How To: Deploy a SecureAuth Identity Platform Image to an Azure VM

Version Affected: All

 

Overview

This article explains how to deploy a SecureAuth Identity Platform (IdP) image to an Azure Virtual Machine (VM), using the appliance's existing VHDs as the source for an Azure Image Gallery image that can then be used to deploy one or more IdP VMs. Azure does not support dynamic disks, so any dynamic VHDs must be converted to fixed-size first, using the following cmdlet:

Convert-VHD -Path <source_path> -DestinationPath <destination_path> -VHDType Fixed

Deploy the Image

1. Upload the fixed-size VHDs to an Azure storage account.
2. Create Azure managed disks, setting the Source blob to the VHD files in the storage account.
3. Create the image in Azure using the following resources:
   • Create an Azure Image Gallery.
   • Create an Image Definition in the Azure Image Gallery, with OS state set to Specialized.
   • Create an Image Version in the Image Definition, using the managed disks created in the previous step.
4. Create a VM using the Image Version. The same Image Version can be reused to deploy additional IdP VMs.
5. Once the VM is deployed:
   • Change the drive letter of the temp drive from D to T.
   • If the disk attached as the second (data) disk is offline, use Disk Management to bring it online and assign it the drive letter D.
   • Copy all files from the T drive to the D drive, except the MFCApp_bin folder, since the D drive must already have its own MFCApp_bin and Scripts folders.
   • Run the following executables as administrator, in order:
     • D:\MFCApp_Bin\InstallCerts\CertInstaller.exe
     • D:\MFCApp_Bin\InstallCerts\AppliancePrep.exe
     • D:\MFCApp_Bin\FirstStartup.cmd
6. Run the IdP setup utility.

Special Considerations

All of the Azure resources created in the steps above (storage account, managed disks, Image Gallery, Image Definition, and Image Version) must be created in the same region. If Disk Encryption Sets are used to encrypt the disks, the Disk Encryption Set must also be in the same region as the disks.


 

SecureAuth Knowledge Base Articles provide information based on specific use cases and may not apply to all appliances or configurations. Be advised that these instructions could cause harm to the environment if not followed correctly or if they do not apply to the current use case.

Customers are responsible for their own due diligence prior to utilizing this information and agree that SecureAuth is not liable for any issues caused by misconfiguration directly or indirectly related to SecureAuth products.