Friday, November 13, 2020

Microsoft Azure Cloud Free Account

You can create a free Azure account with 12 months access to their popular free services and a $200 USD credit for 30 days.

Click Start free to create a new account.

Sign in your Microsoft account > click Next.

Fill up Your Profile information.


Add a mobile phone number (required) > choose Text me to send the SMS Verification code > type Verification code > click Verify code.

Add your Credit Card Information. Note you won't be charged immediately.

Click I agree > click Sign up.

Click Go to the portal.

Below is the Azure portal home page/dashboard, which can be accessed from a web browser: https://portal.azure.com.


You can also view the Azure portal using a smartphone app. Below is from an iOS/iPhone.


Let's do some basic navigation on the Azure portal. Click the Resource Panel (three horizontal lines) to select main resource types > select Create a resource.

Under Marketplace > type/search for Windows. This will display all Windows related app, virtual machine, etc.

Click Cloud Shell (command prompt icon on top) to create a new Azure Cloud Shell session.

 

Linux can opt for Bash and Windows can opt for Powershell.

 

Click Directory + subscription (book with funnel icon on top) to change subscription or change to another directory.

 

You can have more than one subscription that is associated with one directory. 

 

Click Notifications (bell icon on top) to view the last action taken and its status.

Click Portal settings (gear icon) to change the dashboard settings.

Below is changing to a Dark theme.

Click Help (question mark ? icon) > click Help + support.

You can create a support ticket, search for Azure Documentations and FAQs.



 Click Send us feedback (smiley icon) to send feedback about Azure.

Select Profile Settings (far right) > click My Microsoft account

 

You can view, edit profile and change password.

 


You can also manage your billing/payment method.

Select Advisor to get free recommendations on your Azure Cost, Security, Reliability, etc.



Sunday, November 1, 2020

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Free Online Course

I recently took the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900T01) course, which is a free online course. You'll need to register first and choose an available training date. It's a whole day course and need to attend both the morning and afternoon sessions in order to get the free Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam voucher.

 

The exam voucher will be sent to your registered email after 5-10 business days and you'll need to use it within 3 months. The AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam can be taken online via Pearson VUE and at the comfort of your home while monitored by a proctor.

You'll need to create a Microsoft Learning Certification Profile before registering for the exam.

Once the Certification Profile is completed, claim the exam voucher > type/search for AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals > select the preferred date/time > proceed to checkout.

Return to the Microsoft Learning dashboard and notice the exam appointment on the right. This will be used to launch the online exam just click Start a previously scheduled online proctored exam.

This is also where you can download your PDF certificate. Below is my Microsoft Azure Fundamentals digital badge and certificate. The cool thing about this cert is that it does NOT expire.