Azure DevOps Tutorial: Automate Windows VM Deployment Using Terraform

Introduction

Deploying infrastructure as code (IaC) is a modern and scalable way to manage your cloud resources. In this guide, we’ll walk you step-by-step on how to create a Windows Virtual Machine in Azure using Terraform.

This tutorial is ideal for beginners and intermediate users who want a repeatable and automated way to spin up Windows VMs in Azure.

What You Will Learn

✔ Install and configure Terraform
✔ Write Terraform code to deploy a Windows VM
✔ Output VM details after deployment
✔ Set up Azure Service Principal

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
✔ An Azure Subscription
✔ Terraform installed on your machine
✔ Azure CLI installed (optional but recommended)
✔ Basic understanding of IaC and Azure resources

1. Install Terraform

Download Terraform from the official website:
➡ https://www.terraform.io/downloads
After installation, verify with:

terraform version

2. Configure Azure CLI & Login

Login to Azure using Azure CLI:

az login

(Optional) Set your desired subscription:

az account set --subscription "YOUR_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME"

3. Create Azure Service Principal

A Service Principal gives Terraform permission to provision resources in Azure.

Run:

az ad sp create-for-rbac --name "TerraformSP" --role="Contributor" --sdk-auth

4. Create Terraform Project Folder

Create a new folder:

mkdir azure-windows-vm
cd azure-windows-vm

Create the following files:

✔ main.tf
✔ variables.tf
✔ outputs.tf

5. Define Provider — main.tf

First, lets configure the provider. In Terraform, a provider is a plugin that acts as the bridge between terraform and the target platform. In today's demo the target platform is azure.

terraform {
  required_providers {
    azurerm = {
      source  = "hashicorp/azurerm"
      version = "~>3.0"
    }
  }
  required_version = ">= 1.0.0"
}

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

6. Define Variables — variables.tf

variable "location" {
  description = "Azure region to deploy resources"
  default     = "East US"
}

variable "resource_group_name" {
  description = "Name of Azure resource group"
  default     = "rg-windows-vm"
}

variable "vm_admin" {
  description = "Admin username for the VM"
  default     = "azureuser"
}

variable "vm_password" {
  description = "Admin password for the VM"
  type        = string
}

7. Create Windows VM Resource — main.tf

Add this below the provider block:

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" {
  name     = var.resource_group_name
  location = var.location
}

resource "azurerm_virtual_network" "vnet" {
  name                = "vnet-windows"
  address_space       = ["10.0.0.0/16"]
  location            = var.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
}

resource "azurerm_subnet" "subnet" {
  name                 = "subnet-windows"
  resource_group_name  = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  virtual_network_name = azurerm_virtual_network.vnet.name
  address_prefixes     = ["10.0.1.0/24"]
}

resource "azurerm_network_interface" "nic" {
  name                = "nic-windows"
  location            = var.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name

  ip_configuration {
    name                          = "ipconfig1"
    subnet_id                     = azurerm_subnet.subnet.id
    private_ip_address_allocation = "Dynamic"
    public_ip_address_id          = azurerm_public_ip.pubip.id
  }
}

resource "azurerm_public_ip" "pubip" {
  name                = "pubip-windows"
  location            = var.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  allocation_method   = "Dynamic"
}

resource "azurerm_windows_virtual_machine" "winvm" {
  name                = "winvm-terra"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  location            = var.location
  size                = "Standard_B1ms"
  admin_username      = var.vm_admin
  admin_password      = var.vm_password
  network_interface_ids = [
    azurerm_network_interface.nic.id
  ]

  os_disk {
    caching              = "ReadWrite"
    storage_account_type = "Standard_LRS"
  }

  source_image_reference {
    publisher = "MicrosoftWindowsServer"
    offer     = "WindowsServer"
    sku       = "2019-Datacenter"
    version   = "latest"
  }
}

8. Output VM Info — outputs.tf

output "vm_public_ip" {
  description = "Public IP of the Windows VM"
  value       = azurerm_public_ip.pubip.ip_address
}

9. Initialize & Apply Terraform

Initialize Terraform:

terraform init

Review plan:

terraform plan -var="vm_password=YourP@ssw0rd!"

Deploy:

terraform apply -var="vm_password=YourP@ssw0rd!"

Type yes when prompted.

10. Verify Deployment

Once complete:

✔ Azure Portal → check Resource Group
✔ Check VM status
✔ Connect to VM using RDP and the output public IP

Success!

You now have a Windows VM running in Azure created entirely with Terraform!

Summary

In this guide we learned how to:

✔ Configure Terraform with Azure
✔ Create a Resource Group and Networking
✔ Deploy a Windows VM
✔ Output public connection details

This method gives you a repeatable, version-controlled way to manage your infrastructure.

For Creating linux vm please refer:
Step-by-step guide: Create Linux vm using terraform