syslog-ng Store Box 7.4.0 - Deploying on Azure

The following describes how to download the .vhd file and upload it to Microsoft Azure.

To use the VHD to create a new Azure VM, you will need to upload the VHD to a storage account and create a managed disk from the VHD.

To download the .vhd file and upload it to Microsoft Azure

Log in to the support portal with your credentials.
Navigate to support portal and select syslog-ng Store Box. Select the product version or model corresponding to the version of your SSB, and download the compressed VHD disk image under Download Software.

Extract the image .zip file to the directory of your choice. The extracted file will be ssb-<full_version_number>.vhd.
Download and install azure-cli from GitHub - azure-cli.

You will use the az command and its parameters to create all the required prerequisites for uploading the VHD to Microsoft Azure.
Create a resource group with the following command:
```
az group create \
    --name <resource_group_name> \
    --location <resource_group_region>
```
The parameters used in the command are the following:
- --name: The name of your resource group. For example, MyResourceGroup.
- --location: The region of the resource group. For example, westus.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az group create.
Create a storage account with the following command:
```
az storage account create \
    --name <storage_account_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --location <storage_account_location> \
    --kind Storage \
    --sku Standard_LRS
```
The parameters used in the command are the following:
- --name: The name of your storage account. For example, myStorageAccount.
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you create the storage account. For example, MyResourceGroup.
- --location: The region of the storage account, but only what is permitted by the resource group. For example, westus.
- --kind: The type of storage account. You will create a storage, so enter Storage, which is the default value.
- --sku: The storage account SKU. Standard_LRS is a standard, HDD-type storage.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az storage account create.
List the storage account keys.

Save one of these keys for later, because you will need it during the upload process:
```
az storage account keys list \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --account-name <storage_account_name>
```
The parameters used in the command are the following:
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have created the storage account. For example, myResourceGroup.
- --account-name: The name of the storage account. For example, MyStorageAccount.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az storage account keys list.
Create a storage container inside the storage account.

You will upload the VHD into this container:
```
az storage container create \
    --name <container_name> \
    --account-name <storage_account_name>
```
The parameters used in the command are the following:
- --name: The name of your storage container. For example, MyStorageContainer.
- --account-name: The name of the storage account. For example, MyStorageAccount.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az storage container create.
Upload the VHD file to the storage container with the following command:
```
az storage blob upload \
    --name <name_of_uploaded_vhd> \
    --account-name <storage_account_name> \
    --account-key <storage_account_key> \
    --container-name <container_name> \
    --type page \
    --file <path_to_local_vhd_file>
```
The parameters used in the command are the following:
- --name: The name of your blob, that is the upload VHD. For example, MyBlob.
- --account-name: The name of the storage account. For example, MyStorageAccount.
- --account-key: The storage account key that you have saved before.
- --containername: The name of the storage container. For example, MyStorageContainer.
- --type: Defaults to page for .vhd files.
- --file: Path of the file to upload as the blob content. For example, path/to/ssb-<full_version_number>.vhd.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az storage blob upload.

Create a virtual network with subnet:
```
az network vnet create
    --name <virtual_network_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name>
```
Where:
- --name: Name your virtual network. For example, MyVnet.
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have created the storage account. For example, myResourceGroup.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az network vnet create.
(Optional)

Create a network security group:

You can define firewall rules in the network security group.
```
az network nsg create \
    --name <security_group_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --location <location>
```
Where:
- --name: Name your network security group. For example, MyNsg.
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have uploaded the VHD. For example, MyResourceGroup.
- --location: The region of the storage account, but only what is permitted by the resource group. For example, westus.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az network nsg create.

Create a network interface:

Caution:

Hazard of security breach.

During Microsoft Azure installation, connecting directly to the Internet using a public IP address is not supported. Instead, you must access the Internet via a Virtual Private Network or a jump host.

az network nic create \
    --name <network_interface_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --location <location> \
    --vnet-name <virtual_network_name> \
    --network-security-group <security_group_name> \
    --subnet <subnet_name> \

Where:

--name: Name your network interface. For example, MyNic.
--resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have uploaded the VHD. For example, MyResourceGroup.
--location: The region of the storage account, but only what is permitted by the resource group. For example, westus.
--vnet-name: The name of the virtual network. For example, MyVnet.
--network-security-group: If you have created one, the name of the network security group. For example, MyNsg.
--subnet: The name of the subnet. If you have not defined any, the default is Subnet.

For details on the command and its parameters, see az network nic create.

Create a managed disk:

This will be the OS disk in the virtual machine.
```
az disk create \
    --name <disk_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --source <uri_of_vhd> \
    --sku Standard_LRS \
    --size-gb <disk_size_in_GiB>
```
Where:
- --name: Name your managed disk. For example, MyDisk.
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have uploaded the VHD. For example, MyResourceGroup.
- --source: The path to the uploaded VHD on the storage. It will look like the following:
  - The path will have the following structure: https://<storage_account_name>.blob.core.windows.net/<storage_container_name>/<name_of_uploaded_vhd>.
  - For example, https://MyStorageAccount.blob.core.windows.net/MyStorageContainer/MyBlob.
- --sku: The storage account SKU. Select Standard_LRS for a standard, HDD-type storage, or Premium_LRS for an SSD-type storage. In case of smaller or cheaper virtual machines (for example, Basic A, you can only select Standard_LRS).
- --size-gb: Optional. The size of the disk in GB. The default value is 10, the original size of the VHD. You can try SSB with the default disk size, however, for production purposes it is advised to increase the disk size. The maximum value is 4095.
  
  If you want to increase the disk size later, see Increasing the virtual disk size of SSB under a virtual machine in the Installation Guide. You cannot decrease the disk size later.
  
  NOTE: The value you enter cannot be less than the default size of the VHD, which is 10.
For details on the command and its parameters, see az disk create.
Create the virtual machine:

After preparing all prerequisite resources, you will create the virtual machine:
```
az vm create \
    --name <vm_name> \
    --resource-group <resource_group_name> \
    --nics <network_interface_name> \
    --attach-os-disk <disk_name> \
    --size <size_of_virtual_machine> \
    --os-type Linux
```
Where:
- --name: Name your virtual machine. For example, MyVm.
- --resource-group: The name of the resource group in which you have uploaded the VHD. For example, MyResourceGroup.
- --nics: The name of the network interface. For example, MyNic.
- --attach-os-disk: The name of the managed disk. For example, MyDisk.
- --size: The calculated size of the virtual machine. For example, Standard_A4_v2.
  
  To calculate the size of the virtual machine, consider the following:
  - The available virtual machine sizes may vary based on region and your Azure subscription. For details on virtual machine sizing, see General purpose or scroll down to Other sizes to check the available optimized machines.
  - Minimum size: a virtual machine with at least 2 GB memory, for example: Standard_A1_v2.
  - Recommended size: a virtual machine with at least 8 GB memory, for example: Standard_A4_v2.
- --os-type: The type of the operating system. Enter Linux.
After creating the virtual machine, it will automatically start up, boot, and is available through the private network.

For details on the command and its parameters, see az vm create.

The Welcome Wizard starts. For details on the initial steps of configuring SSB, see The Welcome Wizard and the first login in the Administration Guide.

Caution:

Hazard of security breach.

During the configuration process of the Welcome Wizard, connecting directly to the Internet using a public IP address is not supported. Instead, you must access the Internet via a Virtual Private Network or a jump host.

NOTE: If you have installed SSB from Azure, the swap column is not available on the system monitor, because in this case, swap memory is not used.

syslog-ng Store Box 7.4.0 - Deploying on Azure

Uploading the VHD to Microsoft Azure

Creating a Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure

Create a virtual network with subnet:

Create a network security group:

Create a network interface:

Create a managed disk:

Create the virtual machine:

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syslog-ng Store Box 7.4.0 - Deploying on Azure

Uploading the VHD to Microsoft Azure

Creating a Virtual Machine in Microsoft Azure

Create a virtual network with subnet:

Create a network security group:

Create a network interface:

Create a managed disk:

Create the virtual machine: