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Quick Create a virtual machine with the Azure CLI

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This script creates an Azure Virtual Machine running Windows Server 2016. After running the script, you can access the virtual machine through a Remote Desktop connection.

To run this sample, install the latest version of the Azure CLI. To start, run az login to create a connection with Azure.

Samples for the Azure CLI are written for the bash shell. To run this sample in Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt, you may need to change elements of the script.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.

Sample script

#!/bin/bash

# Update for your admin password
AdminPassword=ChangeYourAdminPassword1

# Create a resource group.
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location westus

# Create a virtual machine. 
az vm create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myVM \
    --image win2016datacenter \
    --admin-username azureuser \
    --admin-password $AdminPassword \
    --no-wait

Clean up deployment

Run the following command to remove the resource group, VM, and all related resources.

az group delete --name myResourceGroup --yes

Script explanation

This script uses the following commands to create a resource group, virtual machine, and all related resources. Each command in the table links to command specific documentation.

Command Notes
az group create Creates a resource group in which all resources are stored.
az vm create Creates the virtual machine and connects it to the network card, virtual network, subnet, and network security group. This command also specifies the virtual machine image to be used and administrative credentials.
az group delete Deletes a resource group including all nested resources.

Next steps

For more information on the Azure CLI, see Azure CLI documentation.

Additional virtual machine CLI script samples can be found in the Azure Windows VM documentation.