Setting up your first Azure Virtual Machine can be done by following these steps:
- Create a Virtual Machine: Sign in to the Azure portal, click on the “Create a resource” button, search for “Windows Server” or “Linux” to select the operating system you want to use, and follow the prompts to create a virtual machine.
- Choose the right size: When creating a virtual machine, it’s important to select the right size to meet your needs, while balancing performance and cost.
- Enable Azure Security Center: Azure Security Center is a service that helps you prevent, detect, and respond to threats across your Azure environment. Enable it to get security recommendations and alerts.
- Configure Network Security Groups: Network Security Groups (NSGs) provide firewall rules for your virtual network. Create NSGs to allow or deny inbound and outbound traffic to and from your virtual machine.
- Enable Just-In-Time access: Just-In-Time (JIT) access allows you to lock down inbound traffic to your virtual machine and only allow access for a limited amount of time when needed.
- Enable Disk Encryption: Disk Encryption encrypts the virtual machine’s disks and protects your data from unauthorized access.
- Implement Azure Backup: Azure Backup helps you protect your virtual machines from data loss and corruption by backing up your virtual machines.
- Apply updates and patches: Keep your virtual machine up-to-date with the latest updates and patches to address security vulnerabilities.
These are some of the basic security settings that you should apply when setting up your first Azure Virtual Machine. However, depending on your specific requirements, you may need to configure additional security measures to ensure your virtual machine is fully secured.