Aditya Shah

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How to host WordPress on Azure under 15 minutes

Azure is the most sought-after service as it helps much in Cloud Computing. It has a collection of many services like Virtual Machine and sixty-eight other products that are mainly used in cloud computing.

If you are a blogger or a web designer then you should host your WordPress site with Microsoft Azure. It brings you more advantages than any other Virtual Machine platform.

Azure will let you host more than one website which is a great benefit if you are a user with multiple websites.

I prefer using Azure as its speed is unimaginably great compared to other hosting sites.

Step by Step Guide to Set up Azure

To set up Azure you first need to create a WordPress Resource and then complete WordPress Installation.

Step 1: Creating a WordPress Resource

Setting up Azure: Complete the entire sign up process on Microsoft Dev Essentials and receive free credits. After registering on MS Dev, go to Azure website and log in with your credentials.

Creating Virtual Machine: To deploy the server, we need to create a Virtual Machine VM using windows or even other versions.

Configurations: In order to create a VM, certain configurations are to be done. Choose a unique name for the machine. Choose the VM disk type as SSDD so that the server performs at a greater speed. Select ‘Create new’ under the resource group and select a name. The name starts with ‘RG’ that follows your VM’s name. The next step is to choose the location. The location closest must be chosen for an improved latency.

Size of VM: The next step is to choose the size of your virtual machine that is depending on the project’s requirement. Use DS1_V2 for hosting common projects. This will make your website to attract more traffic and scale up your business. Azure has its name for easy scaling and hence proving it. You need not select cost as you are choosing the free credit given by Azure.

Specifications of DS1_V2: It has 3.5 GB RAM and comes with a single core processor. It has 7GB of SSD disk space. If you are a using server around South East Asian region, then it would cost up to 60 USD.

Settings: It is the most important step as it involves configuration of IPs. The name of your storage account can be created here. The configuration of your Virtual machine’s IP is done here. Static IP or Dynamic IP can be chosen based on the requirements. A new inbound rule must be created in Network Security group Firewall. To add this rule, select Network Security Group Firewall from the menu. Under ‘Inbound rules’ select ‘add an inbound rule’. To set up this rule, input the following configurations.

Name: “http”

Priority: Any integer greater than SSH’s priority, greater than 1000.

Service: “HTTP”

Port: 80 (which is default)

Protocol: TCP

Action: Allow

  • Validation: After completing all the process, Azure will be validating on the Virtual Machine and you can deploy the process by clicking ‘OK’. It takes a few minutes to deploy and you can see that your Virtual machine is running.

Step 2: Installing WordPress

You have now created and deployed a virtual machine. The next step is to Install WordPress

  1. Dashboard settings

Once you have entered the Microsoft Azure webapp, you will see a dashboard with many application names on the left pane if you are using Azure for other applications. If not, look for ‘+NEW’ on the dashboard.

WordPress search: After clicking ‘New’, you can search for ‘WordPress’ on the search bar and the list of applications published by various publishers appears. You have to choose the first official WordPress published by the company itself and click create.

WordPress on Azure

Here are a few details about various options that you need to fill before you can use WordPress on Azure:

Username: The dashboard with setting up of WordPress appears and you have to choose the options one by one. Give a unique name that is going to appear on your WordPress site.

Subscription: The next step is to choose subscription. Here, I’m keeping it as ‘free trial’.

Resource group: The next step is to choose the resource group. You will be having two options ‘Create new’ and ‘Use existing’. Since we are creating our own WordPress domain, choose ‘Create new’radio button.

Database provider: Two providers are available. One is ‘Azure database for My SQL (preview) and the other one is ‘My SQL in app’.

When to use Azure database for My SQL: If you have a huge database requirements then choose ‘Azure database for my SQL’. After choosing this database provider, you have to setup database configuration settings.

When to use My SQL in app: My SQL in-app can be chosen if you are going to handle a few data transfers. It is mainly for a short-term website creation like for an event or for a single use purpose.

After choosing ‘My SQL in-app’, you will be seeing ‘App service plant/location’. We will use the default location. If you are willing to change the location then you can create new with the mentioned pricing.

After providing all the above details in the dashboard, click ‘CREATE’. That’s it and it takes a few minutes to host the WordPress. It will show as ‘Displaying WordPress’ and your good to go after the creation. You can see the WordPress created under your name (which is the unique name given at the start of the process). It is similar to the WordPress template and if you click on ‘Browse’ it redirects to the website with our name.

As a part of the prerequisite, you need to have an Azure subscription which is quite obvious. A bit of knowledge on WordPress to work on the dashboard is also important. We can choose the WordPress seamlessly with the help of Azure webapp. It is very simple and easy to install as the templates and plug-ins are easy to use.

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Global Azure Bootcamp Bhopal 2018

The Global Azure Bootcamp event was organized on the 21st of April, 2018 in the LNCT Campus headed by me (Aditya Shah) and Mayur. The propaganda of the camp was to inform the students and make them familiar with Azure, the leading cloud platform of the industry.

The event started with welcoming our four speakers – Mr. Divyansh Singh, Mr. Niket Chadrawanshi, Ms. Anubha Maneshwar, and Mr. Navin Sharma. The event then took off with a brief introduction was given by me where I shed light on the various Azure products and their importance and efficiency.

After this, two of the speakers took hands-on sessions in the laboratories on how to use Azure to host websites and applications. The students were taken to the laboratories where they activated their Azure accounts with Azure pass that were sent by the Global Azure Bootcamp team. After a small snack break with Subway refreshments; funded by Microsoft, our session resumed.

Then a session on creating a bot using Azure was taken by Naveen where he explained each and every step to create a BOT. The last session was taken by  Ms. Anubha on how Azure can help students to build a better career. She also mentioned opportunities available when using Microsoft Azure as cloud service.

The event was a great success and I would like to extend hearty thanks to Prof. Anuj Garg, and the entire staff and students of the LNCT Group of Institutions in making this a successful event. The event was also successful in spreading awareness about the technologically advanced products and services of Microsoft.

In the end, we had a question and answer session by all our speakers who stood in front and welcome all questions by the attendees.

                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a successful event, regarding both the strength of the students that attended it and the awareness that it was able to spread.

 

 

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WordCamp Nagpur 2017 Experience

It started with a chilled morning as we arrived at 4:15 am in the morning and soon we went to the retiring room – special thanks to Indian railways for providing such a facility, after taking an hour nap we were all set and energized for WordCamp.

I would like to introduce my friends Animesh Jain, Manglam Gupta and Prateek Shukla. I and Animesh were the volunteers at WordCamp Nagpur and had a duty at community room. Finally, we reached the venue that was Chitnavis center, the place was very good and attractive. We met other attendees and volunteers at the center and in some time all the organizers and volunteers were there and everything started with the lightning speed. The registration desk was set up in the first place and all the id cards and kits were distributed.

The first day of WordCamp was very good and interesting as it was a great experience meeting great speakers and great people in WordCamp. After the WordCamp, we found a hotel in Nagpur at a very interesting area that doesn’t sleep at night at that particular time of Ramzan. We took rest for about 4-5 hours in the hotel room and then a great task was waiting for us, the ultimate vegetarian food finding challenge that is very difficult in Nagpur but eventually we succeeded after traveling 4 km from our place and returned back to the hotel room after our food challenge.

The night was very interesting as the whole area of our stay was a very big market that was selling various and interesting stuff around. After roaming in the whole area with a great crowd present there that was totally unexpected for us as the population is quite less in Nagpur. We finally went back to our hotel after roaming around for a nap around 3:00 am.

The second day of WordCamp was another interesting day with so many speakers and parallel sessions around. Sponsors were given Sponsor Desks for interacting with the attendees in WordCamp. It is always been a pleasure to meet sponsors at WordCamp and I really wanna thank for all the super cool stuff especially for the batches we got and even a wireless mouse from reseller club.

WordCamp Nagpur was a real success and even there was a memento for every volunteer stating thanks for supporting WordCamp.

We left the center around 6:00 pm as we were having our train at 10:00 pm for Bhopal and went for dinner at a cool Italian restaurant guided by Abhishek Deshpande – Lead organizer of WordCamp Nagpur. Soon after our dinner we went to the railway station with an auto rickshaw and came back to Bhopal after an overnight journey.

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First MSTC Bhopal Meetup
In our mission to revive Microsoft Technical Community (MSTC) Bhopal, the core team’s first ever Meetup was organized successfully on 6th May 2017. The meetup was indeed very productive one. The agenda/ conclusions of the Meetup are as follows:
  • To finalize core team of MSTC Bhopal.
  • To finalize the LOGO, Social Media Accounts, Website and other Point of Contacts of community.
  • Planned next Meetup and its venue and also the Venue for the Community Office.
  • The existing MSP TEAM agreed for the extensive Sessions in Universities and Other technical Institutes in Bhopal.

The plan for the Session/Seminar was lined up after reviewing the extensive feedback received. The session would be giving an overview of Microsoft technologies to the students and how to use and implement it.

 

  1. This session will have overview of Microsoft Technologies, which would be including sessions on Azure, IOT, Power Apps, MVA portal, etc..
  2. The second session will be on LinkedIn’s ‘Rock Your Profile’ Session.

 

The attendees were:

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Azure Day 2016

The most awaited day finally arrived when I finally got the chance to organize the “AZURE DAY” in my college. Oriental College of Technology, Anand Nagar, Bhopal.

That morning I woke up and rehearsed all the contents via Skype through my fellow mates. This was going to be fun as it was organised by Microsoft and I felt privileged to be a part to the Microsoft team. We reached the college by 11:30 and checked for all the arrangements that were to be done on time starting from projector, to power point presentation, as I have held many seminars in various institutes across the country, so I was knowing it would be one of the best things happening in my life again!!

The seminar was scheduled to start at 1:00. The audience started to assemble in the auditorium according to the time given by the authorities. They all looked excited about the seminar. Finally after the dignitaries arrived, we welcomed them and the seminar moved forward.., Let me tell you about what the seminar was about.

We informed the students what azure was all about.

  • What is cloud and its importance
  • Description windows azure services
  • Computer Services
  • What is network service
  • What are data services
  • Azure components
  • Azure Pricing

Microsoft Azure is an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. Move faster, do more and save money with IaaS + PaaS. Our Aim was to make People aware about Microsoft azure on the auspicious Azure day. The advantages of the azure were mind blowing, as students were very much keen to know about this new technology.

We discussed about the azure thoroughly and went through all of its components via PPT’S, After the session was over, a Q&A round was held in which many students came up with questions about the working, updates, pros & cons of the MS Azure.

Finally the session was over with the dignitaries giving speech about the future aspects and the use of the azure in our day to day lives. Also they thanked us for our efforts that made the students knowing something about the new technologies Microsoft launches and others related to the IT field.

It was great pleasure for me to join hands with Microsoft student partner program and make the students aware about the new innovations done by Microsoft. My college also supported me to organize the seminar. Without them, which would be quite impossible. Finally the session ended and we clicked some photographs of the entire seminar.
Overall, it was a nice experience for me and in future I’m looking forward to organize more of such seminars in various institutions.

 

   

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