How do I create a Azure Virtual Machine Templates in the Azure portal or powershell ?

Sure, here are the general steps to create an Azure Virtual Machine Template using the Azure Portal or PowerShell:

Using Azure Portal

1. Create a virtual machine: First, create a virtual machine and configure it with the desired operating system, applications, and settings.
2. Sysprep the virtual machine: Before creating the template, run the Sysprep tool on the virtual machine to prepare it for cloning. Sysprep removes unique identifiers and other system-specific information from the virtual machine, making it ready for deployment as a template.
3. Generalize the virtual machine: Once the Sysprep tool has run, generalize the virtual machine using the “Generalize” command. This removes any remaining system-specific information and prepares the virtual machine for use as a template.
4. Capture the virtual machine: Finally, capture the virtual machine as a template. This can be done using the Azure Portal. Go to the “Virtual machines” page and select the virtual machine you want to capture as a template. Click on “Create image” in the top menu, provide a name and other details for the image, and click “Create”.

Using PowerShell

1. Create a virtual machine: First, create a virtual machine and configure it with the desired operating system, applications, and settings.
2. Sysprep the virtual machine: Before creating the template, run the Sysprep tool on the virtual machine to prepare it for cloning. Sysprep removes unique identifiers and other system-specific information from the virtual machine, making it ready for deployment as a template.
3. Generalize the virtual machine: Once the Sysprep tool has run, generalize the virtual machine using the “Generalize” command. This removes any remaining system-specific information and prepares the virtual machine for use as a template.
4. Capture the virtual machine: Finally, capture the virtual machine as a template. This can be done using PowerShell. Here is an example command to capture a virtual machine as a template:

$imageName = "MyImage"
$resourceGroupName = "MyResourceGroup"
$vmName = "MyVM"

Stop-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Name $vmName -Force
Set-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Name $vmName -Generalized
$image = New-AzImageConfig -Location "EastUS" -SourceVirtualMachineId "/subscriptions/<subscriptionID>/resourceGroups/$resourceGroupName/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/$vmName" -OsState Generalized
New-AzImage -Image $image -ImageName $imageName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName

This command first stops the virtual machine, generalizes it, and creates a new image configuration object based on the virtual machine. It then creates a new image named “MyImage” in the resource group “MyResourceGroup” based on the image configuration object.

Once you have created an Azure Virtual Machine Template, you can use it to deploy new virtual machines with the same operating system, applications, and settings. This can save time and effort compared to manually configuring each new virtual machine.