Get started with Azure through 12 free, hands-on lab simulations. Experience real-world Azure tasks without needing a paid subscription or cloud account.
Looking to practice your Microsoft Azure skills without the need for your own Azure subscription? This FREE collection of Azure lab simulations from top-selling Azure instructor Thomas Mitchell includes a curated set of foundational Azure labs designed to help you gain practical experience quickly and confidently.
Each fully-guided lab includes built-in audio and visual guidance, so you'll feel like you have an instructor walking you through every step while still moving at your own pace.
Across this collection, you'll practice common Azure administration and configuration tasks such as deploying virtual machines, configuring storage accounts, working with networking components, and creating users in Microsoft Entra ID. These everyday tasks mirror the same responsibilities IT professionals perform when managing Azure environments.
In this lab, you'll learn how to deploy and configure an Azure Virtual Machine using the Azure portal. The lab walks you through creating a new virtual machine, configuring its settings including availability zones, security options, and network configuration. You'll also learn how to attach and configure disks, manage network access, and ensure that resources such as IPs and NICs are properly deleted when the VM is removed.
In this lab, you will gain hands-on experience with Microsoft Entra ID by creating and configuring a new user account in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center. This process is fundamental for managing identities within an organization, and you will explore key features such as adding user details and configuring user properties.
Virtual networks are essential for organizing and managing network traffic within Azure, and subnets allow you to segment your vNet for better control over resource communication. This lab walks you through creating a new vNet, configuring address spaces, and setting up subnets. You'll also apply network security features like encryption and use tags to categorize your vNet.
In this lab, you'll learn how to create and configure Virtual Network (vNet) Peering in Azure. vNet Peering allows you to connect two virtual networks, enabling low-latency, high-speed communication between them as if they were part of a single network. You'll walk through setting up bi-directional peering between two virtual networks, ensuring secure communication and resource access across the networks.
A VM Scale Set is an Azure compute resource that allows you to deploy and manage a set of identical VMs. This lab walks you through setting up the scale set, configuring auto-scaling based on CPU usage, and attaching storage to the VMs. You'll also configure network settings and management options to ensure smooth operations at scale.
In this lab, you'll learn how to create and configure an Azure Storage Account using the Azure portal. The lab provides step-by-step instructions walking you through setting up a storage account, selecting key configuration options, and enabling advanced features like geographic redundancy, network access controls, and blob versioning.
Create an Azure File Share in Microsoft Azure Storage
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In this lab, you will learn how to create and configure an Azure File Share within an existing Azure storage account. Azure File Share allows you to set up a fully managed file share in the cloud, accessible through standard protocols like SMB and NFS. You'll select appropriate access tiers and review important configuration settings for frequent data access.
Tagging allows you to assign metadata to Azure resources, making it easier to track and categorize them based on criteria like environment, department, or cost center. Through a step-by-step process, you will tag multiple resources such as virtual machines, and use the tags to filter and display resources based on their assigned tags.
Azure Bastion provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your VMs directly from the Azure portal over SSL, without requiring a public IP address on the virtual machine. Throughout the lab, you will deploy a Bastion service, configure it to work with an existing virtual network, and test your configuration by securely connecting to a virtual machine.
In this lab, you will explore how to manage user properties in Microsoft Entra ID. Effective user management goes beyond creating accounts — it involves configuring and updating user properties to ensure proper identity management and security. You will learn how to modify key user attributes such as company name, job titles, and group memberships.
A Recovery Services Vault is a critical resource for managing backup and disaster recovery services in Azure. In this lab, you'll be guided through deploying the vault, configuring storage redundancy, and setting up private endpoints for secure access — the foundational resource for all Azure backup and site recovery operations.
If you've been facing difficulties troubleshooting RDP connections or application access to a Windows-based Azure VM, redeploying the VM may help. Azure will shut down the VM, move it to a new node within the Azure infrastructure, and then power it back on, retaining all your configuration options. In this lab, you'll be guided through redeployment and then reapplying the VM's state to resolve failed provisioning.
