#MVPLABSerie Azure Hybrid with Arc Enabled Windows Servers on-premises #AzureHybrid #Winserv

October 2, 2022 by James van den Berg Leave a comment

Microsoft Azure Hybrid with Arc enabled Servers

the last MVPLABSerie blogposts was about Windows Servers Insider with mvplab.local domain and SQL Clustering on-premises :

Today every company wants to benefit from Cloud to achieve more for the business. Microsoft made Azure Arc to simplify governance and management by delivering a consistent multi-cloud and on-premises management platform.

Microsoft Azure Hybrid

In the following steps we are going to onboard the Windows Insider Servers and Windows 11 Insider Beta Virtual Machine which are running in mvplab.local domain into the Microsoft Azure Cloud. We will install the Azure Connected Machine Agent via a PowerShell Script in the next steps :

Login in the Azure Portal

1. Search for azure arc
2. Click on Azure Arc.

Getting Started with Azure Arc

Click on Servers and then Click on Add.

Here you can Choose for the right script.
I choose for Add Multiple Servers with a Service Principle.
Click on Generate Script.

Read the prerequisites access to port 443.
view Outbound URLs link.
Click Next

Select the right Azure Subscription and Resource Group.
Select your Azure Region.
Select Operating System
Select the Connectivity method.
Click on Next

If you don’t have a Azure Service principal, you can create one here.

Click on Create Service principal.

Create your Service Principal

Copy your Client ID and Client Secret !
You need this later.

Select the just created Service Principal.

Here you can Tag the Arc Servers.
Here you can read more about Tagging
Click on Next

Choose the Deployment method :
Basic Script or Configuration Manager ( I choose for Basic)
Download the Script

I have copied the script to my Domain Controller On-premises here.

Open with PowerShell ISE the OnboardingScript.ps1
and Copy / Paste your
Service Principal Client ID and Secret here in the Script.
Click on save and run the script.

Start PowerShell in Admin modus

Run Script .\OnboardingScript.ps1

Server is connected with Azure 🙂

Here is the Azure Arc Enabled Server, my Domain Controller.

Here I have all the Azure Arc Capabilities available for my Domain Controller.
Azure Hybrid

With the Same Script I added the mvplab.local Windows Insider Servers to Azure
They are all Azure Arc Enabled Servers.

On all Azure Arc enabled Servers is the Azure Connected Machine Agent installed.

Conclusion

In a simple way you can deploy Azure Arc agent on your on-premises Servers to make them Azure Arc Enabled so you can enjoy the Azure Hybrid features from the Cloud. IT management and Security from Azure becomes available for your on-premises Servers.
It’s not only Infrastructure but also Data Services and Application Services what you can use for your Azure Hybrid Solution.
In the next Blogpost we will have a look at the Microsoft Azure Arc Features in my mvplab.local domain.

Author: James van den Berg

I'm Microsoft Architect and ICT Specialist and Microsoft MVP Cloud and Datacenter Management Microsoft MVP Windows Insider Microsoft Tech Community Insider Microsoft Azure Advisor