Virtual Geek

I will explore Enter-AzVM cmdlet in this blog article which is a part of az.ssh module and establishes a connection over SSH port 22. In this article I will show how to setup windows server to accept SSH connection. Before you start, make sure you've using below commands.:

1. Installed OpenSSH Server on your Windows Server
2. Started and enabled the sshd service
3. Opened firewall port 22 for SSH

## Install OpenSSH Server on windows ##

Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

#############################################################################
## Start and enable ssh service ##

Start-Service sshd
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType 'Automatic'

#############################################################################
## Allow Firewall port 22 for SSH ##

if (!(Get-NetFirewallRule -Name "OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name, Enabled)) {
    Write-Output "Firewall Rule 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' does not exist, creating it..."
    New-NetFirewallRule -Name 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' -DisplayName 'OpenSSH Server (sshd)' -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -Action Allow -LocalPort 22
} else {
    Write-Output "Firewall rule 'OpenSSH-Server-In-TCP' has been created and exists."
}

There are other methods if instead of SSH you want to connect over WinRM you can check previous blog: How to Run PowerShell Commands on Azure VMs Remotely

Next, update your Network Security Group (NSG) to allow inbound SSH traffic, Here is simple PowerShell script, just feed the data in variables. 

$vmName = 'devvm'
$resourceGroupName = 'vdev.vcloud-lab.com'
$nsgName = 'devvm-nsg'
$nsgRuleConfig = @{
    Name = 'Allow-SSH'
    Description = 'Allow SSH Port 22'
    Access = 'Allow'
    Protocol = '*'
    Direction = 'Inbound'
    Priority = '2000'
    SourceAddressPrefix = '*'
    SourcePortRange = '*'
    DestinationAddressPrefix = '*'
    DestinationPortRange = '22'
}

Get-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -Name $nsgName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName | Add-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig @nsgRuleConfig | Set-AzNetworkSecurityGroup

I can confirm network security group rule is updated to allow port 22 SSH.

Finally use Enter-AzVM command to connect to Azure VM and you are connected to Azure Windows VM over SSH. Just to know this is interactive method for non interactive way check my previous blog: How to Run PowerShell Commands on Azure VMs Remotely. 

If incase command not found make sure you Install-Module az.ssh which is one of the require ment.

Enter-AzVM -Name $vmName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -LocalUser azureadmin

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