Deploy Azure Stack PoC

To deploy the Azure Stack POC, you first need to download the deployment package, prepare the deployment machine, and then run the PowerShell deployment script.

Download and extract Microsoft Azure Stack POC

1. Before you start the download, make sure that your computer meets the following prerequisites:

   • The computer must have at least 60 GB of free disk space.
   • .NET Framework 4.6 (or a later version) must be installed.

2. Go to the Get Started page, provide your details, and click Submit.

3. Under Download the software, click Azure Stack.
4. Run the downloaded AzureStackDownloader.exe file.
5. In the Azure Stack POC Downloader window, follow steps 1 through 5. After you click Download, choose a folder to download the files.
6. After the download completes, click Run to launch the MicrosoftAzureStackPOC.exe.
7. Review the License Agreement screen and information of the Self-Extractor Wizard and then click Next.
8. Review the Privacy Statement screen and information of the Self-Extractor Wizard and then click Next.
9. Select the Destination for the files to be extracted, click Next.
   • The default is:  :<current folder>\Microsoft Azure Stack POC
10. Review the Destination location screen and information of the Self-Extractor Wizard, and then click Extract to extract the CloudBuilder.vhdx (~35 GB) and ThirdPartyLicenses.rtf files.

Note

After you extract the files, you can delete the exe and bin files to recover space on the machine. Or, you can move these files to another location so that if you need to redeploy you don’t need to download the files again.

Prepare the deployment machine

1. Make sure that you can physically connect to the deployment machine, or have physical console access (such as KVM). You will need such access after you reboot the deployment machine in step 9 below.
2. Make sure the deployment machine meets the minimum requirements. You can use the Deployment Checker for Azure Stack to confirm your requirements.
3. Log in as the Local Administrator to your POC machine.

4. Copy the CloudBuilder.vhdx file to the root of the C:\ drive (C:\CloudBuilder.vhdx).

   Note

   If you choose not to use the recommended script to prepare your POC host computer (steps 5 – step 7), do not enter any license key at the activation page. A trial version of Windows Server 2016 image is included, and entering a license key causes expiration warning messages.

5. On the POC machine, run the following PowerShell script to download the Azure Stack support files:

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   PowerShell

    # Variables
    $Uri = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/AzureStack-Tools/master/Deployment/'
    $LocalPath = 'c:\AzureStack_SupportFiles'
   
    # Create folder
    New-Item $LocalPath -type directory
   
    # Download files
    ( 'BootMenuNoKVM.ps1', 'PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1', 'Unattend.xml', 'unattend_NoKVM.xml') | foreach { Invoke-WebRequest ($uri + $_) -OutFile ($LocalPath + '\' + $_) }
   

   This script downloads the Azure Stack support files to the folder specified by the $LocalPath parameter.

6. Open an elevated PowerShell console and change the directory to where you copied the support files.

7. Run the PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1 script. This script and the unattend files are available with the other support scripts provided along with this build. There are five parameters for this PowerShell script:

   Parameter	Required/Optional	Description
   CloudBuilderDiskPath	Required	The path to the CloudBuilder.vhdx on the HOST.
   DriverPath	Optional	Lets you add additional drivers for the host in the VHD.
   ApplyUnattend	Optional	Specify this switch parameter to automate the configuration of the operating system. If specified, the user must provide the AdminPassword to configure the OS at boot (requires provided accompanying file unattend_NoKVM.xml). If you do not use this parameter, the generic unattend.xml file is used without further customization. You'll need KVM access to complete customization after it reboots.
   AdminPassword	Optional	Only used when the ApplyUnattend parameter is set, requires a minimum of six characters.
   VHDLanguage	Optional	Specifies the VHD language, defaulted to “en-US.”

   The script is documented and contains example usage, though the most common usage is:

   .\PrepareBootFromVHD.ps1 -CloudBuilderDiskPath C:\CloudBuilder.vhdx -ApplyUnattend

   If you run this exact command, you must enter the AdminPassword at the prompt.

8. When the script is complete, you must confirm the reboot. If there are other users logged in, this command will fail. If the command fails, run the following command: Restart-Computer -force
9. The HOST reboots into the OS of the CloudBuilder.vhdx, where the deployment continues.

Run the PowerShell deployment script

1. Log in as the Local Administrator to your POC machine. Use the credentials specified in the previous steps.

   Important

   Azure Stack requires access to the Internet, either directly or through a transparent proxy. The POC deployment supports exactly one NIC for networking. If you have multiple NICs, make sure that only one is enabled (and all others are disabled) before running the deployment script in the next section.

2. Open an elevated PowerShell console.

3. In PowerShell, run this command: cd C:\CloudDeployment\Setup. If you don't supply any parameters (see InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 optional parameters below), you'll be prompted for the required parameters.

4. You can deploy Azure Stack with Azure Active Directory or Active Directory Federation Services. Azure Stack, resource providers, and other applications work the same way with both. To learn more about what is supported with AD FS in Azure Stack, see the Key features and concepts article.

   To deploy Azure Stack with Azure Active Directory, run the deploy command:

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   PowerShell

    cd C:\CloudDeployment\Setup 
    $adminpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "〈LOCAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD〉" -AsPlainText -Force 
    .\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass
   

   To deploy the Azure Stack POC with Active Directory Federation Services instead, run the following script (you just need to add the -UseADFS parameter):

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   PowerShell

    cd C:\CloudDeployment\Setup 
    $adminpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "〈LOCAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD〉" -AsPlainText -Force 
    .\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass -UseADFS
   

   In this AD FS deployment, the default stamp Directory Service is used as the identity provider, the default account to sign in with is azurestackadmin@azurestack.local, and the password to use is the one you provided as part of the setup.

5. If you used the AAD option, enter the credentials for your Azure Active Directory account. This user must be the Global Admin in the directory tenant.

6. The deployment process can take a few hours, during which the system automatically reboots once.

   Important

   If you want to monitor the deployment progress, sign in as azurestack\AzureStackAdmin. If you sign in as a local admin after the machine is joined to the domain, you won't see the deployment progress. Do not rerun deployment, instead sign in as azurestack\AzureStackAdmin to validate that it's running.

   When the deployment succeeds, the PowerShell console displays: COMPLETE: Action ‘Deployment’.

   If the deployment fails, you can try run the script again using the -rerun parameter. Or, you can redeploy it from scratch.

AAD deployment script examples

You can script the entire AAD deployment. Here are some examples.

If your AAD Identity is only associated with ONE AAD Directory:

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cd C:\CloudDeployment\Setup
$adminpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<LOCAL ADMIN PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadcred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT>", $aadpass)
.\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass -InfraAzureDirectoryTenantAdminCredential $aadcred

If your AAD Identity is associated with GREATER THAN ONE AAD Directory:

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cd C:\CloudDeployment\Setup
$adminpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<LOCAL ADMIN PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadpass = ConvertTo-SecureString "<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT PASSWORD>" -AsPlainText -Force
$aadcred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ("<AAD GLOBAL ADMIN ACCOUNT> example: user@AADDirName.onmicrosoft.com>", $aadpass)
.\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass -InfraAzureDirectoryTenantAdminCredential $aadcred -InfraAzureDirectoryTenantName "<SPECIFIC AAD DIRECTORY example: AADDirName.onmicrosoft.com>"

If your environment DOESN'T have DHCP enabled, you must include the following ADDITIONAL parameters to one of the options above (example usage provided):

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.\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 -AdminPassword $adminpass -InfraAzureDirectoryTenantAdminCredential $aadcred
-NatIPv4Subnet 10.10.10.0/24 -NatIPv4Address 10.10.10.3 -NatIPv4DefaultGateway 10.10.10.1

InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 optional parameters

Parameter	Required/Optional	Description
InfraAzureDirectoryTenantAdminCredential	Optional	Sets the Azure Active Directory user name and password. These Azure credentials must be an Org ID.
InfraAzureDirectoryTenantName	Required	Sets the tenant directory. Use this parameter to specify a specific directory where the AAD account has permissions to manage multiple directories. Full Name of an AAD Directory Tenant in the format of  .onmicrosoft.com.
AdminPassword	Required	Sets the local administrator account and all other user accounts on all the virtual machines created as part of POC deployment. This password must match the current local administrator password on the host.
AzureEnvironment	Optional	Select the Azure Environment with which you want to register this Azure Stack deployment. Options include Public Azure, Azure - China, Azure - US Government.
EnvironmentDNS	Optional	A DNS server is created as part of the Azure Stack deployment. To allow computers inside the solution to resolve names outside of the stamp, provide your existing infrastructure DNS server. The in-stamp DNS server forwards unknown name resolution requests to this server.
NatIPv4Address	Required for DHCP NAT support	Sets a static IP address for MAS-BGPNAT01. Only use this parameter if the DHCP can’t assign a valid IP address to access the Internet.
NatIPv4DefaultGateway	Required for DHCP NAT support	Sets the default gateway used with the static IP address for MAS-BGPNAT01. Only use this parameter if the DHCP can’t assign a valid IP address to access the Internet.
NatIPv4Subnet	Required for DHCP NAT support	IP Subnet prefix used for DHCP over NAT support. Only use this parameter if the DHCP can’t assign a valid IP address to access the Internet.
PublicVLan	Optional	Sets the VLAN ID. Only use this parameter if the host and MAS-BGPNAT01 must configure VLAN ID to access the physical network (and Internet). For example, .\InstallAzureStackPOC.ps1 –Verbose –PublicVLan 305
Rerun	Optional	Use this flag to rerun deployment. All previous input is used. Re-entering data previously provided is not supported because several unique values are generated and used for deployment.
TimeServer	Optional	Use this parameter if you need to specify a specific time server.

Reset the password expiration to 180 days

To make sure that the password for the Azure Stack POC machine doesn't expire too soon, follow these steps after you deploy:

1. Log in to the Azure Stack POC physical machine as azurestack\azurestackadmin.

2. Run the following command to display the current MaxPasswordAge of 42 days: Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy

3. Run the following command to update the MaxPasswordAge to 180 days:

   Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy -MaxPasswordAge 180.00:00:00 -Identity azurestack.local

4. Run the following command again to confirm the password age change: Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-stack/azure-stack-run-powershell-script