<last update 10/09/2017>
As I help customers and partners to build VM and various infrastructure services on Azure, I started to accumulate a lot of tools to make life easier. Here is my list, feel free to comment and share yours, I’d be happy to learn about new ones!
Storage
| Tool | Platforms | Notes |
| Azure Storage Explorer (Microsoft) | Linux, Windows, Mac | Nice UI to manipulate storage in Azure. |
| AzCopy (Microsoft) | Windows | Command line context to upload/download storage content. |
| Azure Explorer (Red Gate) | Windows | GUI free tool from Red-Gate to explore Azure storage. |
| CloudXplorer (Clumsyleaf) | Windows | Classical tool from Clumsyleaf. |
| Trucks | Because sometimes it’s just too big, send your disks to Azure and we import it for you. | |
| Azure Data Box | We will ship you a box, you fill it and we put it on your Azure account for you. |
Networking
| Tool | Platforms | Notes |
| http://www.azurespeed.com/ | – | Tests the speed of Azure Services from your IP location to the rest of the world. |
| Message Analyzer | Windows | Network traces and so much more. |
| Network Monitor (netmon) or WireShark | Windows, Mac | Netmon 3.4 still works on Windows 10, as an alternative to WireShark. |
| Fiddler (Telerik) | Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. | Web debbuging proxy for fun and profit. |
| tnc (PowerShell) | Windows 8.1 | Tnc is a tool built-in Windows 8.1 and later, allows you to test network connectivity and latency on various ports. |
| PortQryUI | Windows | TCP and UDP Port Query fairly old tool, preset with common Windows Ports and services. |
Compute
| Tool | Platforms | Notes |
| Remote Desktop Connection Manager | Windows | Classical multi windows RDP client. |
| MobaXterm | Windows | Multi windows SSH client combined with SCP capabilities. |
| Virtual Machine Readiness assessment | Windows | Toolset used to evaluate a VM’s readiness for Azure. Gives you a detailed report of the machine state. |
| Certification Test tool for Azure Certified | Windows | This tool allows you to self-assess your VM configuration against Azure best practices for certification (prerequisite for the Marketplace). |
| Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) Plugin | Windows | Allows you to manage your Azure resources from VMM. |
- VM Sizes reference: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-sizes/
General Automation
| Tool | Platforms | Notes |
| PowerShell | Windows | Direct MSI Setup, avoiding the infamous WebPI. Script center to find examples: Browse script center |
| Cross platform CLI | Linux, Mac, Windows | The cross platform command line interface for Azure. |
Documenting platforms
| Tool | Notes |
| http://armviz.io/ | Visualize a JSON template graphically |
| http://www.azuredockit.com/ | Generate a documentation or diagram of a deployment |
| Azure, Cloud and Enterprise Symbols, Icon Set – Visio stencil, PowerPoint, PNG, SVG | Complete Visio and PNG illustration to document your Azure deployments |
| Reference Architectures | Link to reference architecture and cloud design patterns |
| Visio File for Reference Architectures | Mandatory for all cloud architects! |
| Architecture blueprints | Architecture diagrams and blueprints for various services, can copy/paste the SVG resources from the webpage. |
Azure Templates Authoring
| Tool | Platforms | Notes |
| Visual Studio Code | Mac, Linux, Windows | Very nice tool to edit JSON templates for Azure and Azure Stack. |
| Visual Studio | Windows | Complete IDE for your application, includes a comprehensive support to edit and consume Azure resources directly. |
| Azure SDK Installation | Mac, Linux, Windows, etc. | Contains installers for all platforms. |
| https://github.com/Azure/azure-quickstart-templates | – | Templates and quick starters for JSON templates. |
| Git Desktop | Mac, Windows | Allows to sync your Github repos on your laptop. |
| https://resources.azure.com/ | – | Allows you to query API in JSON format “graphically”. |
| Azure Container Services Engine | Mac, Windows, Linux | ACSEngine helps you build ARM templates for your clustered Docker deployments. |
- Guidance on authoring your own Linux virtual machine: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-create-upload-generic/#general-linux-installation-notes
- Guidance on authoring your own Windows virtual machine: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-windows-prepare-for-upload-vhd-image/
Hope this was useful, please comment and have fun on Azure!
