Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on Microsoft Azure and connect/access it on Windows Desktop

The primary purpose of writing this blog is to reduce the time spent searching for the activity mentioned in the title. I was unable to find it anywhere, so after a lot of trials and errors, I have compiled these steps to use and experience Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server on Windows (RDP) using Microsoft Azure. This tutorial will teach you to access your OS using 'Command Line Interface' as well as 'Graphical User Interface.'

Question 1: Reason why Microsoft Azure:

• Because they are generous enough to students and professionals to grant free trials to use Microsoft Azure.
• Students can visit here for a free trial.
• Others can visit here for a free trial.

Question 2: Reason why Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL):

• There are tons of tutorials available on Ubuntu and other distros but not Red Hat.
• I wanted to prepare for Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) for which I needed Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) installed to experience it.

Question 3: Why make it complicated and host it on the cloud when you have the option of dual-booting your laptop and install it on your machine simultaneously?

• I do not wish to spend the precious SSD space that is so scarce on my machine. I do not want to deal with all the partitioning involved in dual boot procedure.
• Doing dual boot is simple, but it is not generally preferred in organizations. A virtualization approach is always preferred.

Question 4: If virtualization is what you want, then use VMWare, Virtual Box, HyperV, etc. If you are creating a virtual machine in the cloud, why not create a virtual machine locally?

• Well, using local virtualization slows down the host machine as well as the virtual machine. I do not prefer slow machines. And if I try any other application on the host machine, then even that will be very slow.
• A cloud VM provides more power than your host machine can ever have. Plus, you can access it anytime, anywhere from any device.
• I love deploying everything I know on the cloud.

STEPS:

1. Configure a virtual machine on Microsoft Azure
2. Enable port on Azure
3. Download putty
4. Access terminal using putty
5. Issue necessary commands
6. Connect using RDP

Configure a virtual machine on Microsoft Azure

1. Create an account on Microsoft Azure.

2. Sign in to the portal by visiting portal.azure.com

3. Click on the three lines of option in the left uppermost corner of your Azure Portal and select Virtual Machine.

4. Click on +Add

5. Fill the details respectively and click on Review + create

6. After you click on Review + create. It will validate your configuration and once the 'Validation passed' message is displayed on top of the screen, go ahead and finally click on create as shown in the image below.

7. Once you have clicked on Create, the deployment will start and once it's done you will see the following screen:

8. Click on Go to resource button. This will take you to the respective resource where your virtual machine is deployed.

This screen shows an overview of the virtual machine that you have deployed. For further configurations and options, you can see a variety of options in the left pane where you have an Overview, Activity log, etc. Please note down the Public IP address (51.143.97.9 in my case).

9. Find the option Networking that is just below the Settings title and click it. you will see the following screen. Here you can find an option Add inbound port rule.

(Reminder: If you have not noted down the public IP address, you can still find it on this page as well near NIC Public IP: 51.143.97.9 note the respective IP address)

10. Click on Add inbound port rule which will open a small window to configure a port. Configure the inbound port rule to enable the port used by Remote Desktop (3389). Click on Add after filling the necessary details.

11. The configuration required on the Microsoft Azure side is complete. (I hope you have noted the public IP address)

Download putty

Simply visit https://www.putty.org/ and download the respective latest version of putty.

REST OF THE PROCEDURE COMING SOON