INFO386 T1 2022 Workshop 1 Azure - Virtual machineC/C++

Java Python INFO386 T1 2022

Workshop 1

Azure - Virtual machine

Introduction

Welcome to your first INFO386 Workshop! These guides are designed to help you construct a web

server on a Virtual machine. They will provide step-by-step instructions of how to construct a basic web server. While you can add flourishes on top of what is instructed here, you are expected to be able to use this content.

Azure - Virtual machine

Microsoft Azure is a set of cloud services hosted and operated by Microsoft. For more information on cloud computing, look for the weekly content on Blackboard. For the purposes of the workshops, the service used is Azure’s hosting of Virtual machines (VMs). For this course we will have you operate one of these Virtual machines. It is on this VM that the web server will be hosted using a WAMP server stack.

Figure 1: Microsoft Azure Logo

WAMP - Server Stack

A server stack, also known as a ‘solution stack’, area set of software subsystems/components which together create a platform. that fully supports the desired application. In this case, the desired application is the web server you will create. The INFO386 workshop guides will cover the creation of this web server using the WAMP software stack. The acronym WAMP stands for Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.

These four components have the following purposes for the web server platform.

●    Windows: This is the base operating system on which the web server will run.

●    Apache: This is the server software that is responsible for serving the web page when a request is made.

●     MySQL: This is the database management system that stores data for your website to use.

●     PHP: This is the scripting language which will facilitate more variable components of the website.

On top of these core components of the WAMP stack, we will be using WordPress,a content- management system used to support personal blogs.

This guide, as the title suggests, will cover the basic setting up and using your Azure account and Virtual machine on which the web server will be hosted.

Getting Started with Azure Labs

What is a Virtual machine?

Virtual machines allow you to run an operating system in an application window on your desktop that behaves like a full, separate computer. It can also be done using cloud computing, allowing you to control the Virtual machine (VM) from wherever you have an internet connection. For our web servers, we have already created template VMs for you to use

Activating your Azure Account

Go to labs.azure.com and login using your VUW student account

After logging in, you should see this screen, depending on your inquiry topic group: 

Figure 2: Microsoft Azure Labs landing page

Ensure your virtual machine is running, by using the blue toggle in the bottom left. This starts the machine, and can take up to 3 minutes each time.

If nothing is showing on your dashboard, check your student email for an invitation and follow the link to confirm your access. 

Figure 3: Account registration email

Configuring your Virtual machine (Basics)

As we have used a template VM, the configurations for your VM have already been chosen. Our Virtual Machines have the following configuration: 

Figure 4: Default ‘basics’ settings. The image (OS): We are using Windows 10

Size (Hardware size): This impacts several factors; the processing power, memory, storage capacity, and the main determining factor for the price. We have chosen a relatively smaller hardware size, as your VM will only be running a simple web server.

Cost to run the machine. Don’t worry, this is covered by the course, but an important consideration if you were going to build your own VM.

Operating your Virtual Machine

Now your machine is running, we need to connect to it using an RDP connection. To download the RDP  file, click the blue computer in the bottom right. This will download a file to your device, which includes the information for the IP Address and port number for your VM. Because the VM Public IP Address can change, you may need toredownload the RDP file after restarting your VM each time.

For Mac devices: you will also need to download and run Microsoft Remote Desktop from:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-remote-desktop/id1295203466?mt=12Once it is installed, you can run the RDP file as normal. 

Figure 5: RDP download

Once downloaded, running the file will require confirmation. For Windows, this confirmation will look like figure 6. The reason for this is that RDP connections can be used maliciously to control someone's computer. In this case, since we are just connecting to our Azure VM, you should click connect.

Figure 6: Run and confirm RDP connection

Once you’ve confirmed that you want to connect, you will have to login (Figure 7) using the password listed in the VM description, in this case it is: info386@wgtn , check with your tutor to confirm. Once submitted, it’ll ask again if you want to connect as the connection does not have a dedicated trusted certificate (Figure 8). Click yes. Now you should connect to your Virtual machine.

Figure 7: Login to your VM 

Figure 8: Trusted connection

Congratulations! You’ve logged on to your Virtual machine and are controlling it via the cloud!

Configuring your Virtual Machine

Because your Virtual machine is running Windows 10 for the first time, you will need to configure some basic privacy details. None of these settings are important for the workshops, so you can have fun and   cho INFO386 T1 2022 Workshop 1 Azure - Virtual machineC/C++ ose what you want, you may just choose to disable all of them. 

Figure 9: Privacy Settings

Complete any other set-up requirements for your new machine and then, you should now be on the Windows Desktop. From here you can treat it as any other Windows 10 computer. The VM-specific controls are at the top of the screen on a blue bar. These include the controls to minimise and close the   RDP connection. Note, some keyboard functions you’re used to, might not work the same way as normal e.g. Alt+Tab will only cycle through applications in your VM, not between the VM and your normal machine. Anytime you want to exit, for example, to read the guide, use the minimise button on the blue bar. 

Figure 10: Windows 10 & Edge browser

Operating within your Virtual machine

Now that you’ve got a fully functioning Windows 10 Virtual machine, try using it to browse the internet and set up your work environment. You can log onto Blackboard or Facebook. This is your chance to play around with afresh Windows 10 computer.

Your next task is to use Microsoft Edge, the default internet browser that comes installed with Windows 10. Using Microsoft Edge, download your preferred browser and if you’d like to, a text editor (Otherwise you’ll have to use notepad). My personal preferences are Chrome as the internet browser and Notepad++ as the text editor. Remember, your VM is 64 bit so download software appropriately.

Bonus Task: See what the internet looks like, without a digital footprint. Checkout your suggested videos on YouTube, or search results on generic terms!

While these are downloading, look at the options on the blue bar at the top. 

Figure 11: Disconnecting from RDP connection

The X at the end is used to disconnect your machine.

Disconnecting hasn’t stopped the Virtual machine. This is because disconnecting from the RDP connection isn’t like turning off the computer, it’s like turning off the screen. However, to avoid accidentally leaving your VM running, when you disconnect, your virtual machine will automatically stop. As I mentioned earlier,a Virtual machine left running without purpose is just using electricity,  depreciating hardware, and burning through your time quota, hence the setting.

This is your preferred way of stopping the machine. If you wish for the virtual machine to continue running in the background, you will just need to minimise the window.

Stopping the Virtual machine (Manually)

Once you’ve finished using your Virtual machine (i.e. finished installing and customising any software),   close the RDP connecting and go back to Azure Labs. If you’ve closed the web page you may have to log in again. To stop the VM, simply click the blue toggle and the status will change from “Running” to

“Stopping” . It will not stop immediately, but Azure will give a notification once the Virtual machine has successfully stopped.

Stopping the Virtual machine will prevent it from continuing to use your quota to operate, as it is equivalent to turning off the computer rather than merely turning off the screen.

This approach assumes that you remember to turn it off everytime you stop using it. We have setup an  auto-shutdown of your VM after 15 minutes of inactivity on the machine. Don’t worry if this catches you out, you can always restart the machine, as shown at the beginning of this guide.

Apache

Apache HTTP Server, known simply as Apache is opensource free web server software. When a visitor  visits the URL or URI of your website, Apache will coordinate the content to present them with. Apache is still the most popular web server. Based on W3Schools monthly web server stats, it is used to run 36.5% of web servers. It can be used alongside PHP to create a dynamic website and MySQL to store and manipulate data.

We’re going to get set-up for next week’s workshop by starting to set-up Apache. Make sure your VM is running again if you’ve stopped it.

Download C++ and Apache

To operate, Apache requires C++. As such, the first step is to download both C++ and Apache. Fortunately, we can download them both from the same website.

Start by visitingwww.apachelounge.com/download/

This page includes both the download links for C++ redistributable and Apache itself as shown in Fig 12. 

Figure 12: Download C++ and Apache

Once the C++ redistributable is downloaded (It should be named VC_redist.x64.exe), double click on it to run. It will then ask for permission to install as shown in Fig 13. Then download Apache 2.4.53, remembering we have an x64 machine. 

Figure 13: C++ Install

When installing C++ for the first time, it will require the computer to restart the computer to finish the install. Make sure that the Apache zip download is finished when you do this. When restarting the computer, you will be disconnected from RDP. Simply wait and reconnect. Once this is done, we can start setting up Apache.

This is something we will leave for next week, as Apache doesn’t have a set-up wizard of its own, so we will be manually doing this!

Completion

This marks the completion of the guide content. However, if you have extra time or want an extra challenge, try the following challenges.

Challenges

●     Finish setting up your work-environment within your VM (File architecture, Internet Browser, & Text Editor).

●    Create a basic website using HTML & CSS within your files. Don’t save to the temporary drive as any files in that drive will bede-allocated