Creating your first cloud-based VM

How you create your cloud VM very much depends on your cloud hosting provider. However, regardless of the provider, the process is the same:

1. Choose a name for your server and the region in which you want to locate it.
2. Choose the flavor of the Linux operating system you wish to install (again, all of the examples in this chapter will be based on Ubuntu).
3. Finally, after reviewing your selection, go ahead and create your new instance.

There are variations between providers. For example, the Microsoft Azure platform provides dedicated port rules that govern access to your new machine.

SysAdmin top tip

Choose an operating system that best fits your organization’s skill set. Don’t be tempted to implement an operating system you’re not familiar with as your lack of experience may well introduce vulnerabilities.

Remember that any new VM will be weakly protected. For example, you would typically log on to...