Wednesday 29 October 2014

Export / Import Lab Virtual Machines

  1. De-provision the lab. Use the Stop-AzureVM and Export-AzureVM cmdlets in the PowerShell snippet below to shutdown and export lab VMs when they are not being used.  
     
    # Specify the Name of the VM to Export
     
    $myVM = "XXXlabad01" 
     
    # Stop the VM prior to exporting it
     
    Stop-AzureVM -ServiceName $myVM -Name $myVM 
     
    # Set the Export folder path for the VM configuration file.  Make sure this folder exists!

     
    $ExportPath = "C:\ExportVMs\ExportAzureVM-$myVM.xml" 
     
    # Export the VM to a file
     
    Export-AzureVM -ServiceName $myVM -name $myVM -Path $ExportPath  
     
    # After you've confirmed that the Export file exists, delete the VM
     
    Remove-AzureVM -ServiceName $myVM -name $myVM

     
  2. Re-provision the lab. Use the Import-AzureVM and Start-AzureVM cmdlets in the PowerShell snippet below to import and start lab VMs when needed again.
     
    # Specify the Name of the VM to Import

    $myVM = “XXXlabad01" 

    # Specify the Name of the Virtual Network on which to Import the VM

    $myVNet = "XXXlabnet01"

    # Specify the Import Path of the VM’s exported configuration file.
     
    $ImportPath = "C:\ExportVMs\ExportAzureVM-$myVM.xml"

    # Specify the Windows Azure Storage Account to be used.

    $myStorageAccount = "XXXlabstor01"

    Get-AzureSubscription | Set-AzureSubscription -CurrentStorageAccount $myStorageAccount 
     
    # Import the VM to Windows Azure
     
    Import-AzureVM -Path $ImportPath | New-AzureVM -ServiceName $myVM -VNetName $myVNet 
     
    # Start the VM  
    Start-AzureVM -ServiceName $myVM -name $myVM

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Build SharePoint 2013 in the Cloud with Windows Azure

 

Prerequisites


  1. Login to the Windows Azure Management Portal.
     
    Login to the web-based Windows Azure Management Portal with the same logon credentials you used to sign-up for the FREE 90-day Trial above.  Once you’ve logged in, you should see the main Windows Azure Management portal dashboard.
     
    Portal01
    Windows Azure Management Portal dashboard
     
    On the Windows Azure Management Portal, you’ll find the options ( highlighted in the image above ) for managing Virtual Machines, Virtual Networks and Storage in the cloud.  These are the items we’ll be primarily working with in this article series.
     
  2. Define a new Windows Azure Affinity Group.
     
    Affinity Groups in Windows Azure are used to group your cloud-based services together, such as Virtual Machines, Virtual Networks and Storage, in order to achieve optimal performance.  When you use an affinity group, Windows Azure will keep all services that belong to your affinity group running within the same data center as close as possible to each other to reduce latency and increase performance.

    - Create a new Affinity Group by selecting Settings from the side navigation bar in the Windows Azure Management Portal. 
     
    - On the Settings page, select the Affinity Groups tab on the top navigation bar. 
     
    - Click the +ADD button on the bottom navigation bar.
     
  3. On the Create Affinity Group form, enter the following details:
     
    - Name: Enter a unique name for your new Affinity Group, such as XXXlab01 (where XXX is replaced with your initials)
     
    - Region: Select the closest Windows Azure data center region to your locale.  This is the data center region in which your services will be provisioned.
     
  4. Create a new Windows Azure Storage Account.
     
    Virtual Machines that are provisioned in Windows Azure are stored in the world-wide cloud-based Windows Azure Storage service.  In terms of high availability, the Storage service provides built-in storage replication capability – where every VM is replicated to three separate locations within the Windows Azure data center region you select.  In addition, Windows Azure Storage provides a geo-replication feature for also replicating your VMs to a remote data center region.
     
    Create a new Storage account by clicking the +NEW button on the bottom toolbar in the Windows Azure Management Portal and then select Data Services | Storage | Quick Create.  
     
    Portal03
    Creating a new Storage account in Windows Azure
     
    Complete the following fields for creating your Storage account:

    - URL: Enter a unique name for your new storage account, such as XXXlabstor01 (where XXX is replaced with your initials)
     
    - Region/Affinity Group: Select the Affinity Group you created in Step 3 above.
     
    - Enable Geo-Replication: By default, this option is selected.  Leave the default option in place.
     
    Click the CREATE STORAGE ACCOUNT button to create your new Windows Azure Storage account.
     
  5. Download, Install and Configure the Windows Azure PowerShell Management Tools
     
    In addition to managing Windows Azure via the web-based Management Portal, we also provide a Windows Azure PowerShell module for scripted management of Windows Azure services.  We’ll be using both the Management Portal and PowerShell in this series, so you’ll want to download, install and configure the Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets to get prepared.
     
    - Download and Install the Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets. Note that a restart may be required after installing this module.

    - Right-click on Windows PowerShell in your Start Menu or Start Screen and choose Run As Administrator.

    - Set the PowerShell Execution Policy for scripts by running the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

         PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

    Import the Windows Azure PowerShell module and supporting cmdlets by running the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

         PS C:\> Import-Module Azure

    - Download and save your Windows Azure Publish Settings file by running the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

         PS C:\> Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile

    - Import the saved Windows Azure Publish Settings file by running the following command at the PowerShell command prompt:

         PS C:\> Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile
                "full_path_to_saved_file.publishsettings"

Exercise 1: Register a DNS Server in Windows Azure

 Register the internal IP address that our domain controller VM will be using for Active Directory-integrated Dynamic DNS services by performing the following steps:
  1. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  2. Select Networks located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  3. Click the +NEW button located on the bottom navigation bar and select Networks | Virtual Network | Register DNS Server.
     
  4. Complete the DNS Server fields as follows:
     
    - NAME: XXXlabdns01
    - DNS Server IP Address: 10.0.0.4
     
  5. Click the REGISTER DNS SERVER button.

Exercise 2: Define a Virtual Network in Windows Azure

Define a common virtual network in Windows Azure for running Active Directory, Database and SharePoint virtual machines by performing the following steps:
  1. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  2. Select Networks located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  3. Click the +NEW button located on the bottom navigation bar and select Networks | Virtual Network | Quick Create.
     
  4. Complete the Virtual Network fields as follows:
     
    - NAME: XXXlabnet01
    - Address Space: 10.---.---.---
    - Maximum VM Count: 4096 [CIDR: /20]
    - Affinity Group: Select the Affinity Group defined in the Getting Started steps from the Prerequisites section above.
    - Connect to Existing DNS: Select XXXlabdns01 – the DNS Server registered in Exercise 1 above.
     
  5. Click the CREATE A VIRTUAL NETWORK button.

Exercise 3: Configure Windows Server Active Directory in a Windows Azure VM


Provision a new Windows Azure VM to run a Windows Server Active Directory domain controller in a new Active Directory forest by performing the following steps:
  1. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  2. Select Virtual Machines located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  3. Click the +NEW button located on the bottom navigation bar and select Compute | Virtual Machines | From Gallery.
     
  4. In the Virtual Machine Operating System Selection list, select Windows Server 2012 Datacenter and click the Next button.
     
  5. On the Virtual Machine Configuration page, complete the fields as follows:
     
    - Version Release Date: Select the latest version release date to build a new VM with the latest OS updates applied.
    - Virtual Machine Name: XXXlabad01
    - New User Name: Choose a secure local Administrator user account to provision.
    - New Password and Confirm Password fields: Choose and confirm a new local Administrator password.
    - Size: Small (1 core, 1.75GB Memory)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
    Note: It is suggested to use secure passwords for Administrator users and service accounts, as Windows Azure virtual machines could be accessible from the Internet knowing just their DNS.  You can also read this document on the Microsoft Security website that will help you select a secure password: http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/passwords-create.aspx.
     
  6. On the Virtual Machine Mode page, complete the fields as follows:
     
    - Standalone Virtual Machine: Selected
    - DNS Name: XXXlabad01.cloudapp.net
    - Storage Account: Select the Storage Account defined in the Getting Started steps from the Prerequisites section above.
    - Region/Affinity Group/Virtual Network: Select XXXlabnet01 – the Virtual Network defined in Exercise 2 above.
    - Virtual Network Subnets: Select Subnet-1 (10.0.0.0/23)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
  7. On the Virtual Machine Options page, click the Checkmark button to begin provisioning the new virtual machine.
     
    As the new virtual machine is being provisioned, you will see the Status column on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal cycle through several values including Stopped, Stopped (Provisioning), and Running (Provisioning).  When provisioning for this new Virtual Machine is completed, the Status column will display a value of Running and you may continue with the next step in this guide.
     
  8. After the new virtual machine has finished provisioning, click on the name ( XXXlabad01 ) of the new Virtual Machine displayed on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal.
     
  9. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabad01, make note of the Internal IP Address displayed on this page located on the right-side of the page.  This IP address should be listed as 10.0.0.4
     
    If a different internal IP address is displayed, the virtual network and/or virtual machine configuration was not completed correctly.  In this case, click the DELETE button located on the bottom toolbar of the virtual machine details page for XXXlabad01, and go back to Exercise 2 and Exercise 3 to confirm that all steps were completed correctly.
     
  10. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabad01, click the Attach button located on the bottom navigation toolbar and select Attach Empty Disk.  Complete the following fields on the Attach an empty disk to the virtual machine form:
     
    - Name: XXXlabad01-data01
    - Size: 10 GB
    - Host Cache Preference: None
     
    Click the Checkmark button to create and attach the a new virtual hard disk to virtual machine XXXlabad01.
     
  11. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabad01, click the Connect button located on the bottom navigation toolbar and click the Open button to launch a Remote Desktop Connection to the console of this virtual machine.  Logon at the console of your virtual machine with the local Administrator credentials defined in Step 5 above.
     
  12. From the Remote Desktop console of XXXlabad01, create a new partition on the additional data disk attached above in Step 10 and format this partition as a new F: NTFS volume.  This volume will be used for NTDS DIT database, log and SYSVOL folder locations.
     
    If you need additional guidance to complete this step, feel free to leverage the following study guide for assistance: Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge – Configure Local Storage
     
  13. Using the Server Manager tool, install Active Directory Domain Services and promote this server to a domain controller in a new forest with the following parameters:
     
    - Active Directory Forest name: contoso.com
    - Volume Location for NTDS database, log and SYSVOL folders: F:
     
    If you need additional guidance to complete this step, feel free to leverage the following study guide for assistance: Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge – Install and Administer Active Directory
     
  14. After Active Directory has been installed, create the following user accounts that will be used when installing and configuring SharePoint Server 2013 later in this step-by-step guide:

    - CONTOSO\sp_farm – SharePoint Farm Data Access Account
    - CONTOSO\sp_serviceapps – SharePoint Farm Service Applications Account
     
    If you need additional guidance to complete this step, feel free to leverage the following study guide for assistance: Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge – Install and Administer Active Directory
The configuration for this virtual machine is now complete, and you may continue with the next exercise in this step-by-step guide.

Exercise 4: Configure SQL Server 2012 in a Windows Azure VM


Provision a new Windows Azure VM to run SQL Server 2012 by performing the following steps:
  1. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  2. Select Virtual Machines located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  3. Click the +NEW button located on the bottom navigation bar and select Compute | Virtual Machines | From Gallery.
     
  4. In the Virtual Machine Operating System Selection list, select SQL Server 2012 SP1 Enterprise and click the Next button.
     
  5. On the Virtual Machine Configuration page, complete the fields as follows:

    - Virtual Machine Name: XXXlabdb01
    - New User Name: Choose a secure local Administrator user account to provision.
    - New Password and Confirm Password fields: Choose and confirm a new local Administrator password.
    - Size: Medium (2 cores, 3.5GB Memory)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
  6. On the Virtual Machine Mode page, complete the fields as follows:
     
    - Standalone Virtual Machine: Selected
    - DNS Name: XXXlabdb01.cloudapp.net
    - Storage Account: Select the Storage Account defined in the Getting Started steps from the Prerequisites section above.
    - Region/Affinity Group/Virtual Network: Select XXXlabnet01 – the Virtual Network defined in Exercise 2 above.
    - Virtual Network Subnets: Select Subnet-1 (10.0.0.0/23)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
  7. On the Virtual Machine Options page, click the Checkmark button to begin provisioning the new virtual machine.
     
    As the new virtual machine is being provisioned, you will see the Status column on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal cycle through several values including Stopped, Stopped (Provisioning), and Running (Provisioning).  When provisioning for this new Virtual Machine is completed, the Status column will display a value of Running and you may continue with the next step in this guide.
     
  8. After the new virtual machine has finished provisioning, click on the name ( XXXlabdb01 ) of the new Virtual Machine displayed on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal.
     
  9. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabdb01, make note of the Internal IP Address displayed on this page.  This IP address should be listed as 10.0.0.5
     
    If a different internal IP address is displayed, the virtual network and/or virtual machine configuration was not completed correctly.  In this case, click the DELETE button located on the bottom toolbar of the virtual machine details page for XXXlabdb01, and go back to Exercise 2 and Exercise 3 to confirm that all steps were completed correctly.
     
  10. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabdb01, click the Attach button located on the bottom navigation toolbar and select Attach Empty Disk.  Complete the following fields on the Attach an empty disk to the virtual machine form:
     
    - Name: XXXlabdb01-data01
    - Size: 50 GB
    - Host Cache Preference: None
     
    Click the Checkmark button to create and attach the a new virtual hard disk to virtual machine XXXlabdb01.
     
  11. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabdb01, click the Connect button located on the bottom navigation toolbar and click the Open button to launch a Remote Desktop Connection to the console of this virtual machine.  Logon at the console of your virtual machine with the local Administrator credentials defined in Step 5 above.
     
  12. From the Remote Desktop console of XXXlabdb01, create a new partition on the additional data disk attached above in Step 10 and format this partition as a new F: NTFS volume. After formatting this new volume, create the following folders:
     
    1. Create F:\MSSQL folder
       
    2. Create F:\MSSQL\DATA folder
       
    3. Create F:\MSSQL\LOGS folder
       
    4. Create F:\MSSQL\BACKUP folder
  13. Open SQL Server Management Studio from Start | All Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 2012 | SQL Server Management Studio and update default folder locations to the F: volume.
    1. Connect to the SQL Server 2012 default instance using your Windows Account.
       
    2. Now, you will update the database's default locations for DATA, LOGS and BACKUP folders. To do this, right click on your SQL Server instance and select Properties.
       
    3. Select Database Settings from the left side pane.
       
    4. Locate the Database default locations section and update the default values for each path to point to the new folder paths defined above in Step 12.
       
    5. Close SQL Server Management Studio.
  14. In order to allow SharePoint to connect to the SQL Server, you will need to add an Inbound Rule for the SQL Server requests in the Windows Firewall. To do this, open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security from Start | All Programs | Administrative Tools.
    1. Select Inbound Rules node, right-click it and select New Rule to open the New Inbound Rule Wizard.
    2. In the Rule Type page, select Port and click Next.
    3. In Protocols and Ports page, leave TCP selected, select Specific local ports, and set its value to 1433. Click Next to continue.
    4. In the Action page, make sure that Allow the connection is selected and click Next.
    5. In the Profile page, leave the default values and click Next.
    6. In the Name page, set the Inbound Rule's Name to SQLServerRule and click Finish
    7. Close Windows Firewall with Advanced Security window.
  15. Using the Server Manager tool, join this server to the contoso.com domain and restart the server to complete the domain join operation.
  16. After the server restarts, connect again via Remote Desktop to the server’s console and login with the local Administrator credentials defined above in Step 5.
  17. Open SQL Server Management Studio from Start | All Programs | Microsoft SQL Server 2012 | SQL Server Management Studio and add the CONTOSO\Administrator user to SQL Server with the Sysadmin server role selected.
    1. Expand Security folder within the SQL Server instance. Right-click Logins folder and select New Login.
    2. In the General section, set the Login name to CONTOSO\Administrator, and select the Windows Authentication option.
    3. Click Server Roles on the left pane.  Select the checkbox for the Sysadmin server role.
    4. Click the OK button and close SQL Server Management Studio.
The configuration for this virtual machine is now complete, and you may continue with the next exercise in this step-by-step guide.


Exercise 5: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Windows Azure VM


Provision a new Windows Azure VM to run SharePoint Server 2013 by performing the following steps:
  1. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  2. Select Virtual Machines located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  3. Click the +NEW button located on the bottom navigation bar and select Compute | Virtual Machines | From Gallery.
     
  4. In the Virtual Machine Operating System Selection list, select SharePoint Server 2013 Trial and click the Next button.
     
  5. On the Virtual Machine Configuration page, complete the fields as follows:

    - Virtual Machine Name: XXXlabapp01
    - New User Name: Choose a secure local Administrator user account to provision.
    - New Password and Confirm Password fields: Choose and confirm a new local Administrator password.
    - Size: Large (4 cores, 7GB Memory)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
  6. On the Virtual Machine Mode page, complete the fields as follows:
     
    - Standalone Virtual Machine: Selected
    - DNS Name: XXXlabapp01.cloudapp.net
    - Storage Account: Select the Storage Account defined in the Getting Started steps from the Prerequisites section above.
    - Region/Affinity Group/Virtual Network: Select XXXlabnet01 – the Virtual Network defined in Exercise 2 above.
    - Virtual Network Subnets: Select Subnet-1 (10.0.0.0/23)
     
    Click the Next button to continue.
     
  7. On the Virtual Machine Options page, click the Checkmark button to begin provisioning the new virtual machine.
     
    As the new virtual machine is being provisioned, you will see the Status column on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal cycle through several values including Stopped, Stopped (Provisioning), and Running (Provisioning).  When provisioning for this new Virtual Machine is completed, the Status column will display a value of Running and you may continue with the next step in this guide.
     
  8. After the new virtual machine has finished provisioning, click on the name ( XXXlabapp01 ) of the new Virtual Machine displayed on the Virtual Machines page of the Windows Azure Management Portal.
     
  9. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabapp01, make note of the Internal IP Address displayed on this page.  This IP address should be listed as 10.0.0.6
     
    If a different internal IP address is displayed, the virtual network and/or virtual machine configuration was not completed correctly.  In this case, click the DELETE button located on the bottom toolbar of the virtual machine details page for XXXlabapp01, and go back to Exercise 2,  Exercise 3 and Exercise 4 to confirm that all steps were completed correctly.
     
  10. On the virtual machine Dashboard page for XXXlabapp01, click the Connect button located on the bottom navigation toolbar and click the Open button to launch a Remote Desktop Connection to the console of this virtual machine.  Logon at the console of your virtual machine with the local Administrator credentials defined in Step 5 above.
     
  11. In the Server Manager tool, click on Local Server in the left navigation pane and click on the Workgroup option.  Join this server to the contoso.com domain and restart the server to complete the domain join operation.
     
  12. After the server restarts, re-establish a Remote Desktop connection to the server and logon with the CONTOSO\Administrator domain user credentials defined earlier in Exercise 3.
  13. In the Server Manager tool, click on Local Server in the left navigation pane and select IE Enhanced Security Configuration.  Turn off enhanced security for Administrators and click the OK button.
     
    Note: Modifying Internet Explorer Enhanced Security configurations is not good practice for production environments and is only for the purpose of this particular step-by-step lab guide.
  14. On the Desktop, double-click on the SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard shortcut to launch the configuration wizard.  Click the Next button to continue. If prompted to start or reset services, click the Yes button.
  15. In the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard, when prompted on the Connect to server farm dialog, select the option to Create a new server farm.
     
  16. On the Specify Configuration Database Settings, specify the following values for each field:
     
    - Database Server: XXXlabdb01
    - Username: CONTOSO\sp_farm
    - Password: Type the password specified when the sp_farm domain user account was created earlier in Exercise 3, Step 14.
     
  17. Click the Next > button and accept all other default values in the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard.  Click the Finish button when prompted to complete the wizard.
     
  18. The SharePoint 2013 Central Administration web page should launch automatically.  When prompted, click the Start the Wizard button to begin the Initial Farm Configuration Wizard.
     
  19. When prompted for Service Account, type the CONTOSO\sp_serviceapps domain username and password specified when this account was created earlier in Exercise 3, Step 14.
     
  20. Accept all other default values and click the Next > button to continue.
     
  21. On the Create a Site Collection page, create a new top-level Intranet site collection using the following field values:
     
    - Title and Description: Enter your preferred Title and Description for the new site collection
    - URL: Select the root URL path – http://XXXlabapp01/
    - Select experience version:
    2013
    - Select a template: Publishing | Publishing Portal
     
    Click the OK button to provision a new top-level Intranet site collection. 
     
    After the new top-level Intranet site collection is provisioned, test navigating to the URL for this site collection from within the Remote Desktop session to the server.
     
  22. On the SharePoint 2013 Central Administration site, configure a Public URL alternate access mapping for accessing the new top-level Intranet site collection from the Internet.
     
    1. On the Central Administration site home page, click the Configure alternate access mappings link.
       
    2. On the Alternate Access Mappings page, click the Edit Public URLs link.
       
    3. On the Edit Public Zone URLs page, select and specify the following values:
       
      - Alternate Access Mapping Collection: SharePoint - 80
      - Internet: http://XXXlabapp01.cloudapp.net
       
      Click the Save button to complete the Alternate Access Mapping configuration.
       
  23. Close the Remote Desktop session to the server.
     
  24. Sign in at the Windows Azure Management Portal with the logon credentials used when you signed up for your Free Windows Azure Trial.
     
  25. Select Virtual Machines located on the side navigation panel on the Windows Azure Management Portal page.
     
  26. On the Virtual Machines page, click on the name of the SharePoint virtual machine – XXXlabapp01.
     
  27. On the XXXlabapp01 virtual machine details page, click on Endpoints in the top navigation area of the page.
     
  28. Click the +Add Endpoint button in the bottom navigation bar of the page to define a new virtual machine endpoint that will permit HTTP web traffic inbound to the SharePoint virtual machine. 
     
  29. On the Add an endpoint to a virtual machine form, select the Add Endpoint option and click the Next button to continue.
     
  30. On the Specify the details of the endpoint form, specify the following field values:
     
    - Name: WebHTTP
    - Protocol: TCP
    - Public Port: 80
    - Private Port: 80
     
    Click the Checkmark button to create a new endpoint definition that will permit inbound web traffic to the SharePoint virtual machine.
     
  31. After the endpoint configuration has been successfully applied, test browsing to the following public URL to confirm that you are able to access the Intranet site collection that is configured on SharePoint:
     
    - URL: http://XXXlabapp01.cloudapp.net
The configuration for this virtual machine is now complete, and you may continue with the next exercise in this step-by-step guide. Be sure to shutdown your lab VMs from the Windows Azure Management Portal when not in use to save on compute charges.