# Create Windows on Arm virtual machine in Azure cloud

## In this learning path

- [Introduction](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/)
- [Create Windows on Arm virtual machine in Azure cloud](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/azure_windows/)
- [Next Steps](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/_next-steps/)

If you don’t have access to a Windows on Arm device, you can create a Windows on Arm virtual machine in the Azure cloud.

> **Note**  
> These same instructions can be used to deploy a Linux image on the Arm Virtual Machine. Simply select a Linux distribution instead of Windows.

## Create a Windows on Arm Virtual Machine

[Microsoft Azure](https://portal.azure.com/#home) is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. You can log into Azure using either your personal subscription or your organization’s subscription.

To begin:

1. Login to your Azure account.
2. From the Azure search bar, begin typing the word “virtual machines” until the [Virtual Machines](https://portal.azure.com/#view/HubsExtension/BrowseResource/resourceType/Microsoft.Compute%2FVirtualMachines) service appears as a selection.

![Screenshot of the Azure portal top navigation bar showing the search field with “virtual machines” typed in and the Virtual Machines service appearing in the search results dropdown](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/search_and_click_vm.png)

3. Select `Virtual Machines`.

The Virtual Machines page appears.

4. Click `Create` > `Azure virtual machine`.

![Screenshot of the Virtual Machines page in Azure portal showing the Create button with a dropdown menu where you select Azure virtual machine to begin creating a new VM instance](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/click_create_vm.png)

The `Create a virtual machine` page appears.

5. Select a valid `Subscription`.
6. Select a `Resource group` - Optional; you may leave blank.
7. Enter a `Virtual Machine name` - We’ll call it armtest-0 for this example.
8. Select a `Region` - For best performance, select the region closest to you.
9. Select `Standard` for `Security Type`.
10. Select `See all images` - You can find this under the `Image` dropdown.

![Screenshot of the Create a virtual machine form in Azure portal showing the Basics tab with fields for Subscription, Resource group, Virtual machine name, Region, Security type, and the Image dropdown with See all images link highlighted](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/config-vm-1.png)

The `Marketplace` page appears.

11. Enter `windows 11` into the search bar and press enter.
12. Click the `Image Type` filter and select `Arm64`.

![Screenshot of the Azure Marketplace showing the search results for Windows 11 with the Image Type filter menu open displaying the Arm64 checkbox to filter for Arm-based VM images](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/image_type.png)

You are presented with all available Arm VM images.

> **Note**  
> Note all the different Arm images (Windows and others) Azure provides; feel free to experiment with different Arm images from the Azure Marketplace upon completion of this learning path.

13. From the drop-down at the bottom of the `Microsoft Windows 11 Preview arm64` tile, select `Windows 11 Professional 24H2 - Arm64`.

![Screenshot of the Azure Marketplace showing the Microsoft Windows 11 Preview arm64 tile with the dropdown menu expanded to select the Windows 11 Professional 24H2 - Arm64 image option](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/select_24h2.png)

Upon selection, you are returned to the `Create a virtual machine` screen with your architecture set to `Arm64` and your image set to `Windows 11 Professional, version 24H2 - ARM64 Gen2`.

14. For `Size`, select `Standard_D2ps_v5 - 2 vcpus, 8 GiB memory`.

> **Note**  
> The VM size suggested for this learning path is enough to demonstrate Windows on Arm in the Azure cloud, but may need to be adjusted to support other workloads. For more information rightsizing your VM instances, please see [Rightsize to maximize your cloud investment with Microsoft Azure](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/rightsize-to-maximize-your-cloud-investment-with-microsoft-azure/).

15. For `Username` and `Password`, provide values which will be used to login to the Windows virtual machine.
16. For `Inbound port rules` > `Public inbound ports`, select `Allow selected ports` and choose `RDP (3389)` from the drop-down menu.
17. For `Licensing` confirm that you have an eligible Windows 10/11 license with multi-tenant hosting rights. To learn more about this checkbox, please visit [documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-desktop-multitenant-hosting-deployment).
18. Leave all other settings as default.
19. Click `Review + create`.

![Screenshot of the Create a virtual machine page showing the Review + create button at the bottom after completing the configuration form for the Windows on Arm VM instance](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/review_create.png)

The validation and confirmation page appears.

20. Upon review and validation of your settings, select `Create` to launch your Windows on Arm virtual machine.

![Screenshot of the validation page showing the Create button that you click to deploy the configured Windows on Arm VM to Azure after reviewing the configuration summary and pricing estimate](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/create.png)

At this point, Azure will deploy your new Windows on Arm instance to the Azure cloud. This may take a few moments to complete.

![Screenshot of the Azure deployment progress page showing the deployment in progress status with a progress indicator for the Windows on Arm VM being provisioned](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/deploying.png)

Upon completion, your screen will look similar to:

![Screenshot of the Azure deployment completion page showing the success message and Go to resource button after the Windows on Arm VM has been successfully deployed to the cloud](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/deploy_complete.png)

21. Click `Go to Resource`.

From this resource page, note the `Public IP address` of your virtual machine, as you will use this in the next step to connect to your VM instance.

![Screenshot of the Azure VM resource overview page highlighting the Public IP address field in the Essentials section which you will need to copy for RDP connection](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/public_ip.png)

## Connect to your Windows on Arm VM

1. On your local host PC, launch your RDP client application.

> **Note**  
> In our example, we use the `Remote Desktop Connection` app as our RDP client, but you may choose any RDP client to use.

2. Enter the `Public IP Address` you wrote down earlier as the `Computer` or remote host/IP to connect to.
3. Enter the username and password you set earlier while creating the VM instance.
4. Click connect.

![RDP](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/rdp.png)

You can now interact with the VM in the same way as you would a local desktop.

If you have issues connecting to your instance, see this Microsoft article:

- [How to connect using Remote Desktop and sign on to an Azure virtual machine running Windows](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/connect-rdp)

## Explore your VM

Open `Control Panel` > `System`, and verify that `Device` > `System Type` identifies as an Arm-based processor.

![System](https://learn.arm.com/learning-paths/cross-platform/woa_azure/images/system.png)