Creating a Windows VM

Create a Windows VM using Compute Cloud from the Yandex Cloud management console and connect to it.

To use Microsoft products, you must provide correct user data.

Before you begin

1. Log in to or register in the management console. If you aren't registered, go to the management console and follow the instructions.
   1. On the billing page, make sure you linked a billing account and it has the ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE status. If you don't have a billing account, create one.
2. If you don't have a folder, create one.

Create a VM

To create a VM:

1. In the management console, select the folder to create the virtual machine in.

2. In the list of services, select Compute Cloud.

3. Click Create VM.

4. Under Basic parameters:

   • Enter a name and description for the VM. Naming requirements:

     • The length can be from 3 to 63 characters.
     • It may contain lowercase Latin letters, numbers, and hyphens.
     • The first character must be a letter. The last character can't be a hyphen.

     Note

     The VM name is used to generate an internal FQDN only once: when creating a VM. If the internal FQDN is important to you, choose an appropriate name for the VM at the creation stage.

   • Select an availability zone to put your virtual machine in.

5. Under Image/boot disk selection, select an image and a Windows-based operating system.

6. (optional) Under Disk and file storage, click the Disks tab and configure a boot disk:

   • Select the disk type.

   • Specify the necessary disk size.

     If you wish to create a virtual machine from an existing disk, under Disks and file storage, add a disk:

     • Click Add disk.
     • Enter the disk name.
     • Select the disk type.
     • Specify the desired block size.
     • Specify the necessary disk size.
     • (optional) Enable the Delete with the VM option if you need to automatically delete the disk when deleting the VM it will be attached to.
     • Select Disk as content.
     • Click Add.

7. (optional) Under Disks and file storage, click the File storage tab and connect a file store:

   • Click Connect file storage.
   • In the resulting window, select a file store.
   • Enter a device name.
   • Click Connect file storage.

8. Under Computing resources:

   • Choose a platform.
   • Specify the guaranteed share and the required number of vCPUs, as well as the amount of RAM.
   • If necessary, make your VM preemptible.
   • (optional) Enable a software-accelerated network.

9. Under Network settings:

   • Enter a subnet ID or select a cloud network from the list.
     If you don't have a network, click Create network to create one:
     • In the window that opens, enter the network name and folder to host the network.
     • (optional) To automatically create subnets, select the Create subnets option.
     • Click Create.
       Each network must have at least one subnet. If there is no subnet, create one by selecting Add subnet.
   • In the Public IP field, choose a method for assigning an IP address:
     • Auto: Assign a random IP address from the Yandex Cloud IP pool. With this, you can enable DDoS protection using the option below.
     • List: Select a public IP address from the list of previously reserved static addresses. For more information, see Making a dynamic public IP address static.
     • No address: Don't assign a public IP address.
   • In the Internal address field, select the method for assigning internal addresses: Auto or Manual.
   • (optional) Create a record for the VM in the DNS zone. Expand the DNS settings for internal addresses section, click Add record and specify the zone, FQDN and TTL for the record. For more information, see Cloud DNS integration with Compute Cloud.
   • Select appropriate security groups (if there is no corresponding field, the virtual machine will be enabled for all incoming and outgoing traffic).

10. Under Access, specify the data required to access the VM:

    • (optional) Select or create a service account. By using a service account, you can flexibly configure access rights for your resources.

    • When you create a VM, the Administrator user is automatically created in the operating system. In the Password field, enter this user's password.

      Note

      If you lost your password to log in to the VM, you may need to create a new VM with a disk from a snapshot. For more information, see Restoring access to a VM.

      Do not use passwords that are easy to guess. Passwords must meet the Windows security policy.

      In Windows Server images from Yandex Cloud, the Administrator user's password expiration is disabled by default.

    • If required, grant access to the serial console.

11. (optional) Under Placement, select a VM placement group.

12. Click Create VM.

The virtual machine appears in the list. When a VM is created, it is assigned an IP address and hostname (FQDN). You can use this data to access the VM via RDP.

Reset the administrator password

The administrator password specified at the time of VM creation is saved as clear-text metadata, which is why we recommend replacing it with a newly generated password.

To reset a password:

1. Select the folder the VM belongs to.

2. Select Compute Cloud.

3. Select the VM.

4. Click Reset password.

   Note

   In the window that opens, if you see a message that the password reset agent is not running on the VM, make sure it is installed and review its runtime logs. For more information, see Verifying password reset operation on a Windows virtual machine.

5. Specify the Username to reset the password for. If there is no user with that name on the VM, this user will be created with administrator access.

6. Click Generate password.

7. Save the New password. It will become unavailable once you close the window.

Connect to the VM

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) with Network Level Authentication (NLA) is enabled for images of all versions and editions of the Windows operating system prepared for Yandex Cloud. Before connecting to a VM, make sure that NLA is enabled in your desktop settings. When the VM starts (its status is RUNNING), you can connect to it using RDP.

Make sure the VM's security groups allow incoming TCP traffic to port 3389.

To connect using RDP, specify the public IP address or the FQDN of the VM. Access using FQDN is possible from another Yandex Cloud VM if it's connected to the same network. You can find out the IP address and FQDN in the management console. Go to the Network section on the virtual machine's page.

To connect to the VM:

Configure the serial console

Using the serial console, you can connect to a VM regardless of the network or OS state (for example, if there are RDP loading or access issues).

Make sure you configure access to the VM via the serial console in advance.

Delete the VM

If you no longer plan to use a virtual machine, delete it.

What's next

• Watch tutorials for creating web services in Yandex Cloud.
• Learn how to create a VM with a GPU.
• Learn how to use VMs.
• Read answers to frequently asked questions.