Gain insights into DevOps in Azure, learn configuration management, CI/CD, and Infrastructure as Code. Explore tools as GitHub and Kubernetes through hands-on projects to become a DevOps professional.

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This course is for anyone in IT or software engineering who wants to learn more about DevOps and, specifically, how to follow DevOps practices in Azure. Whether you’re a system administrator, engineer, developer, or IT manager, this course will help you understand what it takes to deliver more value to customers with DevOps.

You will dive into concepts like configuration management, continuous integration/continuous delivery, and Infrastructure as Code. You will learn the key tools used by DevOps professionals such as: the command line, Visual Studio Code, GitHub, Kubernetes, and more.

You will complete various projects throughout the course where each chapter’s project is designed in a step-by-step manner to walk you through using the tool just as you would in your daily life.

By the time you finish, you will have the foundations in place to become a DevOps professional.

The Complete Guide to DevOps in Azure

## Azure load balancer

An Azure load balancer consists of three components: the frontend IP address configuration, the backend IP pool, and the load balancer itself. You’ll see that each of these components needs a name in the below given code snippet.

- Frontend IP address configuration called `NoBSAzureLb-LbFeIP`.

- Backend IP address pool called `NoBSAzureLb-AddrPool`.
- An Azure Load Balancer called `NoBSAzureLb-Lb`.

> *Note the names used here are not mandatory. You may use any name you'd like.*

Each of these components comes together to create a `Basic` load balancer. The command below could create a `Standard` SKU too, which provides more advanced functionality, but it is not needed for this project.

```PowerShell
$lbName = "$projectName-Lb"
$lbFeIp = "$projectName-LbFeIp"
$lbAddrPool = "$projectName-AddrPool"
az network lb create `
    --name $lbName `
    --public-ip-address $pipName `
    --sku Basic `
    --frontend-ip-name $lbFeIp `
    --backend-pool-name $lbAddrPool
```

## Health probe

When the project is complete, the load balancer needs a place to send web traffic to. For this project, that traffic will go to a VM availability set with three VMs. To ensure the website remains functional at all times, the load balancer must know how to determine if a VM is functional or not. The load balancer needs to know if each VM is "healthy" or serving up a web page.

To ensure the load balancer knows the status of all of the VMs, it uses a health probe.

Since the load balancer is set to the *Basic* SKU, you have two options: *TCP* or *HTTP*. The *Standard* SKU provides a *HTTPS* health probe.  The following code snippet is using the *HTTP* health probe (`protocol`) on TCP port 80 (`port`), probing the root of the web directory (`/`).

```PowerShell
$lbProbeName = "$lbName-HealthProbe"
az network lb probe create `
    --lb-name $lbName `
    --name $lbProbeName `
    --port 80 `
    --protocol http `
    --path /
```

Once operational, the health probe above will continually check each VM to ensure the website is listening on port 80 and returns an HTTP 200 request.

## Load balancer rules

As is, the load balancer doesn't know where to send traffic to. Let's fix that with a load balancer rule. The load balancer rule is a "mapping" that "maps" a frontend IP address and port to a backend port with a health probe.

The following code snippet is creating a rule to:

- Direct all traffic coming into the frontend IP configuration (`frontend-ip-name`) on TCP port 80 (`protocol` and `frontend-port`).
- An available VM's TCP port 80 (`protocol` and `backend-port`).
- First ensure the VM is healthy by checking the status of the health probe (`probe-name`).

```PowerShell
az network lb rule create `
    --lb-name $lbName `
    --name "$lbName-RuleWeb" `
    --protocol tcp `
    --frontend-port 80 `
    --backend-port 80 `
    --frontend-ip-name $lbFeIp `
    --backend-pool-name $lbAddrPool `
    --probe-name $lbProbeName
```

Once created, the load balancer now knows how to handle web traffic coming in via the public IP.

## VM availability set

The load balancer currently knows how to handle web traffic, but it has nothing to send it to. Let's now create a target serving up a simple website using some VMs.


To create the VM availability set, the VMs, their NICs, and to install IIS, you should run the following code.

```PowerShell
$availabilitySetName = "$projectName-VmAvailSet"
az vm availability-set create --name $availabilitySetName

$obj = [pscustomobject]@{
    "fileUris"         = @("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NoBSDevOps/BookResources/master/Part%20I%3A%20Tools/Azure%20Load%20Balancers/Install-IIS.ps1")
    "commandToExecute" = "powershell.exe .\Install-IIS.ps1"
}
$obj | ConvertTo-Json | Set-Content './iis_custom_script_settings.json'

0..2 | ForEach-Object {
	## Assign the variables here to reuse
    $vmName = "$projectName-$_"
    $nicName = "$vmName-Nic"
    
    # Create the VM's NIC assigning it to all of the resources created earlier
    az network nic create `
        --name $nicName `
        --vnet-name $vNetName --subnet $subNetName `
        --network-security-group $nsgName --lb-name $lbName `
        --lb-address-pools $lbAddrPool

    <# Create the VM and:
        - Assign it to an availability set
        - Using the latest Windows Server Datacenter 2019 image
        - Assign the NIC just created
        - Define an arbitrary size (Standard_DS1_v2) not required. Define based on expected load
        - VM admin and password for the local administrator account
	#>
    az vm create `
        --name $vmName `
        --availability-set $availabilitySetName `
        --image MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter:latest `
        --nics $nicName `
        --size 'Standard_DS1_v2' `
        --admin-password 'I like azure.' `
        --admin-username 'NoBS'
    ## Install the Windows custom script extension on the VM telling it to download
    ## the Install-IIS.ps1 script
    az vm extension set `
        --vm-name $vmName --name CustomScriptExtension `
        --publisher Microsoft.Compute `
        --settings './iis_custom_script_settings.json'
}
```

The *Install-IIS.ps1* script referenced in the code snippet installs IIS via `Install-WindowsFeature` as shown below.

```PowerShell
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
Install-WindowsFeature -Name 'Web-Server'
```

These steps will take a few minutes to run but by the time it's done, you'll have a complete project!

## Testing the load balancer

When you get control of the PowerShell console again and you see no ugly red text, all components are complete and it's time to test!

To perform a quick test of this project, first find the IP of the public IP address created earlier. Using `az network public-ip list` and a little PowerShell JSON conversion, you can find it.

```PowerShell
(az network public-ip list | ConvertFrom-Json).ipAddress
```

Once you know the public IP, now open a browser and navigate to the IP at *http:\\[public ip]*.

> *For fun, stop one or two of the VMs created earlier. If all works as designed, you should notice the sample website isn't affected at all!*

## Cleaning up

Once you’ve confirmed (hopefully) that the sample web site is active and remains that way even if a VM dies, don't forget to clean up the resources. You *will* be charged if you leave these resources on!

With the single Azure CLI command below, you can initiate the removal of the entire resource group. Using the `no-wait` argument means you won't have to wait. The process may take up to 10-15 minutes.

```PowerShell
az group delete --yes --no-wait
```

## Project conclusion

You're done! If you've stuck with the entire project section in this chapter, nice job! That was a lot of Azure CLI wielding you've done. It's important to understand the concepts and *why* some commands do what they do and what your options are.

Clean up the resource group and go through it again, experiment, see what options you have, and investigate what else is possible when setting up a load-balanced website!

## Try it yourself!
Press the **Run** button and practice all these commands yourself after providing the environment variables. 


# Azure load balancer

An Azure load balancer consists of three components: the frontend IP address configuration, the backend IP pool, and the load balancer itself. You’ll see that each of these components needs a name in the below given code snippet.

- Frontend IP address configuration called `NoBSAzureLb-LbFeIP`.

- Backend IP address pool called `NoBSAzureLb-AddrPool`.
- An Azure Load Balancer called `NoBSAzureLb-Lb`.

> *Note the names used here are not mandatory. You may use any name you'd like.*

Each of these components comes together to create a `Basic` load balancer. The command below could create a `Standard` SKU too, which provides more advanced functionality, but it is not needed for this project.

```PowerShell
$lbName = "$projectName-Lb"
$lbFeIp = "$projectName-LbFeIp"
$lbAddrPool = "$projectName-AddrPool"
az network lb create `
    --name $lbName `
    --public-ip-address $pipName `
    --sku Basic `
    --frontend-ip-name $lbFeIp `
    --backend-pool-name $lbAddrPool
```

# Health probe

When the project is complete, the load balancer needs a place to send web traffic to. For this project, that traffic will go to a VM availability set with three VMs. To ensure the website remains functional at all times, the load balancer must know how to determine if a VM is functional or not. The load balancer needs to know if each VM is "healthy" or serving up a web page.

To ensure the load balancer knows the status of all of the VMs, it uses a health probe.

Since the load balancer is set to the *Basic* SKU, you have two options: *TCP* or *HTTP*. The *Standard* SKU provides a *HTTPS* health probe.  The following code snippet is using the *HTTP* health probe (`protocol`) on TCP port 80 (`port`), probing the root of the web directory (`/`).

```PowerShell
$lbProbeName = "$lbName-HealthProbe"
az network lb probe create `
    --lb-name $lbName `
    --name $lbProbeName `
    --port 80 `
    --protocol http `
    --path /
```

Once operational, the health probe above will continually check each VM to ensure the website is listening on port 80 and returns an HTTP 200 request.

# Load balancer rules

As is, the load balancer doesn't know where to send traffic to. Let's fix that with a load balancer rule. The load balancer rule is a "mapping" that "maps" a frontend IP address and port to a backend port with a health probe.

The following code snippet is creating a rule to:

- Direct all traffic coming into the frontend IP configuration (`frontend-ip-name`) on TCP port 80 (`protocol` and `frontend-port`).
- An available VM's TCP port 80 (`protocol` and `backend-port`).
- First ensure the VM is healthy by checking the status of the health probe (`probe-name`).

```PowerShell
az network lb rule create `
    --lb-name $lbName `
    --name "$lbName-RuleWeb" `
    --protocol tcp `
    --frontend-port 80 `
    --backend-port 80 `
    --frontend-ip-name $lbFeIp `
    --backend-pool-name $lbAddrPool `
    --probe-name $lbProbeName
```

Once created, the load balancer now knows how to handle web traffic coming in via the public IP.

# VM availability set

The load balancer currently knows how to handle web traffic, but it has nothing to send it to. Let's now create a target serving up a simple website using some VMs.


To create the VM availability set, the VMs, their NICs, and to install IIS, you should run the following code.

```PowerShell
$availabilitySetName = "$projectName-VmAvailSet"
az vm availability-set create --name $availabilitySetName

$obj = [pscustomobject]@{
    "fileUris"         = @("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NoBSDevOps/BookResources/master/Part%20I%3A%20Tools/Azure%20Load%20Balancers/Install-IIS.ps1")
    "commandToExecute" = "powershell.exe .\Install-IIS.ps1"
}
$obj | ConvertTo-Json | Set-Content './iis_custom_script_settings.json'

0..2 | ForEach-Object {
	## Assign the variables here to reuse
    $vmName = "$projectName-$_"
    $nicName = "$vmName-Nic"
    
    # Create the VM's NIC assigning it to all of the resources created earlier
    az network nic create `
        --name $nicName `
        --vnet-name $vNetName --subnet $subNetName `
        --network-security-group $nsgName --lb-name $lbName `
        --lb-address-pools $lbAddrPool

    <# Create the VM and:
        - Assign it to an availability set
        - Using the latest Windows Server Datacenter 2019 image
        - Assign the NIC just created
        - Define an arbitrary size (Standard_DS1_v2) not required. Define based on expected load
        - VM admin and password for the local administrator account
	#>
    az vm create `
        --name $vmName `
        --availability-set $availabilitySetName `
        --image MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter:latest `
        --nics $nicName `
        --size 'Standard_DS1_v2' `
        --admin-password 'I like azure.' `
        --admin-username 'NoBS'
    ## Install the Windows custom script extension on the VM telling it to download
    ## the Install-IIS.ps1 script
    az vm extension set `
        --vm-name $vmName --name CustomScriptExtension `
        --publisher Microsoft.Compute `
        --settings './iis_custom_script_settings.json'
}
```

The *Install-IIS.ps1* script referenced in the code snippet installs IIS via `Install-WindowsFeature` as shown below.

```PowerShell
$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
Install-WindowsFeature -Name 'Web-Server'
```

These steps will take a few minutes to run but by the time it's done, you'll have a complete project!

# Testing the load balancer

When you get control of the PowerShell console again and you see no ugly red text, all components are complete and it's time to test!

To perform a quick test of this project, first find the IP of the public IP address created earlier. Using `az network public-ip list` and a little PowerShell JSON conversion, you can find it.

```PowerShell
(az network public-ip list | ConvertFrom-Json).ipAddress
```

Once you know the public IP, now open a browser and navigate to the IP at *http:\\[public ip]*.

> *For fun, stop one or two of the VMs created earlier. If all works as designed, you should notice the sample website isn't affected at all!*

# Cleaning up

Once you’ve confirmed (hopefully) that the sample web site is active and remains that way even if a VM dies, don't forget to clean up the resources. You *will* be charged if you leave these resources on!

With the single Azure CLI command below, you can initiate the removal of the entire resource group. Using the `no-wait` argument means you won't have to wait. The process may take up to 10-15 minutes.

```PowerShell
az group delete --yes --no-wait
```

# Project conclusion

You're done! If you've stuck with the entire project section in this chapter, nice job! That was a lot of Azure CLI wielding you've done. It's important to understand the concepts and *why* some commands do what they do and what your options are.

Clean up the resource group and go through it again, experiment, see what options you have, and investigate what else is possible when setting up a load-balanced website!

# Try it yourself!
Press the **Run** button and practice all these commands yourself after providing the environment variables. 


Learn how to configure an Azure Load Balancer in this lesson. 

Getting Started

Azure from the Command Line with Cloud Shell

Deploy a Flask Application Using Azure CLI

Visual Studio Code

Azure Boards

Git and GitHub

Azure VM Availability Sets

Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates

Terraform

Ansible

Azure Load Balancers

Monitoring in Azure

Azure Pipelines

Docker

Kubernetes

Conclusion

Project: Azure Load Balancers

Azure load balancer

Health probe