All courses
Resource hub
Featured resource
Forrester Wave Report 2025
Pluralsight named a Leader in the Forrester Wave™

Our tech skill development platform earned the highest scores possible across 11 criteria.

Learn more
Hamburger Icon
  • Labs icon Lab
  • Cloud
Azure icon
Labs

Create a VM Scale Set in Azure with Terraform

Hey, Gurus! Welcome to the Create a VM Scale Set in Azure with Terraform lab. In this lab, we will cover these 4 objectives: 1. First, we will log into the Azure Portal, configure the Cloud Shell, and download and run the lab setup script to setup the lab. 1. Second, we will import the resource group. 1. Third, we will add our VM scale set to our configuration and set CPU thresholds to allow for autoscaling. 1. And for the fourth objective, we will add a jumpbox to our configuration to give us a server to connect to that we can use to connect to our cluster. We will then deploy our VM cluster resources.

Get started Contact sales
Azure icon
Labs

Path Info

Level
Clock icon Advanced
Duration
Clock icon 45m
Published
Clock icon Jun 17, 2022

Contact sales

By filling out this form and clicking submit, you acknowledge our privacy policy.

Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Set Up Cloud Shell and the Lab Environment

    In the Portal

    1. Go to the Azure Portal and log in using your lab credentials.
    2. Click the Cloud Shell icon next to the search bar in the Portal.
    3. Select Bash at the prompt.
    4. Click Show advanced settings.
    5. Set the Cloud Shell region to the same location as the resource group.
    6. Select the existing Resource group, and select Use Existing for the Storage account.
    7. In the File share section, choose Create new and enter "terraform".
    8. Click Create storage.
    9. Download the lab_6_setup.sh script at https://github.com/ACloudGuru/advanced-terraform-with-azure/raw/main/lab_vm_scale_set_resources/lab_6_setup.sh.
    10. Add execute permissions to the script.
    11. Run the lab_6_setup.sh script.

  2. Challenge

    Import the Resource Group into Terraform

    In the Cloud Shell

    1. In the Cloud Shell, review the networking.tf.
    2. Make note of the resource group name and label at the top and then close the file.
    3. Run the az group list command to get the subscription id.
    4. Import your resource group into Terraform using the resource name, label, and subscription id.
    5. After the import, add the name and location of your resource group to the networking.tf file so it looks like the code below (fill in with your resource group and location): 
      resource "azurerm_resource_group" "guru" {
    name     = "<RESOURCE_GROUP>"
    location = "<LOCATION>"
}
    6. Save the file.

  3. Challenge

    Define the Azure VM Scale Set

    In the Cloud Shell

    1. Create a file called vmss.tf file.
    2. Define the vm scale set configuration so it will deply a 2 vm cluster.
    3. Use variables to define the location, admin_username, admin_password, and tags.
    4. Make sure you associate your scale set with your subnet and load balancer backend pool in the networking.tf file.
    5. Save the changes.

  4. Challenge

    Define the Jumpbox Configuration

    In the Cloud Shell

    1. Create a file called jumpbox.tf file.
    2. Define the jumpbox vm configuration.
    3. Use variables to define the location, admin_username, admin_password, and tags..
    4. Make sure you create a network interface and a public ip for your jumpbox.
    5. Save the changes.

  5. Challenge

    Create the Variables and Outputs, then Deploy

    In the Cloud Shell

    1. Create the variables.tf file and define these variables: a) location b) tags c) application port (used in the networking.tf file) d) admin_user e) admin_password
    2. Create the output.tf file and define these output variables: a) vmss_public_ip_fqdn b) jumpbox_public_ip_fqdn c) jumpbox_public_ip
    3. Create the web.conf file and add the Nginx package to the config. This will configure your cluster to run Nginx.
    4. Save both files and apply your configuration.
    5. Confirm you have successfull deployed your resources and you can interact with your cluster.
Pluralsight Skills - Labs - Pluralsight
Author
Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

What's a lab?

Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.

Provided environment for hands-on practice

We will provide the credentials and environment necessary for you to practice right within your browser.

Guided walkthrough

Follow along with the author’s guided walkthrough and build something new in your provided environment!

Did you know?

On average, you retain 75% more of your learning if you get time for practice.
Ready to get started?
View individual plans View team plans