Hello Readers and Viewers!

By now, you have likely seen Brad Anderson’s Blog Post (VMware Migration… Like You’ve Never Seen) and its associated video, starring Building Cloud Blog’s very own Migration Mark! And sure, I have a cameo, but let’s be honest, that movie is all about The Migrator and the amazing MAT (powered by Project Shift).

Background

So why do I bring it up? Well, at the 04:03 timestamp, I bravely profess, “Extending your migration to Windows Azure is easy. It’s like 5 more lines of PowerShell…(elevator music while sped up demo plays)…actually, it’s like magic.”

And while it may not be EXACTLY like magic, it is possible. That is what this blog series is all about.

First, a message from its predecessor

I do want to pause briefly to call-out that this is not the first time we have seen this kind of fancy-chocolate-rainbow-filled-magic in the wild. No, it was first introduced (at least by me, I am sure others have talked about it  too) here on the Building Clouds Blog back in February 2013: Automation–Orchestrating Windows Azure–Solving the Public Cloud Puzzle with System Center 2012 SP1.

Back then it was rolled up as part of my “Orchestrating Windows Azure” example solution. It was the third use case in that solution, and demonstrated at the 11:48 timestamp of the associated video: Demo of OnPrem VM Move to Windows Azure via System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator and PS.

This portion of the existing solution executed the PowerShell necessary to upload a VHD to Windows Azure and then deploy a VM based on that uploaded VHD into an existing Windows Azure environment (Affinity Group, Cloud Service, Storage Resources, etc.). This Windows Azure environment was pre-created as part of the first portion of the existing solution (demonstrated in that same video at the 00:58 timestamp: Demo of Windows Azure VM Deployment Creation via System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator), and built using System Center Orchestrator's Integration Pack for Windows Azure.

End history lesson.

Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure – Automated

What I have for you in this blog series is a little different. The examples here are 100% PowerShell, no System Center Orchestrator or Integration Packs required. I did this for two reasons:

1. To offer something new, different and more foundational - leveraging out-of-the-box Windows Server functionality (Windows PowerShell) with easily accessible Command line tools (Windows Azure PowerShell)
2. To provide a simple transition for this use case, from Orchestrator to Service Management Automation (Part 2 of this blog series is all about PowerShell Workflow)

What’s being automated?

The examples provided include the following High Level Concepts:

1. Creation of a new Public Cloud Environment (Affinity Group, Cloud Service, Storage Resources, etc.), leveraging an existing Subscription to Windows Azure
2. Copying a VHD from an “On-Prem” Windows Server to that new Public Cloud Environment in Windows Azure
3. Creation of a VM Image from that uploaded VHD, and then creation of a VM based on that VM Image
4. Deprovisioning of all Provisioned Public Cloud Environment resources

Note     Obviously, there are other methods and concepts to be automated for Windows Azure - these are just the ones I chose for the examples in this blog series.

High Level Concept Commands

Public Cloud Environment Provisioning

1. Establish Windows Azure Subscription Connection
2. Create Windows Azure Affinity Group
3. Create Windows Azure Cloud Service
4. Create Windows Azure Storage Account
5. Create Windows Azure Storage Container
6. Upload “On-Prem” VHD to Windows Azure Storage Container
7. Copy Windows Azure Blob
8. Create Windows Azure VM Image
9. Create Windows Azure VM

Note     Remember, this is a “ground up” (or “On-Prem” up – RDRR) example solution. It assumes no (and does not require) other (related) Affinity Groups, Cloud Services, Storage Resources, etc. before creation.

Public Cloud Environment Deprovisioning

1. Establish Windows Azure Subscription Connection
2. Remove Windows Azure VM
3. Remove Windows Azure VM Image
4. Remove Windows Azure VM Disks
5. Remove Windows Azure Storage Account (and Storage Account Resources)
6. Remove Windows Azure Cloud Service
7. Remove Windows Azure Affinity Group

Automating Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure and PowerShell - Blog Series - Table of Contents

I broke this “Automating Windows Azure” topic up into four posts – primarily to make it easier to reference externally (based on varied interest levels).

• Automation–Automating Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure and PowerShell (Part 1): Introduction and Table of Contents
• Automation–Automating Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure and PowerShell (Part 2): Public Cloud Environment Provisioning PowerShell Examples
• Automation–Automating Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure and PowerShell (Part 3): Public Cloud Environment Provisioning PowerShell Workflow Examples
• Automation–Automating Hybrid Clouds with Windows Azure and PowerShell (Part 4): Public Cloud Environment Deprovisioning PowerShell Examples

Note     While every bit of my examples will be encapsulated within the various blog series posts, once I have published all the posts, I will be adding a TechNet Contribution, tagging it with “Building Clouds”, and placing a link to it in this section for each of the blog series parts. Be sure to check back here for the download link, once Part 4 has been published.

<#Just as an FYI - And sure - I know this post is a bit more “teaser” than you may have expected. Me too. I started this blog post thinking I would include the first set of PowerShell Examples, but based on the raw amount of introduction content,  I decided to break it out. This doesn’t mean you have to wait forever for Part 2, nay, the scripts are complete, I just need to cram them into a formatted blog post. So, look for the completion of this series (and promised collection of scripts as part of a TechNet Contribution) by early next week (Nov.18.2013).#>

Thanks for checking out this blog series! For more information, tips/tricks, and example solutions for Automation within System Center, Windows Azure Pack, Windows Azure, etc., be sure to check out the other blog posts from Building Clouds in the Automation Track!

enJOY!