# Plan, Deploy, and Troubleshoot Azure Compute

Azure compute decisions and deployment workflows can be complex and risky. This skill guides VM selection, validation, provisioning, capacity reservations, management enrollment, and connectivity troubleshooting.

## Install

```bash
npx skillstore add microsoft/azure-compute
```

## Metadata

- Status: approved
- Slug: microsoft-azure-compute
- Version: 0.0.0-placeholder
- Author version: 0.0.0-placeholder
- Skillstore revision: r2
- Version status: valid
- Tree hash: 963ccd905d545835bb9bd578b3b394c7924d300515d3c233c79f9da3fcffbd4b
- Author: microsoft
- GitHub username: microsoft
- License: MIT
- Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/github-copilot-for-azure/tree/main/plugin/skills/azure-compute/
- Ref: ebdfe608f5de2b66ff37ab4af12af8ac4f5e8006
- Supported tools: Claude, Codex, Claude Code
- Audit status: complete
- Agent install advisory: confirmation\_required
- Manual install advisory: allowed
- Artifact signature: available
- Audit attestation: unavailable
- Human verification: not\_verified
- Risk factors: external\_commands, network, filesystem
- Quality score: 38
- Quality tier: warning
- Public page: https://skillstore.pages.dev/skills/microsoft-azure-compute
- Manifest: https://skillstore.pages.dev/api/skills/microsoft-azure-compute/manifest

## Capabilities

- Recommends Azure VM and VMSS families for stated workloads.
- Compares public Azure retail pricing across sizes and regions.
- Validates SKU availability, image support, regional support, and vCPU quota.
- Generates Azure CLI, Bicep, and Terraform deployment artifacts.
- Creates VMs or VM scale sets through Azure MCP after confirmation.
- Guides capacity reservations, EMM enrollment, and RDP or SSH troubleshooting.

## Use Cases

- Standardize VM deployment: Create a reviewed Azure CLI, Bicep, or Terraform artifact with validated region, image, SKU, quota, and network settings.
- Compare capacity and cost: Evaluate VM families, VMSS options, retail prices, quota, and capacity reservations before selecting an architecture.
- Restore VM connectivity: Diagnose RDP or SSH failures using ordered checks for VM state, networking, guest services, firewall rules, and credentials.

## Prompt Templates

### Recommend a development VM

```
Recommend an Azure VM for a small Linux development server in eastus. Compare two sizes, estimate monthly cost, and explain your choice.
```

### Generate a Bicep deployment

```
Create a Bicep plan for an Ubuntu VM in westeurope. Restrict SSH to my trusted CIDR and validate SKU, image, and quota first.
```

### Diagnose an SSH timeout

```
Troubleshoot an SSH timeout for my Azure VM. Start with read-only checks and request approval before changing networking, firewall, credentials, or SELinux.
```

### Design a production VMSS

```
Design a production VMSS for a stateless service. Compare orchestration, autoscale, zones, cost, quota, security, and capacity reservation options.
```

## Limitations

- Live checks and operations require Azure authentication, permissions, and connected MCP or CLI tools.
- Retail price estimates may exclude negotiated discounts, taxes, reservations, and ancillary services.
- The creator covers bare VM and VMSS infrastructure, not application deployment.
- Generated artifacts and remediation commands can create costs or alter VM security controls.

## Best Practices

- Validate region, image, SKU, quota, and estimated cost before generating or applying infrastructure.
- Restrict SSH and RDP to explicit trusted CIDR ranges, or use private access and Azure Bastion.
- Review every state-changing command and confirm the target subscription, resource group, VM, and expected impact.

## Anti Patterns

- Do not use wildcard management-port sources when public IP detection fails.
- Do not place passwords, private keys, or other credentials in prompts or command-line arguments.
- Do not run firewall, account, networking, SELinux, or subscription changes without explicit approval.

## Security Audit

- Audited at: 2026-07-23T18:05:40.054\+00:00
- Summary: Most static alerts are documentation syntax, official Microsoft endpoints, private or sample addresses, and SSH public-key references. Fourteen static findings remain confirmed because they contact a third party or change remote firewall, authentication, privilege, networking, or SELinux state. Semantic review also found shell injection exposure, fail-open ingress, unsafe host-key guidance, broad unconfirmed EMM changes, and plaintext password handling.

## Stats

- Views: 257
- Downloads: 10
- Favorites: 0
- Popularity score: 0