# Install Azure Ubuntu Machine
An Ubuntu VM can be used as a client to the Ability Platform
or a development environment for Edge modules. This procedure
provide the steps to create a B2s Ubuntu virtual machine. While
more expensive hardware can be utilized, 2 CPU cores and 4GB of memory
is sufficient for client and Edge development activities.
WARNING
Since these machines are not hosted on the ABB network, they will not have access
to codebits.abb.com.
Azure VMs have the benefit of having direct access to the backbone network of Azure services. This removes the need to configure the ABB Proxy settings and removes any bandwidth limitation that local ABB development facilities may have in place. These machines can be accessed with SSH and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The procedure will disable global access to the environment by only allowing logins when connected with ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN
# Prerequisites
To create a VM in Azure, be sure you have access to the following:
- Access to an Azure Subscription that allows you to create Azure Resource Groups and machines.
- The ability to SSH and/or RDP into Azure VM from your ABB facility. If not accessible, apply for ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN.
- Putty Download.
# Creating an Ubuntu Virtual Machine in Azure
Start by reviewing this simple tutorial Linux Azure VM. The steps here will be adjusted to provide a more flexible environment for development.
Login to the Azure Portal.
Create a new Resource group. Select the region your Ability Platfrom is created in. This is required to test Instance API client access becuase the VNET peering only works when the VNETs are in the same region.
Add a resource to the resource group. Search for Ubuntu Server. Select Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS
.Click Create.
Provide a resource group, hostname, region, size, set a password and enable SSH port.
.Click Next twice to get to the network. Change the public IP to Static.
Click Next until reaching Review+Create.
Click Create when validation completes.
Once created, Use the procedure provided with ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN to secure the VM and only allow accesss from when using ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN.
Login with ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN and verify you can SSH into the VM with the public IP address.
# Next Steps
Perform the following steps to change enable this machine to develop Edge Modules and test access to your instance.
Set up the RSA key to access source code repos. Only VSTS can be accessed from Azure.
Promote to Desktop Ubuntu to allow RDP access. After the installation is complete, modify the Network security group to allow RDP access with
ABB Ability Azure SSL VPN.Install .NET Core SDK, VScode and Chrome to enable development of client applications.
Install Docker to enable development of Edge Modules.
Once these steps are completed, this environment can be used to create custom tutorials or the VMs network can be peered with your Ability Instance to access the Instance API with the InstanceyApp Utility.