Simple workflow for spinning up an Azure VM from a snapshot in ARM?

Question

I need to move from Azure Classic Portal to ARM for working with VMs by November and am trying to get a jump start on learning the new process.

Here is what I do in the Classic Portal now...

Make a Windows Server VM: Add some software, make some changes, shut it down and click the 'Capture' button in Classic. Provide a name, and label and now have a Snapshot I can make new VM copies from. Easy!

Make a new VM from snapshot: Click New, Virtual Machine, From Gallery, My Images, Select Image, Create. So easy!

That's it. That's all I do, and all I need to do.

I make 10-30 VMs at a time that way and it's really quick and easy.

How can I do that same workflow in ARM?

I have tried json templates, cmdlets, and the UI in ARM, and cannot for the life of me figure out how emulate the workflow/functionality in Classic in ARM.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

If I understand correctly , you want to create multiple VMs from one VM Image in ARM. After you preparing your VM correctly, here is the workflow to Copy VMs from an exiting VM :

1. Go to Virtual machines >select your VM>Capture>Provide Image Name and Image label (select the box if you have Sysprep your VM)>OK

2. Go to Images> select the Image you created> Create VM>Provide some necessary Basic information> Provide Size Information>Settings>Summary OK(You can create a template and use it to create more VMs easily in this step)

Note : How to prepare and Capture a Windows VM to a generalized image ,refer to this official document .

But ,if you want to create multiple VMs from a Classic Image in ARM (Usually, we can only create Classic VM by a Classic Image), it may be a lot work to do:

1. Create a new ARM Storage Account
2. Copy the Specialized VHD from your Source Storage Account to the new ARM Storage Account
3. Create your new VM and point the Source VHD (Specialized disk) to the copied VHD

More details about how to move Classic Image to ARM and use it to create VMs you can refer to this link .