the key into your Storage Explorer

Copy the Primary Key to use with your Storage Explorer or other application.  In the event your Primary key is compromised you can substitute it with your secondary key and regenerate your primary key.

The tool is called the Microsoft SQL Server Backup to Microsoft Azure Tool.

You install the tool on a Server where you store database backups and you point the tool to an Azure Blob Storage Account and a folder on your server.  Anytime a SQL backup is placed in the folder the tool will encrypt and compress the backup and store it in Azure.  It it's place it leaves a stub file that you can use to restore the backup just like a regular SQL Backup.

Many of you have probably heard that starting in SQL Server 2012 you can backup a database to an Azure Blob store straight from SQL Server Management Studio.  With this tool you can store backups from any version of SQL from 2005 and up in Azure.

Let's get started.

The tool is a free download and can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40740

It will run on Windows 7 SP1, Window 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and Windows Server 2012 R2.

Download the tool from the above link.  You can choose a 64 or 32 bit version of the tool.

Run the setup program and install the tool.

Run the Tool and you will see the following screen.

The tool can map multiple folders to multiple Blob Storage Accounts.  In this example I will just map a single folder to a single storage account.

If you don't have an Azure blob storage account you should create one now.  This article describes how to create a storage account in Azure: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/markm/archive/2015/06/30/creating-an-azure-blob-storage-account.aspx

Click on Add and I will walk you through mapping a folder to an Azure storage account.

First select a folder you would like to MAP to an Azure Storage Account and a file name pattern you would like to use.  Note: 1 option is to have all folders scanned for the file name pattern and backup anything in any folder that matches the file name pattern.

Once you have done this, you will need to provide the storage account name, key and a container.

Think of a container as a folder.

Once you have entered your information click on the Verify account button and once verified click next.

The next screen Allows you to choose if you want Encryption and/or Compression.

Click Finish and you have mapped your first directory to an Azure Blob Storage account.  Remember only files matching the file pattern given will be backed up to Azure.  We used *.bak so only files that match that pattern will be backed up to Azure.

Now to test it.

 Open an Azure Storage Explorer to view the contents of your storage account.  If you don't have a storage explorer instructions for downloading one are located here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/markm/archive/2015/06/30/creating-an-azure-blob-storage-account.aspx

Notice this is a brand new storage account with nothing in it.

Now let's go to SQL Server Management Studio and backup a database into the folder we mapped to the above Azure Blob Storage Account.

I set the backup to go to the new folder I created and mapped to an Azure Blob storage account.

When the backup completes we can check the Storage Explorer to ensure the backup did in fact get placed in Azure.

If I look in the folder on the computer I can see a stub file that I can use to restore the SQL Backup from Azure.  Notice it's only 22KB.

The actual back is much larger at 640K.

And that's all there is to it.  A quick inexpensive way to safely store backups off site while maintaining the ability to instantly restore them.

To get started you will need to establish a security context for your task to run.  There are two ways of doing this, entering a users name / password combination (PowerShell) or by using a certificate.

For this example I will use the user name / password combination.

Entering Credentials

Log in to your Azure portal and select Automation Services on the left hand side of the page:

If you do not have an automation account set up, you will need to create one now.

Click on Create an Automation Account

Select a name and a region where you want the account to run.

Click the check to create your account.

You will be taken to the Automation Screen and your account will be listed, double click on your account.

You will see the dash board with a list of things to do under getting started.

Before we do any of those things you will need to establish a credential for the Run Books to use to gain access to your Azure Account.

Click on Assets

At the bottom of the screen click on Add Setting

Click on Add Credential

In Credential Type Select Windows PowerShell Credential and give it a name

On the next screen enter you Azure Credentials (user/pass) and click the check.

You now have credentials to use to Authenticate RunBooks

Creating a Run Book

Now Click on RunBooks

Click on New in the bottom left corner of the screen.

You can choose from a Gallery of existing runbooks or you can create your own.

In this case I will have you do a simple Hello World example just to get you started.

Click on RunBooks

Click New and select RunBook and Quick Create.  Provide your runbook a name and select a subscription (make a note of your subscription name, you will need it later) and a region for the run book to run.

Once created double click on your run book and select Author

You will see three lines of code defining your workflow.  Between the two brackets, type the following.

    
    $Cred = Get-AutomationPSCredential -Name "yourcredential"  
    $SubscriptionName = "Your Subscription Name"
   
    Add-AzureAccount -Credential $Cred
   
    Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName $SubscriptionName

    InlineScript {
   
        Write-Output "Hello World"

    }

Replace yourcredential with the name of the credential you created in the previous step.

Replace Your Subscription Name with the name of your subscription.

Now you can test your run book by clicking the test button

After a successful run you will see something similar to this.

Now you have the ability to run any Powershell you want in Azure Automation Services, there are a large number of runbooks in the Gallery that you can run as is or modify to do what you want, or you can write your own.

Enjoy

I have come up with a work around for this problem, by modifying one of the Sample hosts to contain host information you choose.

I have reported this problem to the MAP product group and hopefully it will be resolved in the next release of MAP.

Note the MAP tool periodically changes database schema's from release to release.  I have tested this with only MAP version 9.2.

I found where MAP stores the sample hosts that come built in and determined that the host configuration is stored as XML in a blob in a table in the MAP_ConfigInfo Database.  I was able to replace the XML for the sample called ‘Sample Host’ with XML that accurately reflects my customers hosts.

This is my updated XML.  You can modify this XML with your host configuration.  The MAP UI will still provide the CPU values when you select the CPU Manufacturer and Model, it hangs at that point when you click next.  Now just transfer the CPU values from the MAP UI to the  CPU values
in the XML. 

Update memory, Storage Capacity, IOPs, and Network Throughput in the XML, save the XML to a file and write the blob back to the database.  TSQL to update the Blob for ‘Sample Host’ is after the XML.

<InfrastructureConfigurations xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" Name="Sample host" TemplateName="Microsoft Default
Template" Vendor="Microsoft" ReadOnly="false" Category="General">

  <Infrastructure Name="Sample
host">

    <VirtualizationTechnology>None</VirtualizationTechnology>

    <NumberOfHosts>1</NumberOfHosts>

    <TotalStorageInTB>999999</TotalStorageInTB>

    <TotalIOPS>999999</TotalIOPS>

    <TotalNetworkInGbps>999999</TotalNetworkInGbps>

    <ComputerConfiguration>

      <CPUModel Name="Xeon X5550">

       
<Manufacturer>Intel</Manufacturer>

       
<BusSpeedInMhz>1066</BusSpeedInMhz>

       
<ProcessorSpeedInMHz>3600</ProcessorSpeedInMHz>

       
<CPUAddressWidth>64</CPUAddressWidth>

       
<ThreadsPerCoreCount>2</ThreadsPerCoreCount>

       
<L2CacheSizeInKB>1280</L2CacheSizeInKB>

       
<L3CacheSizeInKB>8192</L3CacheSizeInKB>

       
<PhysicalProcessorCount>5</PhysicalProcessorCount>

       
<CoresPerProcessorCount>4</CoresPerProcessorCount>

      </CPUModel>

      <MemoryConfig>

       
<MemoryInMB>262144</MemoryInMB>

      </MemoryConfig>

      <StorageConfig>

       
<StorageCapacityInGB>1000</StorageCapacityInGB>

       
<IOPS>4000</IOPS>

      </StorageConfig>

      <NetworkConfig>

       
<NetworkThroughputInMbps>10240</NetworkThroughputInMbps>

      </NetworkConfig>

    </ComputerConfiguration>

  </Infrastructure>

</InfrastructureConfigurations>

To get the XML back into the blob column execute  the
following TSQL replacing the path to the XML file with your file path and file
name

Update dbo.infrastructures

SET definition = (SELECT BulkColumn From OpenRowset ( Bulk 'C:\users\yourusername\documents\customer.xml' , Single_Blob) a )

where (dbo.infrastructures.infrastructure_name =
'Sample host')

Step 1. Choose the Machines to collect performance data and begin the data collection

In the MAP tool select a database and go to the Server Virtualization section on the left side of the app.

Under the Server Virtualization section there is a steps to complete section if you have performed an inventory the collect inventory step will have a green check mark next to it.  If you have not performed an inventory this blog posts details how to do that.  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/markm/archive/2015/02/17/inventorying-sql-servers-with-the-microsoft-assessment-and-planning-toolkit-map.aspx

Select the Collect Performance Data step

in this screen you are asked if the target machines are Windows and or Linux and you are asked to enter an end date and time.

When collecting data it is important to catch peaks in resource usage so collect performance data for a long enough amount of time to catch the spikes in resource consumption.

The next screen is where you will tell the MAP tool which machines to collect performance data.  If you have performed an inventory then you can select machines from the machines the MAP tool found in the inventory, or you can create a list of machines as a text file and let MAP read the text file to get the machine names.

You will then be asked for credentials to use to collect performance data from these machines.

Once you have completed this wizard, performance data collection will begin.  It is important not to exit the MAP tool for the duration of the performance collection which also means you can't log out for the duration of the performance data collection.  In the event the MAP tool is stopped or the machine is rebooted, you can repeat the above steps and the MAP tool will give you the option to append to the performance data already collected or start over.  Just append to the data collected and let it continue to run.

Step 2. Create hardware configuration

The next step is to define you hardware architecture and set up some parameters to use for guest placement.

Select the step Create Hardware Configuration, you will see the following screen

 Choose if you want to define your own hardware specifications. 

If you have a specific host in mind, or would like to run multiple what if scenarios choose the General Server Consolidation/Desktop Virtualization option.

If you are going to use one of the pre-determined Microsoft Fast Track architectures then choose the Fast Track option.

Next you will see a screen that will allow you to choose a hardware configuration.  The MAP tool includes some samples configurations or you can create your own.

This is where you will define your hardware architecture.  Once you have created a hardware architecture it will show up in the list exiting hardware architectures.

The next screen allows you to create an infrastructure.  If you have a predefined infrastructure this is where you can enter details about that infrastructure.  For the purposes of this blog we will skip this part and define our hardware architecture.

The next screen is where you will select a CPU architecture.  Select the Manufacturer and Model of the CPU you will use in your target host and the tool will fill in details about that CPU.

You will need to select the number of processors and you have the ability to adjust any of the values if they do not match what you will use as a host.

Next you will enter information about the storage available to the host and you will enter how much memory and max network speed for the host.

Step 3. Run the Server Consolidation Wizard

Now you will run the consolidation wizard and generate reports.

Choose the step Run the Server Consolidation Wizard

The wizard will ask you about the virtualization technology you will use.  All of the options are for Hyper-V and vary by version and service pack.  If you are using another vendors hypervisor you can still continue with this wizard.  Just chose one of the Hyper-V 2012 options and check with your hypervisor manufacturer for comparison to Hyper-V.

The next screen will ask you which Host configuration you want to use.  Select the one you just created.

Note:  It's easy to create several host configurations and re-run this wizard for each one to do some What-If analysis.

The next screen is asking you to specific utilization settings.  By default all values are set to 100%.  This will completely max out a host before placing machines on another host.  In most cases 80% utilization will give you maximum guest placement with some room left for spikes in performance.

The next screen is similar to the screen in the performance collection wizard asking which guest you want to place on your host configuration.  You can let MAP present you will a list of machines it has collected performance data or you can provide a list.

Once the Wizard runs the Server Virtualization screen in the MAP tool updates and shows you the number of hosts and guests.

Click on the Server Consolidation under the Scenarios section.

This page describes summary information about the hosts and in the upper right hand corner under Options there is a report you can generate that will list individual Host / Guest placement.

The MAP tool uses WMI to collect the information about SQL and there are times especially on older Operating Systems when WMI does not return the SQL Server Edition.

You could manually connect via SQL Server Management Studio to each of the machines the MAP tool reported as having an Unknown edition and do a select @@Version or select serverproperty('edition').  Depending on the number of machines you have with Unknown edition this could be a very tedious and time consuming task.

You could write something to programmatically connect to each of those machines and query for Edition information which is the route I have gone.

The following PowerShell script will parse an input file containing the machine name and instance name if the machine has a named instance and query that machine for Product Name, SP level and Edition:

The script will also take an output file and return results in the file.  If no output file is specified the results are displayed on your screen.

To prepare you input file open the SQLServerAsessment Report from the MAP tool and go to the DatabaseInstances tab.  Filter on Unknown Editions so that the sheet only contains Machines with Unknown Editions.  Copy the Server Name and Instance Name columns and paste them into notepad.  For machines with  MSSQLSERVER as the instance name, remove the instance name.  For machines with MSSQL$ and the instance name, remove the MSSQL$ so that the line in notepad is servername\instancename.  You can run the script with parameters or uncomment out the declaration of $infile and $ outfile and hardcode the file names in the script.  If you omit the output file name the results are displayed on your screen.

The script will login using your windows credentials so you will need to run the script using credentials that have the ability to query SQL for edition information.

$infile = $args[0]
$outfile = $args[1]
 
#$infile = ".\servers2.txt"
#$outfile = ".\outfile.csv"
 
if(!$infile)
    {
    write-host
        ""
        "INVALID ARGUMENT"
        ""
        "GetSQLProperties has two arguments"
        ""
        "The first argument is for a file containing a list of SQL Servers to be Queried"
        "The second argument if for an output file containing the results of the query in a comma delimited format"
        "If the second argument is ommitted the results will be displayed in your powershell window"
        ""
        "The format of the input file is as follows:"
        ""
        "Server1"
        "Server2"
        "Server3"
        "Server3\namedinstance"
        "Server4"
        "Server5"
        ""
        "Usage:"
        ""
        "GetSQLProperties c:\filepath\infile.txt"
        "GetSQLProperties c:\filepath\infile.txt c:\filepath\outfile.txt"
        ""
        ""
    }
Else
    {
    $Servers = Get-Content $infile
 
    Foreach ($value in $Servers)
 
    {
        $pversion = ""
        $plevel = ""
        $pedition = ""
 
         try
            {
            $con = new-object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection "Server=$value;Pooling=false;Integrated Security=true"
            $con.Open()
 
            $cmd = $con.CreateCommand()
            $cmd.CommandText = "
                     SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('productversion') productversion,
                            SERVERPROPERTY('productlevel') productlevel,
                            SERVERPROPERTY('edition') edition
                     "
           
            $rdr = $cmd.ExecuteReader()
            $rdr.Read()
                $pversion = $rdr[0]
                $plevel =     $rdr[1]
                $pedition =  $rdr[2]
            $rdr.Close();
 
       
            $con.Close()
       
            if(!$outfile)
                {write-host $value, $pversion, $plevel, $pedition}
            Else
                {"{0}","`t","{1}","`t","{2}","`t","{3}" -f $value,$pversion,$plevel,$pedition | out-file $outfile -Append}
            }
         Catch
            {
                if(!$outfile)
                    {Write-host -f red $value, " Could not connect"}
                Else
                    {"{0}","`t","Could Not Connect" -f $value | out-file $outfile -Append}
            }
    }
}

In this blog post I will show you how to connect to azure using a management certificate allowing you to execute your PowerShell jobs with no user dialog.

The first step is to create an X.509 certificate and upload it to Azure.  There are two methods of doing this.  The first is with the makecert utility which is included in the Windows SDK.  The second method is to use Internet Information Services Manager to create the certificate.

I will cover the second option, using Internet Information Services Manager.  If you don't have Internet Information Services Manager installed on your computer you can add it in Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off > Internet Information Services.  By default selecting this will select Web Management Tools and World Wide Web Services.  We only need the Management Tools to create an X.509 certificate, deselect World Wide Web Services if you do not want web services running on your computer.

Once you have the Web Management Tools installed you can create a certificate to use for connecting to your Azure Subscription.

Open the Web Management Tools by typing IIS in Search and selecting Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.  Once open, select Server Certificates

Next select create a self signed certificate in the actions pane and choose a name.

Select Personal for the Certificate Store

Once the Certificate is created, double click on it to bring up it's properties.  On the Details tab click on Copy to file.  This will bring up the Certificate Export Wizard

Once the Wizard has started, click next at the welcome screen

Select Do not export the private key and click next

Select DER Encoded Binary X.509 (.CER)

Provide a file name and click Next then click Finished.

You now have a file containing your certificate that can be uploaded to your Azure Subscription.

Login to your subscription and go to the Management Portal.

On the left side of the screen scroll all the way to the bottom and select Settings.

Select the Management Certificates Tab and click on upload

Browse to your certificate and click on the check box.

Now your certificate is uploaded and ready to use.

The name of the certificate will be the computer name that you used to create the certificate.

Now you are ready to connect to your Azure Subscription within PowerShell.

First you will need to define 3 variables.

$SubscriptionID is the value indicated on the Management portal as Subscription ID

$ManagementCert is the value returned by the function Get-Item. 

cert\currentuser\my\ points to your personal certificates on your computer and the value is the Thumbprint of the certificated indicated in the Management portal as Thumbprint. (is also available in the properties of your certificate in the details TAB.)

$SubscriptionName is the name of your Scubscription indicated in the Management portal as Subscription.

Next you will need to Set and Select your subscription.

Set-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName $SubscriptionName -Certifacte $ManagementCert -SubscriptionID $SubscriptionID

Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName $SubscriptionName

You are now connected to your Azure Subscription in PowerShell programmatically and can begin executing PowerShell commands to manage, provision and de-provision resources.

Once your job has completed you can disconnect from your subscription using the following command.

remove-azuresubscription -SubscriptionName $SubscriptionName

This Blog Post will get you started by showing you how to download the Azure cmdlets and get connected to your azure account.

Downloading and installing the Azure cmdlets

Go to http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on install under Windows PowerShell

Connecting to your Azure Account

Once you have downloaded and installed the Azure PowerShell cmdlets you can connect to your account by issuing the following PowerShell command:

A dialog box will pop up and you will be prompted for your Azure credentials.

Once you have successfully authenticated with Azure you may now start using PowerShell Azure cmdlets to manage your azure subscription such as get-azurevm to get a list of all your virtual machines.

In my next blog post I will show you how to connect to your azure subscription using a management certificate so you can begin automating some of your common tasks such as starting and stopping specific virtual machines on a schedule.