Quickstart: Create an Azure Operator Nexus virtual machine by using Azure PowerShell
- Deploy an Azure Nexus virtual machine using Azure PowerShell
This quick-start guide is designed to help you get started with using Nexus virtual machines to host virtual network functions (VNFs). By following the steps outlined in this guide, you're able to quickly and easily create a customized Nexus virtual machine that meets your specific needs and requirements. Whether you're a beginner or an expert in Nexus networking, this guide is here to help. You learn everything you need to know to create and customize Nexus virtual machines for hosting virtual network functions.
Before you begin
If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.
- Use the PowerShell environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for PowerShell in Azure Cloud Shell.
If you are running PowerShell locally, install the Az PowerShell module and connect to your Azure account using the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet. For more information about installing the Az PowerShell module, see Install Azure PowerShell.
If you have multiple Azure subscriptions, select the appropriate subscription ID in which the resources should be billed using the Set-AzContext cmdlet.
Before proceeding with virtual machine creation, ensure that the container image to be used is created according to the instructions.
Create a resource group using the New-AzResourceGroup cmdlet. An Azure resource group is a logical group in which Azure resources are deployed and managed. When you create a resource group, you're prompted to specify a location. This location is the storage location of your resource group metadata and where your resources run in Azure if you don't specify another region during resource creation. The following example creates a resource group named myResourceGroup in the eastus location.
New-AzResourceGroup -Name myResourceGroup -Location eastusThe following output example resembles successful creation of the resource group:
ResourceGroupName : myResourceGroup Location : eastus ProvisioningState : Succeeded Tags : ResourceId : /subscriptions/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/resourceGroups/myResourceGroupYou need the
custom locationresource ID of your Azure Operator Nexus cluster.You need to create various networks according to your specific workload requirements, and it's essential to have the appropriate IP addresses available for your workloads. To ensure a smooth implementation, it's advisable to consult the relevant support teams for assistance.
- Complete the prerequisites for deploying a Nexus virtual machine.
Create a Nexus virtual machine
The following example creates a virtual machine named myNexusVirtualMachine in resource group myResourceGroup in the eastus location.
Before you run the commands, you need to set several variables to define the configuration for your virtual machine. Here are the variables you need to set, along with some default values you can use for certain variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| LOCATION | The Azure region where you want to create your virtual machine. |
| RESOURCE_GROUP | The name of the Azure resource group where you want to create the virtual machine. |
| SUBSCRIPTION | The ID of your Azure subscription. |
| CUSTOM_LOCATION | This argument specifies a custom location of the Nexus instance. |
| CSN_ARM_ID | CSN ID is the unique identifier for the cloud services network you want to use. |
| L3_NETWORK_ID | L3 Network ID is the unique identifier for the network interface to be used by the virtual machine. |
| NETWORK_INTERFACE_NAME | The name of the L3 network interface for the virtual machine. |
| ADMIN_USERNAME | The username for the virtual machine administrator. |
| SSH_PUBLIC_KEY | The SSH public key that is used for secure communication with the virtual machine. |
| CPU_CORES | The number of CPU cores for the virtual machine (even number, max 46 vCPUs) |
| MEMORY_SIZE | The amount of memory (in GB, max 224 GB) for the virtual machine. |
| VM_DISK_SIZE | The size (in GB) of the virtual machine disk. |
| VM_IMAGE | The URL of the virtual machine image. |
| ACR_URL | The URL of the Azure Container Registry. |
| ACR_USERNAME | The username for the Azure Container Registry. |
| ACR_PASSWORD | The password for the Azure Container Registry. |
| VMDEVICEMODEL | The VMDeviceModel defaults to T2, available options T2(Modern) and T1(Transitional). |
| USERDATA | The base64 encoded string of cloud-init userdata. |
| BOOTMETHOD | The Method used to boot the virutalmachine UEFI or BIOS. |
| OS_DISK_CREATE_OPTION | The OS disk create specifies ephemeral disk option. |
| OS_DISK_DELETE_OPTION | The OS disk delete specifies delete disk option. |
| IP_AllOCATION_METHOD | The IpAllocationMethod valid for L3Networks specify Dynamic or Static or Disabled. |
| NETWORKATTACHMENTNAME | The name of the Network to attach for workload. |
| NETWORKDATA | The base64 encoded string of cloud-init network data. |
Once you've defined these variables, you can run the Azure PowerShell command to create the virtual machine. Add the -Debug flag at the end to provide more detailed output for troubleshooting purposes.
To define these variables, use the following set commands and replace the example values with your preferred values. You can also use the default values for some of the variables, as shown in the following example:
# Azure parameters
$RESOURCE_GROUP="myResourceGroup"
$SUBSCRIPTION="<Azure subscription ID>"
$CUSTOM_LOCATION="/subscriptions/<subscription_id>/resourceGroups/<managed_resource_group>/providers/microsoft.extendedlocation/customlocations/<custom-location-name>"
$CUSTOM_LOCATION_TYPE="CustomLocation"
$LOCATION="<ClusterAzureRegion>"
# VM parameters
$VM_NAME="myNexusVirtualMachine"
$BOOT_METHOD="UEFI"
$OS_DISK_CREATE_OPTION="Ephemeral"
$OS_DISK_DELETE_OPTION="Delete"
$NETWORKDATA="bmV0d29ya0RhdGVTYW1wbGU="
$VMDEVICEMODEL="T2"
$USERDATA=""
# VM credentials
$ADMIN_USERNAME="admin"
$SSH_PUBLIC_KEY = @{
KeyData = "$(cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)"
}
# Network parameters
$CSN_ARM_ID="/subscriptions/<subscription_id>/resourceGroups/<resource_group>/providers/Microsoft.NetworkCloud/cloudServicesNetworks/<csn-name>"
$L3_NETWORK_ID="/subscriptions/<subscription_id>/resourceGroups/<resource_group>/providers/Microsoft.NetworkCloud/l3Networks/<l3Network-name>"
$IP_AllOCATION_METHOD="Dynamic"
$CSN_ATTACHMENT_DEFAULTGATEWAY="False"
$CSN_ATTACHMENT_NAME="<l3Network-name>"
$ISOLATE_EMULATOR_THREAD="True"
$VIRTIOINTERFACE="Modern"
$NETWORKATTACHMENTNAME="mgmt0"
# VM Size parameters
$CPU_CORES=4
$MEMORY_SIZE=12
$VM_DISK_SIZE="64"
# Virtual Machine Image parameters
$VM_IMAGE="<VM image, example: myacr.azurecr.io/ubuntu:20.04>"
$ACR_URL="<Azure container registry URL, example: myacr.azurecr.io>"
$ACR_USERNAME="<Azure container registry username>"
$NETWORKATTACHMENT = New-AzNetworkCloudNetworkAttachmentObject `
-AttachedNetworkId $L3_NETWORK_ID `
-IpAllocationMethod $IP_AllOCATION_METHOD `
-DefaultGateway "True" `
-Name $NETWORKATTACHMENTNAME
$SECUREPASSWORD = ConvertTo-SecureString "<YourPassword>" -asplaintext -force
Important
It is essential that you replace the placeholders for CUSTOM_LOCATION, CSN_ARM_ID, L3_NETWORK_ID and ACR parameters with your actual values before running these commands.
After defining these variables, you can create the virtual machine by executing the following Azure PowerShell command.
New-AzNetworkCloudVirtualMachine -Name $VM_NAME `
-ResourceGroupName $RESOURCE_GROUP `
-AdminUsername $ADMIN_USERNAME `
-CloudServiceNetworkAttachmentAttachedNetworkId $CSN_ARM_ID `
-CloudServiceNetworkAttachmentIPAllocationMethod $IP_AllOCATION_METHOD `
-CpuCore $CPU_CORES `
-ExtendedLocationName $CUSTOM_LOCATION `
-ExtendedLocationType $CUSTOM_LOCATION_TYPE `
-Location $LOCATION `
-SubscriptionId $SUBSCRIPTION `
-MemorySizeGb $MEMORY_SIZE `
-OSDiskSizeGb $VM_DISK_SIZE `
-VMImage $VM_IMAGE `
-BootMethod $BOOT_METHOD `
-CloudServiceNetworkAttachmentDefaultGateway $CSN_ATTACHMENT_DEFAULTGATEWAY `
-CloudServiceNetworkAttachmentName $CSN_ATTACHMENT_NAME `
-IsolateEmulatorThread $ISOLATE_EMULATOR_THREAD `
-NetworkAttachment $NETWORKATTACHMENT `
-NetworkData $NETWORKDATA `
-OSDiskCreateOption $OS_DISK_CREATE_OPTION `
-OSDiskDeleteOption $OS_DISK_DELETE_OPTION `
-SshPublicKey $SSH_PUBLIC_KEY `
-UserData $USERDATA `
-VMDeviceModel $VMDEVICEMODEL `
-VMImageRepositoryCredentialsUsername $ACR_USERNAME `
-VMImageRepositoryCredentialsPassword $SECUREPASSWORD `
-VMImageRepositoryCredentialsRegistryUrl $ACR_URL
After a few minutes, the command completes and returns information about the virtual machine. You've created the virtual machine. You're now ready to use them.
Review deployed resources
After the deployment finishes, you can view the resources using PowerShell or the Azure portal.
To view the details of the myNexusVirtualMachine cluster in the myResourceGroup resource group, execute the following
Get-AzNetworkCloudVirtualMachine -Name myNexusVirtualMachine `
-ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -SubscriptionId mySubscription
Clean up resources
When no longer needed, delete the resource group. The resource group and all the resources in the resource group are deleted.
Use the Remove-AzResourceGroup cmdlet to remove the resource group, virtual machine, and all related resources except the Operator Nexus network resources.
Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name myResourceGroup
Next steps
You've successfully created a Nexus virtual machine. You can now use the virtual machine to host virtual network functions (VNFs).
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