One of the tools that SharePoint developers and administrators have now is the ability to create SharePoint test farms in Azure. The ability to connect seamlessly from any device is one of the great features of the cloud platform. If there’s a need to create a temporary SharePoint 2013 farm with three servers, then it’s a matter of planning.
Azure will help you run a SharePoint farm that you can access any browser and Remote Desktop, versus having to lug around a super-beefy laptop. This cloud-first strategy also allows me to test various versions of a product or multiple products without having to worry about hardware requirements or storage space on my laptop.
- Create a different subnet for SQL and App servers. I created three subnets, one for DNS, one for SQL and one for Apps (where WFEs and APP servers live). This is not a requirement, but is a good way to separate roles and keep IPs in a certain subnet.
- Remember that the first 3 IP addresses are kept for the host in an Azure VM so do not try to reserve an .1, .2, or .3 address. It will cause an error at best.
- Change the settings in Edge/Internet Explorer so you can log into your MSDN Subscription and download files or use a blob storage account to keep your binaries in one location.
- To enable file downloads:
- To enable scripting to login to your MSDN account:
- If you have access issues from other VMs, temporarily shut off Windows Firewall on servers, get connectivity and then go back and troubleshoot public, private files. Most recommend that you can shut off Windows Firewall if you are using VMs for test boxes only. NEVER shut off Windows Firewall for staging or production servers. Search for the “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security” shortcut.
- Then click the “Windows Firewall Properties” link and turn off the appropriate profiles to temporarily disable. If you have access to other VMs and can add them to your domain, then this step is not needed.
- Set up the Domain Controller VM first.
- Build a process with on Azure PowerShell scripts to shutdown your VMs when not in use. This will save you money or credit.
- Find a mobile application that will help you shutdown your VM’s if you do not have access to another device. Each platform has their own and it comes in handy when you are not able to log in to a PC to make this happen. There are multiple on each mobile platform (Windows Phone, iOS and Android)
- Set a static IP address for your VM by using Set-AzureStaticVNetIP, here’s a reference… http://windowsitpro.com/windows-azure/set-azure-vm-static-ip-address
- Configure an endpoint to remotely access SharePoint URL remotely.
- Select the VM hosting the CA/WFE role, then go to Endpoints > Add an endpoint with a public and private port of 80. You can also add a custom domain for the farm, if you choose.
- Add a Alternate Access Mapping (Central Administration > System Settings > Configure alternate access mappings), usually the name of your cloud service with a .cloudapp.net domain name for the “Internet” zone. This action will allow SharePoint accept requests for this URL.
- Setting up your SharePoint farm depends on your version and your requirements, so from here it’s a matter of planning how to install SharePoint the way you need to test your system.
I have found selecting “D” series Virtual Machines will work well, but prefer to have more memory than recommended. For a domain controller and WFEs, I use a D2 with 2 cores and 7GB of memory. For SQL. a D3 with 4 cores and 14GB of memory do the trick.
This will get your started with Azure and SharePoint.