Category: Virtualization

May142020May 14, 2020May 14, 20203Commentsby Thomas Maurer
How to SSH into an Azure VM from Windows Terminal Menu

How to SSH into an Azure VM from Windows Terminal Menu

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal

A couple of days ago, I released a blog post on how you can add a PowerShell remote session in the Windows Terminal menu. In my example, I created a menu item in Windows Terminal to use PowerShell remoting to connect to an Azure virtual machine (VM). In the meantime, I got a lot of questions on how you can add an SSH connection to an Azure VM in the Windows Terminal. That is why I am going to share here, how you can add an SSH connection to an Azure VM in the Windows Terminal menu.

Scott Hanselman wrote a great blog post on how you can add tabs to open an SSH connection, so I highly recommend that you read his blog for all the details.

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Apr302020April 30, 2020April 29, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Speaking at Microsoft Virtual Training Week Germany 2020

Speaking at the Microsoft Virtual Training Week Germany 2020

Posted in Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Webinar, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2019

I am happy to let you know that I will be speaking virtually at the Microsoft Virtual Training Week Germany 2020 from May 11-14. This is a free four-day online event, where you can learn in different learning paths and tracks about the latest and greatest Microsoft technologies like Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and many more. I will be speaking on Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14. The event will have a mix from sessions in German as well as sessions in English. My session will be in English and I will be talking in the Migrating Server Infrastructure and the Modern Cloud Operations track.

Migrating Server Infrastructure (Wednesday, May 13 – 13:30-17:30 CEST)

  • Migrating to Windows Server 2019 (Thomas Maurer – English)
    Tailwind Traders has acquired Northwind, a large subsidiary company. Northwind currently has 1500 servers running Windows Server 2008 R2 – either directly or virtually – on hardware at the midpoint of its operational lifespan. While Tailwind Traders will eventually move many of these workloads to Azure, Windows Server 2008 R2 end of life is quickly approaching. In this session, learn how Tailwind Traders’ used Azure hybrid management technologies to migrate servers, and the roles that they host, to Windows Server 2019.
  • Integrated Cloud Technologies – Hybrid Management Technologies (Thomas Maurer – English)
    Tailwind Traders has now migrated the majority of their server hosts from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2019. Now, they are interested in the Azure hybrid technologies that are readily available to them. In this session, learn how Tailwind Traders began using Windows Admin Center to manage its fleet of Windows Server computers and integrated hybrid technologies, such as Azure File Sync, Azure Arc, Azure Azure Site Recovery, and Azure Update Management to improve deployment performance and manageability.
  • Migrating IaaS Workloads to Azure (Markus Klein – German)
    Now that the migration of their server hosts from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2019 is complete, Tailwind Traders wants to begin the process of “lift and shift”: migrating some of their on-premises VMs they’ve been running in their datacenter. In this session, learn about how Tailwind Traders began the process of migrating some of their existing VM workloads to Azure and how this allowed them to retire aging server hardware and close datacenter and server rooms that were costing the organization a substantial amount of money.

You can find more information and register for free here.

Azure: Managing Cloud Operations (Thursday, May 14 – 13:30-17:30 CEST)

  • IaaS VM Operations (Thomas Maurer – English)
    In recent months, Tailwind Traders has been having issues with keeping their sprawling IaaS VM deployment under control, leading to mismanaged resources and inefficient processes. In this session, look into how Tailwind Traders can ensure their VMs are properly managed and maintained with the same care in Azure as they were in Tailwind Trader’s on-premises data centers.
  • Azure Governance and Management (Thomas Maurer – English)
    Tailwind Traders’ deployments are ocuring in an ad hoc manner, primarily driven by lack of protocol and unapproved decisions by various operators or employees. Some deployments even violate the organization’s compliance obligations, such as being deployed in a manner that violates PCI DSS rules. After bringing their existing IaaS VM fleet under control, Tailwind Traders wants to ensure that future deployments comply with policy and organizational requirements. In this session, walk through the processes and technologies that will keep Tailwind Trader’s deployments in good standing with the help of Azure Blueprints, Azure Policy, Locks, and more.

You can find more information and register for free here.

I hope you join us at the Microsoft Virtual Training Week Germany 2020. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment. I also summarized some of the links to documentation which will help you with the topics above.

If you want to watch some videos on demand, check out my YouTube channel.


Apr082020April 8, 2020May 2, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Azure Unblogged - Azure Stack HCI and the Future

Azure Unblogged – Azure Stack HCI and the Future

Posted in Azure Stack HCI, Azure Unblogged, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2019

You might have seen last week’s Azure Unblogged video with Holly Lehman where we talked about Microsoft feedback and customer engagement programs. This week, I had the honor to publish an Azure Unblogged video with Carmen Crincoli (Senior Program Manager) to talk about the Azure Stack HCI solution program, why it was created, the value it provides to customers, and some of the work we’re doing to engage with customers to improve future versions of the product.

You can watch the video on Microsoft Channel 9.

Azure Stack HCI is a hyper-converged Windows Server 2019 cluster that uses validated hardware to run virtualized workloads on-premises. And allows you to optionally connect to Azure Hybrid services for cloud-based backup, Site Recovery, and more. This allows you to take advantage of the Microsoft Hybrid Cloud services to make your on-premises environment even better.

If you want to learn more about Azure Stack HCI, check out the following links:

You can also watch other episodes of Azure Unblogged on Microsoft Channel 9 and check out my blog at ITOpsTalk.com.

Let me know if you enjoyed the Azure Unblogged – Azure Stack HCI and the Future video and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel here.


Mar282020March 28, 2020March 28, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Veeam Vanguard 2020

Veeam Vanguard 2020

Posted in Awards, Cloud, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization

Last night I had some great news in my inbox. I got informed that my nomination for Veeam Vanguard 2020 was approved, and I just got awarded with my fourth Veeam Vanguard award. After being a Veeam Vanguard in 2015, 2016 and again in 2019, I am proud to be part of the Veeam Vanguard community in 2020 again.

The Veeam Vanguard Program is Veeam’s top-level influencer community. This group shares points of view, provides feedback and is committed to mutual success. Experts in the Vanguard program are a combination of many different disciplines, contribution types and advocacy mechanisms yet are each the best in space regarding technical thought leadership for the technical communities in which Veeam exist.

These individuals have been nominated as Veeam Vanguards. A Veeam Vanguard represents our brand to the highest level in many of the different technology communities in which we engage. These individuals are chosen for their acumen, engagement and style in their activities on and offline.

I am looking forward to being part of this community in this virtualization and cloud journey. I also want to thank Veeam, it is an honor to be part of the Veeam Vanguard community again.


Mar212020March 21, 2020March 23, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Run Azure PowerShell in a Docker Container Image

Run Azure PowerShell in a Docker Container

Posted in Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Containers, Docker, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Virtualization, Windows 10

Yesterday, the Azure PowerShell team announced the Azure PowerShell Docker Container images. In this post, I want to quickly highlight that announcement and show you how you can download, pull, and run Azure PowerShell in a Docker container image from Microsoft.

But first, let’s talk about why you would want to run an Azure PowerShell in a Docker container. Azure is continuously evolving, and the Azure PowerShell team releases a new version of the Azure PowerShell modules every three weeks. This makes it challenging to maintain a production or development environment up to date and ensuring the smooth execution of scripts. With the Azure PowerShell docker container image, you can quickly run scripts against a specific version of Azure PowerShell.

The team highlights the current scenarios:

  • On the same machine, you can run scripts that are using a different version of Az with no conflicts.
  • You can test a script against a different version of Az with no risks.
  • You can run the latest container image interactively.
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Mar102020March 10, 2020March 10, 20205Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Visual Studio Code Azure Virtual Machines Extension

Create and Manage Azure VMs from VS Code

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Visual Studio Code

With the new Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) extension for Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you can now create and manage Azure VMs directly from VS Code. This is a great new extension if you are working with VS Code and Microsoft Azure. The extension is currently in preview and lets you view, create, delete, start and stop Azure Virtual machines, as well as adding SSH keys to existing Azure VMs.

Get started

To get started with the Azure Virtual Machine extension in Visual Studio Code, simply follow these steps:

  1. Download and install the Azure Virtual Machines extension for Visual Studio Code
  2. Once complete, you’ll see an Azure icon in the Activity Bar
  3. Sign in to your Azure account by clicking Sign in to Azure. If you don’t have an Azure account yet, you can create a free Azure account here.
Free Azure Account

Free Azure Account

If you don’t have an Azure account yet, you can sign up today for your free Azure account and receive 12 months of free popular services, $200 free credit, and 25+ always free services.

Create an Azure VM in VS Code

You can now create Azure VMs directly from Visual Studio Code. The wizard will ask you for a VM name, username, Azure region, and passphrase.

VS Code creating Azure Virtual Machines

VS Code creating Azure Virtual Machines

This will create an Azure VM Standard D2s V3 (2 CPU Cores & 8 GB of ram) with the image Ubuntu 18.04-LTS. An SSH key will be created, and your SSH Config file (~/.ssh/config) will be updated so you can immediately connect via SSH ($ ssh vm-name) or using the Remote-SSH extension. You can find more information about how you can connect to Azure VM using Visual Studio Code in my blog post.

Azure VM management in VS Code

Azure VM management in VS Code

Having the possibility to manage Azure VMs and connect with them directly within Visual Studio makes working with these tools and Azure much more convenient.

I hope you can go and try out the Azure VM extension for VS Code. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment.


Jan022020January 2, 2020January 2, 20200Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Ignite The Tour Milan 2020

Speaking at Microsoft Ignite The Tour 2020 Shenzhen

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Cloud Advocate, Events, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Speaking, Thomas Maurer, Virtualization, Windows Admin Center, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019

One of our big projects this year is going to be Microsoft Ignite The Tour (MITT) 2019-2020. After our leading Microsoft Ignite 2019 conference in Orlando in November 2019, we started to bring Microsoft Ignite The Tour to 30 cities around the world. I am happy and honored that my first stop on Microsoft Ignite The Tour will be in Shenzhen.

  • Date: January 13–14, 2020
Shenzhen

Microsoft Ignite The Tour Shenzhen

Our industry-leading conference is hitting the road—and coming to a city near you. You don’t want to miss the very latest in cloud technologies and developer tools with guest speakers, industry experts, and more. Get on the list today!

I will be speaking in the Microsoft Ignite The Tour learning paths. I am thrilled to show you some really cool stuff about PowerShell, Windows Server 2019, Windows Admin Center, Azure Arc, and much more!

MITT

MSI20 - Hybrid management technologies

Tailwind Traders has now migrated the majority of their server hosts from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2019. Now, they are interested in the Azure hybrid technologies that are readily available to them. In this session, learn how Tailwind Traders began using Windows Admin Center and Azure Arc to manage its fleet of Windows Server computers and integrated hybrid technologies, such as Azure File Sync, Azure Site Recovery, and Azure Update Management, to improve deployment performance and manageability.

MITT

MSI30 - Migrating IaaS workloads to Azure

Now that the migration of their server hosts from Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2019 is complete, Tailwind Traders wants to begin the process of “lift and shift”: migrating some of their on-premises VMs they’ve been running in their datacenter. In this session, learn about how Tailwind Traders began the process of migrating some of their existing VM workloads to Azure and how this allowed them to retire aging server hardware and close datacenter and server rooms that were costing the organization a substantial amount of money.

I am looking forward to speaking at Microsoft Ignite The Tour (MITT) 2019-2020 in Shenzhen, China. Let me know in the comments if you are going too; I hope to see you there!



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    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. I am located in Switzerland. I am focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server. Opinions are my own.

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