Create an Azure VM with Azure REST API with PowerShell

I like to work with REST APIs in the past, so I decided to head over to the Azure REST API and create an Azure VM with Powershell and Azure Rest API. I thought I would do it in a quick session between two appointments but failed miserably. It took me a few hours to figure out how to deal with Azure REST API, especially with the correct JSON, to provide the Image I need.

So, this is a walk-through post because some steps need to be prepared.

In the end, you will get a PowerShell Script which will create an Azure VM using Azure REST API without any Credentials Prompts. We need an Azure App Registration and assign the correct Roles, Ressource Group, existing NEtwork Interface, and other Properties to achieve this.

I have written a GRAPH API Series, where i explained how to create an Azure App Registration, so if there is something not clear, read that: MS Graph API

Azure App Regsitration for Azure REST API

Of course, we want to have a Script that will run without user interaction, so we need to create an Azure App Registration for this.

So let’s create an Azure App Regsitration and note the Application and Tenant ID because we need that for our Script.

Also, create a Client Secret and copy that Secret to use it for the PowerShell Script.

Use those Values in the Script at that Place

Now let’s assign a Role to that App Registration and remember the Name you gave your App.

Navigate to your Subscription, where the VM is created, and navigate to “Access control (IAM).”

Click “Add” and “Add role assignment.”

As Role select “Contributor” and enter the App Name in “Select” and choose the App

Click “Save” to make sure the App has the Role assigned.

As we are right now in the Subscription Section, navigate back to “Overview,” and note the Subscription ID for the PowerShell Script

and enter that ID to the PowerShell Script.

Script Variables

Now let’s go through our Variables in the Script and how to use them.

VM Details

Those three should be easy. Make sure the RessourceGroup and NetworkInterface exist.

The VMName can be anything and will be created during the Script.

Location

Location Value can be a little tricky to get the correct value.

The Easiest Way to get a list with all Locations in your Subscription, run the following CMDlet from the AZ Module

Get-AzLocation

that will result in a list of Locations

To help, here is a Table from 18.08.2021; use the “Location” Value for the Script.

Location	DisplayName	Providers
eastasia	East Asia	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
southeastasia	Southeast Asia	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
centralus	Central US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
eastus	East US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
eastus2	East US 2	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westus	West US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
northcentralus	North Central US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
southcentralus	South Central US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
northeurope	North Europe	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westeurope	West Europe	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
japanwest	Japan West	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
japaneast	Japan East	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
brazilsouth	Brazil South	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
australiaeast	Australia East	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
australiasoutheast	Australia Southeast	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
southindia	South India	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
centralindia	Central India	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westindia	West India	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
canadacentral	Canada Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
canadaeast	Canada East	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
uksouth	UK South	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
ukwest	UK West	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westcentralus	West Central US	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westus2	West US 2	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
koreacentral	Korea Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
koreasouth	Korea South	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
francecentral	France Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
francesouth	France South	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
australiacentral	Australia Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
australiacentral2	Australia Central 2	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
uaecentral	UAE Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
uaenorth	UAE North	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
southafricanorth	South Africa North	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
southafricawest	South Africa West	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
switzerlandnorth	Switzerland North	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
switzerlandwest	Switzerland West	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
germanynorth	Germany North	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
germanywestcentral	Germany West Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
norwaywest	Norway West	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
norwayeast	Norway East	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
brazilsoutheast	Brazil Southeast	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
westus3	West US 3	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]
swedencentral	Sweden Central	System.Collections.Generic.List`1[System.String]

Image Settings

Now there is the most tricky part, at least for me in that example. To Find the correct Server Image to install. In our example, I use an existing Image from the Marketplace and install the latest Server 2019.

So, how to get that Values?

Run that command to get a list of Publisher

Get-AzVMImagePublisher -Location $Location | Select PublisherName

$publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsServer"

Now, run the following to get the Offer Names

Get-AzVMImageOffer -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher | select Offer

$offer = "WindowsServer"

Now its time to get the SKU with that command

Get-AzVMImageSku -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher -Offer $offer | select SKUS


$sku = "2019-Datacenter"

You can use the “Latest” Value to get the newest Image, but you can also use one of the values below.

Get-AzVMImage -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher -Offer $offer -Sku $sku | Select Version

The rest is now the whole Script where we connect to Azure Rest API with the Azure App Registration Details and send a JSON to create the VM.

In the end, we will wait until the Deployment is successful with a do/until the command.

The Script to create an Azure VM with PowerShell and Azure REST API


$applicationId = 'your Application ID'
$tenantId = 'your Tenant ID'
$secret = 'your Secret'

$subscriptionId = 'your Subscription ID'


#VM Details
$RessourceGroupName = "RG_TEST_TechguyNewVM"
$VMname = "TESTVM"
$NetworkInterfaceName = "TESTVM-NIC"
$vmSize="Standard_D1_v2"

#Location
$Location = "northeurope"


#Image Settings
$publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsServer"
$offer = "WindowsServer"
$sku = "2019-Datacenter"
$version = "latest"


#VM Login
$User="User"
$PW"superSa3PW!"

#API Version
$apiversion="2021-03-01"


$param = @{
  Uri    = "https://login.microsoftonline.com/$tenantId/oauth2/token?api-version=$apiversion";
  Method = 'Post';
  Body   = @{ 
    grant_type    = 'client_credentials'; 
    resource      = 'https://management.core.windows.net/'; 
    client_id     = $applicationId; 
    client_secret = $secret
  }
}

$result = Invoke-RestMethod @param
$token = $result.access_token



$headers = @{
  "Authorization" = "Bearer $($token)"
  "Content-type"  = "application/json"
}




$URL = "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$subscriptionId/resourceGroups/$RessourceGroupName/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/$($VMname)?api-version=$apiversion"

$bodyNewVMexistingNetwork = @"
    {
        "location": "$location",
        "properties": {
          "hardwareProfile": {
            "vmSize": "$VMsize"
          },
          "storageProfile": {
            "imageReference": {
              "sku": "$sku",
              "publisher": "$publisher",
              "version": "$version",
              "offer": "$offer"
            },
            "osDisk": {
              "caching": "ReadWrite",
              "managedDisk": {
                "storageAccountType": "Standard_LRS"
              },
              "name": "myVMosdisk",
              "createOption": "FromImage"
            }
          },
          "osProfile": {
            "adminUsername": "$User",
            "computerName": "$VMname",
            "adminPassword": "$PW"
          },
          "networkProfile": {
            "networkInterfaces": [
            {
                "id": "/subscriptions/$subscriptionId/resourceGroups/$RessourceGroupName/providers/Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/$NetworkInterfaceName",
                "properties": {
                  "primary": true
                }
              } 
              ]
            }
          }
        } 
      } 
    }
"@


Invoke-RestMethod -Method PUT -URI $URL -headers $headers -body $bodyNewVMexistingNetwork



### Get Status

do {
  $URLtoGet = "https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$subscriptionId/resourceGroups/$RessourceGroupName/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/$($VMname)?api-version=$apiversion"
  $Result = Invoke-RestMethod -Method GET -URI $URLtoGet -headers $headers
  $result.properties.provisioningState
  Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
} until ($result.properties.provisioningState -ne "Creating")





##Connect-AzAccount
#Get-AzVMImagePublisher -Location $Location | Select PublisherName
#Get-AzVMImageOffer -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher | select Offer
#Get-AzVMImageSku -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher -Offer $offer | select SKUS
#Get-AzVMImage -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher -Offer $offer -Sku $sku | Select Version
##
#
#Get-AzVMImage -Location $Location -PublisherName $publisher -Offer $offer -Skus $sku -Version $version

Self Service Azure VM Creation with au2mator Self Service Portal

Self Service and delegate your Azure VM creation with au2mator Self Service Portal – LINK

GitHub Repo

Here is the Azure REST API GitHub Repo with other examples: Seidlm/Microsoft-Azure Examples (github.com)

External Docs

Virtual Machines – REST API (Azure Compute) | Microsoft Docs

Michael Seidl aka Techguy
au2mate everything

Create an Azure VM with Azure REST API with PowerShell

Azure App Regsitration for Azure REST API

Script Variables

VM Details

Location

Image Settings

The Script to create an Azure VM with PowerShell and Azure REST API

Self Service Azure VM Creation with au2mator Self Service Portal

GitHub Repo

External Docs

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Azure App Regsitration for Azure REST API

Script Variables

VM Details

Location

Image Settings

The Script to create an Azure VM with PowerShell and Azure REST API

Self Service Azure VM Creation with au2mator Self Service Portal

GitHub Repo

External Docs

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Like this:

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