---
title: "Managing Azure Compute Gallery Virtual Machine Images"
slug: "manage-azure-compute-gallery-vms-als"
tags: ["lgc"]
updated: 2024-09-06T16:15:42Z
published: 2024-09-06T16:15:42Z
canonical: "docs.skillable.com/manage-azure-compute-gallery-vms-als"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.skillable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing Azure Compute Gallery Virtual Machine Images

[Azure Compute Gallery](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/shared-image-galleries) (formerly known as Shared Image Gallery) is a service that allows you to create and share custom Virtual Machine (VM) images in Azure and then deploy virtual machines based on those images this is the recommended path for utilizing virtual machines in Azure as it enables you to have completely custom images rather than always starting from a default Storefront image.

When using Azure for virtualization in Skillable Studio, VMs presented to learners or candidates are deployed into an Azure region based on VM images that live within an Azure Compute Gallery. VM images utilized in this way can be replicated to multiple regions so that Skillable can geolocate the lab user and launch the VM in the supported Azure region that is physically closest to the lab user - improving overall user connectivity & experience.

## Overview of Steps Required to Create an Azure Compute Gallery Virtual Machine

Once an Azure Subscription & Skillable Subscription Pool have been configured for Azure Compute Gallery, you are ready to start building custom images and labs based on those images! To do so, there are several required steps across the combination of Microsoft Azure and Skillable Studio

| Azure Tasks | Skillable Studio Tasks |
| --- | --- |
| - [Add an image definition in the Compute Gallery](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#add-image-definition) - [Create an Image Version](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#create-image-version) - [Update region availability/replication](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#update-region-availabilityreplication) - [Persist image updates](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#persist-changes-in-the-virtual-machine-for-future-launches) | - [Create a Virtual Machine Profile](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#associate-image-with-virtual-machine-profile) - [Assign VM to Lab Profile.](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#associate-vm-profile-with-lab-profile) - [Install Skillable Integration Services](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#enable-skillable-integration-services) |

## Pre-requisites

Ensure the [Setup Azure Compute Gallery for deploying custom VMs](/v1/docs/setup-azure-compute-gallery-for-deploying-custom-vms) process has been completed. If any steps were missed or skipped, VMs created using this guide may not function as expected.

## Azure Tasks

Prior to using Azure Compute Gallery for virtual machines within Skillable Studio, there are a number of steps that must be prepared and completed.

### Migrate Images from Another Subscription/Tenant

If you have a Compute Gallery with images in another subscription/tenant that you would like to migrate to your current one, follow the [Copy Azure Compute Gallery Image Versions between Azure Clouds, Tenants, and Subscriptions](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/fasttrack-for-azure/copy-azure-compute-gallery-image-versions-between-azure-clouds/ba-p/3373145) process from Microsoft’s Tech Community hub.

### Create Image Definition

> [!CAUTION]
> Specialized Image Definition
> 
> Skillable currently requires Compute Gallery images to have a **Specialized** state. **Generalized**images will need to be recreated as specialized.
> 
> **If you already have a Specialized image definition, skip this step. If you have a Generalized image definition, complete this step. This can be identified on the **Overview**tab of the **Image**Definition.**
> 
> 
> 
> ![image(88)](https://cdn.document360.io/a298db04-a0fe-47e0-bfe3-c52d6f9d7c8c/Images/Documentation/image(88).png)

Create an image definition to define specifications for virtual machines that are created and deployed from your Compute Gallery.

1. Go to the Compute Gallery you just created.
2. Click **+Add new image definition** in the upper-left of the page.
  1. **Region**: Select a region where the image definition will be created.
  2. **Image definition name**: Name the image definition. This name will be used in Skillable Studio in the *Machine Image* fields on the VM profile.
  3. **Operating system**: select the operating system that your VM will use.
3. **Security Type:** Select Standard.

> [!WARNING]
> Other options may/may not work depending upon the source image.
4. **VM Generation**: Select the VM generation that your VM will use.
5. **Operating system state**: Specialized
6. Define Unique Metadata:
  1. **Publisher**: Enter a publisher name for the Image Definition.
  2. **Offer**: Enter the name of the Image Definition offer.
  3. **SKU**: Enter the name of the Image Definition SKU.

> There are no official requirements as-to what these values need to be, but your Organization may have their own requirements. **The combination of these 3 values must be unique** from any other image definition in the Compute Gallery.
7. Select **Next: Publishing options** in the Azure portal to add Publishing options.
  1. **Recommended VM vCPUs**: Select the minimum and maximum number of vCPUs that can be used in any VMs that are deployed using this image definition.
  2. **Recommended VM memory**: Select the minimum and maximum amount of memory that can be used in any VMs that are deployed using this image definition.
  3. **Excluded disk types**: select any disk types that should be excluded.
8. Click **Next: Review + Create**.
9. Click **Create**.

### Create Image Version

After the image definition is created, an image version must be specified. As updates to the VM Image are made, it is new versions that will be created - the definition will remain unchanged.

#### Migrate Local VMs

> [!WARNING]
> Best Practice: Use Azure Native VMs
> 
> Unless your local VMs are already heavily customized, it is recommended to deploy native Azure VMs from the Azure Marketplace and tailor from there instead of migrating existing local VMs.
> 
> 
> 
> If you are using Azure VMs, and not migrating Local VMs, [**skip this step**](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#enable-skillable-integration-services).

If you have a virtual machine image from a local hypervisor (such as Hyper-V) that you would like to build an Azure VM out of follow the **Upload a VHD File** process outlined below.

****Upload a VHD File****

> [!NOTE]
> Local Migrations Only
> 
> This process is only for migrating VMs from a local hypervisor into Azure. If you are creating a Specialized image from an existing Azure VM or Generalized image, [**skip this section**](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#enable-skillable-integration-services).

Uploading a VM to Azure is comprised of a number of steps this guide will walk you through:

- Validate the VHD is prepared for Azure.
- Create a storage account inside of your resource group where template VHDs will be stored in a storage container.
- Create a container inside your storage account.
- Upload each template VHD.

##### Prepare the VHD for Upload to Azure

1. Follow Microsoft’s Documentation for [preparing your VHD](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/prepare-for-upload-vhd-image).

> [!CAUTION]
> Do not Sysprep
> 
> As Skillable currently only supports **Specialized**images, do not sysprep or otherwise prepare your image for a **Generalized** state.

##### Create a Storage Account Inside the Resource Group

1. Navigate to the resource group created at the beginning of this document.
2. Click **+ Add** to add a resource to the resource group.
  1. Search for **Storage** and select the **Storage Accounts** service.
  2. Select the **Resource group** drop-down and select the resource group you created in a previous task.
  3. Enter a name for your storage account in the **Storage account name** field. This name must be globally unique, so it is a good idea to choose a name that is meaningful to you and that will be unique.
  4. Choose the region where you want to store your storage account from the list of regions available in the **Location** drop-down.
  5. Click **Review + create** to create the storage account.
  6. Click **Create**.

##### Create Containers Inside of the Blob Service in Your Storage Account

Once you have created a resource group and a storage account within it, you need to create containers inside of the blob service in your storage account to store VHD files and host running virtual machine instances. This can be done from within the Microsoft Azure Portal, by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the storage account that you created in the previous task. This will open the storage account blade.
2. Click on the Containers service in the storage account blade. This will open the container service blade.
3. Click on the **+container** button to create a new storage container.
  1. In the Name field, enter the name that you would like to use for your storage container (e.g. template-vhds for the container for template virtual hard disks, or instance-vhds for the container for running virtual machine instances). Save the name in a document because you will need it later on.
  2. Select **Blob** for the **Public access level**.
  3. Click on **OK** to create the container.
  4. Repeat these steps to create a second storage container, this time for running virtual machine instances.

##### Uploading a VHD To Azure

1. Navigate to the storage account you are going to use to store VHD files and host running virtual machine instances.
2. In the storage account, go to the container where the VHD files will uploaded (template VHD storage).
3. Click the **upload** button near the top of the page.
4. Click the **blue folder icon** and select the VHD file that you want to upload.
5. Click **Advanced**.
6. Select the drop-down menu for **Blob type** and change the blob type to **Page blob**.

> [!CAUTION]
> If the VHD is uploaded as a *Block Blob* (default upload setting), the VHD will not be able to be used for a VM in a lab. The VHD must be uploaded as a page blob.
7. Click the **Upload** button to upload the VHD to the container.
8. After the VHD uploads, copy the VHD file name and save the name in a document because you will need it later on.

##### Create Managed Disk

Go back to the Azure admin dashboard and in the upper search bar, search for **Managed Disks** and select the **Managed Disks** service.

On the **Create a managed disk** page, enter the following:

1. **Subscription**: select the same subscription as previous selections.
2. **Resource Group**: Select the resource group where the Managed Disk will be deployed to. This should be the resource group selected in previous steps.
3. **Disk Name**: Name the shared disk.
4. **Region**: select the same region selected in previous steps.
  1. Click **Review + Create**.
  2. Click **Create**.

#### Enable Skillable Integration Services

To enable scoring, Life Cycle Actions (LCAs) and Activity-based Assessment (ABA), the Skillable integration service must be installed, by executing a PowerShell script in the VM, on all virtual machines that will use these features. Select **Install Integration Services** below for installation instructions.

You can verify the service is running by following the steps below:

1. Open a web browser in the VM.
2. Navigate to the following[URL:](http://localhost:2724)`localhost:2724`
3. If a page is displayed with *Skillable Integration Service* on the page, the service is running. [Skip this step](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#capture-running-vm).
4. If nothing or a failure to connect is displayed, complete the **Install Inegration Services** process below.

****Install Integration Services****

Before installing the integration service, there must not be any previous version of the service installed on the VM.

1. Ensure there are no previous versions of the integration service installed on the VM:
  1. Navigate to **Programs and Features** in the Control Panel and ensure there is no integration service listed in the installed list.
2. Navigate to [Skillable Integration Service GitHub page](https://github.com/LearnOnDemandSystems/Skillable-Integration-Service) and download the contents of the repository. This repository contains a PowerShell script and a folder that contains the integration service.

> You can download the repository contents by selecting the green **Code** button and then selecting ***Download ZIP***.
3. Copy the **downloaded files to the Virtual Machine**, using your preferred method to transfer files into the VM.

> The simplest method to get these files into the VM is to access this repository from the VM and download the files.
4. In the VM, move the downloaded **VmIntegrationService folder** to the **root of the VM's C drive**.
5. Navigate back to the downloaded files, and **run the**`install.ps1` PowerShell script, as an administrator by right-clicking and selecting the option to run as administrator.
6. After the script is executed, **reboot the VM**.
7. Once the VM is rebooted, the integration service may take a few minutes to start. **Scoring, LCA and ABA will not function correctly until the integration service is running**.

> Subsequent launches of this VM will have the same delayed start with the integration service. It is recommended to configure a delay to any Life Cycle Actions that are configured on lab profiles that use this VM.
8. Open a web browser in the VM.
9. Navigate to the following URL: `localhost:2724`

> If a page is displayed with *Skillable Integration Service* on the page, the service is running. Scoring, LCA and ABA will now function correctly.

#### Capture Running VM

1. Launch a VM within Azure.

| Local VHD Upload | Existing Azure VM | Marketplace Image | Compute Gallery Image |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| From the managed disk, select **+ Create VM** | **Start**the VM | Create a **new** **VM** | From the Image Definition, select **+ Create VM** |
2. Ensure the VM is in a **Running** state.
3. If this is your first time saving this image for use with Skillable, [enable Skillable Integration Services](/v1/docs/azure-compute-gallery-azure-virtualization#enable-skillable-integration-services).
4. Follow Microsoft’s Documentation for [capturing an image and saving it](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/capture-image-portal) to your custom Compute Gallery.

> [!CAUTION]
> **Do not Sysprep**
> 
> As Skillable currently only supports **Specialized**images, do not sysprep or otherwise prepare your image for a **Generalized** state.

### Update Region Availability/Replication

By default Azure Compute Gallery images are available only in a single region. To provide a better experience to a global audience, Skillable Studio supports Geo-location that deploys the virtual machine into the supported region closest to the lab user. Currently supported regions are:

| North America | Europe | Asia/Pacific |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Central US East US South Central US West US | West Europe | Southeast Asia |

If your current image version is not available in one of these regions, or if you would like to replicate it into multiple of these regions, complete the following:

1. Go to the Image Version that was created in the previous steps.
2. Click **Update replication** on the left side of the page.
3. **Target regions**: select all regions that you want the VM to launch from. Geolocating labs and launching VMs in the region closest to the lab user, is dependent on the regions that the image version is replicated to.
4. **Target region replica count**: select the number of replicas that will be needed in each region.
5. **Storage account type**: select the type of storage that will be used; Standard HDD, Premium SSD or Zone-redundant.
6. Click **Save** to begin replicating to the chosen regions.
7. If you wish to replicate more images, or replicate to different regions, you can do so after the current replication job is completed by completing these steps again.

## Azure Check List

At this point, you should have the following created in your resource group in Azure:

- [x] Specialized Image Definition
- [x] Image Version
- [x] Image Replicas in desired regions

If you are missing any of these items in your resource group, please go back to previous steps and complete any sections that were missed.

## Skillable Studio Tasks

### Associate Image with Virtual Machine Profile

Create a virtual machine profile that can be assigned to a Lab Profile.

1. Select **Azure** as the Virtualization Platform.
2. Select **Use Image Library**.
3. Enter the **Machine Name**. This will be the Image Definition name that was created during previous steps.
4. Enter the **version number** if you want the VM profile to use a specific version of your image. You can alternatively specify **latest**,****which will always use whatever image version is marked latest in Azure.
5. Specify the VM **username**.
6. Specify the VM **password**.

### Associate VM Profile with Lab profile

Create or edit a lab profile that to deploy the virtual machine in Azure.

1. Configure the lab for cloud slice as normal, setting **Azure** as the virtualization platform on the **Basic Information** tab.
2. Add the **VM profile** to your lab profile.
3. Configure the **Network**tab
4. Configure the **Cloud**tab
5. On the Virtual Machines tab, select the **Network**and **Resource Group** that the VM will use.

## Persist Changes in the Virtual Machine for Future Launches

Persisting changes to a virtual machine allows you to configure virtual machine settings and/or software, then capture those changes so that they are present in the VM for all users that launch the lab in the future. For Azure Compute Gallery images, this can be initiated in Skillable Studio but must be completed in the Azure Portal.

### Persist Changes

To permanently save any modifications to the image in the Azure Compute Gallery:

1. Launch a lab and modify the VM in any way you desire.
  1. Alternatively, you could deploy a VM directly from the compute gallery in Azure - the rest of the steps will remain the same.
2. Navigate to the **VM in the Azure portal**.
3. On Overview tab, select **Capture** at the top of the page.
4. Select the **resource group** where the **image library is stored**.
5. Select the **target Azure Compute Gallery**.
6. Select **Specialized** Operating System State.
7. Select the **Target VM image definition** where your **image definition is stored**.
8. Enter a **version number**. This version number will be used to configure the VM profile in Skillable Studio.
9. Select **replication** settings if you would like to replicate this VM for availability in other Azure regions.
  1. Select **Review + Create**.
  2. Click **Create**.

### Edit VM Profile to Use New Version

If the VM Profile in Skillable Studio is configured to use a specified version number, rather than **latest**, updating to the last version requires the following steps:

1. Login to **Skillable Studio**.
2. Navigate to the **VM profile**.
3. Select **Edit** on the profile.
4. Change the **version number** to the new version number that was set in Azure during previous steps.
5. Launch lab and confirm changes are present.

## 

A virtual machine is the virtualization or emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide the functionality of a physical computer.

Storefront is a platform where users can purchase vouchers related to laboratory services, training, or educational resources.

Microsoft's public cloud computing platform.

Skillable's lab building & authoring platform.

An organization is assigned to each entity in the TMS, such as, users, classes, subscriptions, and courses. The organization is a basis to determine access given based on roles within the organization and management over the organization.

With Life Cycle Actions, Skillable Studio is able to execute actions when specific events occur during the lab instance life cycle.

Activity-based Assessments are labs that contain activities that validate a if a given task was completed succesfully or not and provide real-time feedback directly to the learner as they are progressing through the lab.

Labs in Skillable Studio are housed in a Lab Profile. The Lab Profile contains the information about the configurable settings and the virtual machines that make up a lab. For a Lab Profile to be published it must be part of a Lab Series.

The virtualization platform that a lab profile will use for virtual machines or Containers. A virtualization platform is not needed for labs that do not use virtual machines or Containers. Options include: - Hyper-V - ESX - Azure - AWS - Docker