Lab 06 - Implement Traffic Management

Student lab manual

Lab scenario

You were tasked with testing managing network traffic targeting Azure virtual machines in the hub and spoke network topology, which Contoso considers implementing in its Azure environment (instead of creating the mesh topology, which you tested in the previous lab). This testing needs to include implementing connectivity between spokes by relying on user defined routes that force traffic to flow via the hub, as well as traffic distribution across virtual machines by using layer 4 and layer 7 load balancers. For this purpose, you intend to use Azure Load Balancer (layer 4) and Azure Application Gateway (layer 7).

Note: An interactive lab simulation is available that allows you to click through this lab at your own pace. You may find slight differences between the interactive simulation and the hosted lab, but the core concepts and ideas being demonstrated are the same.

Note: This lab, by default, requires total of 8 vCPUs available in the Standard_Dsv3 series in the region you choose for deployment, since it involves deployment of four Azure VMs of Standard_D2s_v3 SKU. If your students are using trial accounts, with the limit of 4 vCPUs, you can use a VM size that requires only one vCPU (such as Standard_B1s).

Objectives

In this lab, you will:

  • Task 1: Provision the lab environment
  • Task 2: Configure the hub and spoke network topology
  • Task 3: Test transitivity of virtual network peering
  • Task 4: Configure routing in the hub and spoke topology
  • Task 5: Implement Azure Load Balancer
  • Task 6: Implement Azure Application Gateway

Estimated timing: 60 minutes

Architecture diagram

image

Instructions

Exercise 1

Task 1: Provision the lab environment

In this task, you will deploy four virtual machines into the same Azure region. The first two will reside in a hub virtual network, while each of the remaining two will reside in a separate spoke virtual network.

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

  2. In the Azure portal, open the Azure Cloud Shell by clicking on the icon in the top right of the Azure Portal.

  3. If prompted to select either Bash or PowerShell, select PowerShell.

    Note: If this is the first time you are starting Cloud Shell and you are presented with the You have no storage mounted message, select the subscription you are using in this lab, and click Create storage.

  4. In the toolbar of the Cloud Shell pane, click the Upload/Download files icon, in the drop-down menu, click Upload and upload the files \Allfiles\Labs\06\az104-06-vms-loop-template.json and \Allfiles\Labs\06\az104-06-vms-loop-parameters.json into the Cloud Shell home directory.

  5. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to create the first resource group that will be hosting the lab environment (replace the ‘[Azure_region]’ placeholder with the name of an Azure region where you intend to deploy Azure virtual machines)(you can use the “(Get-AzLocation).Location” cmdlet to get the region list):

     $location = '[Azure_region]'

    Now the resource group name:

     $rgName = 'az104-06-rg1'

    And finally create the resource group in your desired location:

     New-AzResourceGroup -Name $rgName -Location $location

  6. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to create the three virtual networks and four Azure VMs into them by using the template and parameter files you uploaded:

    Note: You will be prompted to provide an Admin password.

    New-AzResourceGroupDeployment `
   -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
   -TemplateFile $HOME/az104-06-vms-loop-template.json `
   -TemplateParameterFile $HOME/az104-06-vms-loop-parameters.json

    Note: Wait for the deployment to complete before proceeding to the next step. This should take about 5 minutes.

    Note: If you got an error stating the VM size is not available please ask your instructor for assistance and try these steps.

    1. Click on the {} button in your CloudShell, select the az104-06-vms-loop-parameters.json from the left hand side bar and take a note of the vmSize parameter value.
    2. Check the location in which the ‘az104-06-rg1’ resource group is deployed. You can run az group show -n az104-06-rg1 --query location in your CloudShell to get it.
    3. Run az vm list-skus --location <Replace with your location> -o table --query "[? contains(name,'Standard_D2s')].name" in your CloudShell.
    4. Replace the value of vmSize parameter with one of the values returned by the command you just run. If there are no values returned, you may need to choose a different region to deploy into. You may also choose a different family name, like “Standard_B1s”.
    5. Now redeploy your templates by running the New-AzResourceGroupDeployment command again. You can press the up button a few times which would bring the last executed command.

  7. From the Cloud Shell pane, run the following to install the Network Watcher extension on the Azure VMs deployed in the previous step:

    $rgName = 'az104-06-rg1'
$location = (Get-AzResourceGroup -ResourceGroupName $rgName).location
$vmNames = (Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $rgName).Name

foreach ($vmName in $vmNames) {
  Set-AzVMExtension `
  -ResourceGroupName $rgName `
  -Location $location `
  -VMName $vmName `
  -Name 'networkWatcherAgent' `
  -Publisher 'Microsoft.Azure.NetworkWatcher' `
  -Type 'NetworkWatcherAgentWindows' `
  -TypeHandlerVersion '1.4'
}

    Note: Wait for the deployment to complete before proceeding to the next step. This should take about 5 minutes.

  8. Close the Cloud Shell pane.

Task 2: Configure the hub and spoke network topology

In this task, you will configure local peering between the virtual networks you deployed in the previous tasks in order to create a hub and spoke network topology.

  1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Virtual networks.

  2. Review the virtual networks you created in the previous task.

    Note: The template you used for deployment of the three virtual networks ensures that the IP address ranges of the three virtual networks do not overlap.

  3. In the list of virtual networks, select az104-06-vnet2.

  4. On the az104-06-vnet2 blade, select Properties.

  5. On the az104-06-vnet2 | Properties blade, record the value of the Resource ID property.

  6. Navigate back to the list of virtual networks and select az104-06-vnet3.

  7. On the az104-06-vnet3 blade, select Properties.

  8. On the az104-06-vnet3 | Properties blade, record the value of the Resource ID property.

    Note: You will need the values of the ResourceID property for both virtual networks later in this task.

    Note: This is a workaround that addresses the issue with the Azure portal occasionally not displaying the newly provisioned virtual network when creating virtual network peerings.

  9. In the list of virtual networks, click az104-06-vnet01.

  10. On the az104-06-vnet01 virtual network blade, in the Settings section, click Peerings and then click + Add.

  11. Add a peering with the following settings (leave others with their default values) and click Add:

    Setting Value
    This virtual network: Peering link name az104-06-vnet01_to_az104-06-vnet2
    Allow ‘az104-06-vnet01’ to access the peered virtual network Ensure the box is checked (default)
    Allow gateway in ‘az104-06-vnet01’ to forward traffic to the peered virtual network Ensure the box is checked
    Remote virtual network: Peering link name az104-06-vnet2_to_az104-06-vnet01
    Virtual network deployment model Resource manager
    I know my resource ID enabled
    Resource ID The value of resourceID parameter of az104-06-vnet2 you recorded earlier in this task.
    Allow az104-06-vnet2 to access az104-06-vnet01 Ensure the box is checked (default)
    Allow az104-06-vnet2 to receive forwarded traffic from az104-06-vnet01 Ensure the box is checked

    Note: Wait for the operation to complete.

    Note: This step establishes two local peerings - one from az104-06-vnet01 to az104-06-vnet2 and the other from az104-06-vnet2 to az104-06-vnet01.

  12. On the az104-06-vnet01 virtual network blade, in the Settings section, click Peerings and then click + Add.

  13. Add a peering with the following settings (leave others with their default values) and click Add:

    Setting Value
    This virtual network: Peering link name az104-06-vnet01_to_az104-06-vnet3
    Allow ‘az104-06-vnet01’ to access the peered virtual network Ensure the box is checked (default)
    Allow gateway in ‘az104-06-vnet01’ to forward traffic to the peered virtual network Ensure the box is checked
    Remote virtual network: Peering link name az104-06-vnet3_to_az104-06-vnet01
    Virtual network deployment model Resource manager
    I know my resource ID enabled
    Resource ID The value of resourceID parameter of az104-06-vnet3 you recorded earlier in this task.
    Allow az104-06-vnet3 to access az104-06-vnet01 Ensure the box is checked (default)
    Allow az104-06-vnet3 to receive forwarded traffic from az104-06-vnet01 Ensure the box is checked

    Note: Wait for the operation to complete.

    Note: This step establishes two local peerings - one from az104-06-vnet01 to az104-06-vnet3 and the other from az104-06-vnet3 to az104-06-vnet01. This completes setting up the hub and spoke topology (with two spoke virtual networks).

Task 3: Test transitivity of virtual network peering

In this task, you will test transitivity of virtual network peering by using Network Watcher.

  1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Network Watcher.

  2. On the Network Watcher blade, expand the listing of Azure regions and verify the service is enabled in region you are using.

  3. On the Network Watcher blade, navigate to the Connection troubleshoot.

  4. On the Network Watcher - Connection troubleshoot blade, initiate a check with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Note: It may take a few minutes for the resource group to be listed. If you don’t want to wait, try this: delete the Network Watcher, create a new Network Watcher, and then retry Connection Troubleshoot.

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Source type Virtual machine
    Virtual machine az104-06-vm0
    Destination Specify manually
    URI, FQDN or IPv4 10.62.0.4
    Protocol TCP
    Destination Port 3389

    Note: 10.62.0.4 represents the private IP address of az104-06-vm2

  5. Click Run diagnostic tests and wait until results of the connectivity check are returned. Verify that the status is Success. Review the network path and note that the connection was direct, with no intermediate hops in between the VMs.

    Note: This is expected, since the hub virtual network is peered directly with the first spoke virtual network.

  6. On the Network Watcher - Connection troubleshoot blade, initiate a check with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Source type Virtual machine
    Virtual machine az104-06-vm0
    Destination Specify manually
    URI, FQDN or IPv4 10.63.0.4
    Protocol TCP
    Destination Port 3389

    Note: 10.63.0.4 represents the private IP address of az104-06-vm3

  7. Click Run diagnostic tests and wait until results of the connectivity check are returned. Verify that the status is Success. Review the network path and note that the connection was direct, with no intermediate hops in between the VMs.

    Note: This is expected, since the hub virtual network is peered directly with the second spoke virtual network.

  8. On the Network Watcher - Connection troubleshoot blade, initiate a check with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Source type Virtual machine
    Virtual machine az104-06-vm2
    Destination Specify manually
    URI, FQDN or IPv4 10.63.0.4
    Protocol TCP
    Destination Port 3389

  9. Click Run diagnostic tests and wait until results of the connectivity check are returned. Note that the status is Fail.

    Note: This is expected, since the two spoke virtual networks are not peered with each other (virtual network peering is not transitive).

Task 4: Configure routing in the hub and spoke topology

In this task, you will configure and test routing between the two spoke virtual networks by enabling IP forwarding on the network interface of the az104-06-vm0 virtual machine, enabling routing within its operating system, and configuring user-defined routes on the spoke virtual network.

  1. In the Azure portal, search and select Virtual machines.

  2. On the Virtual machines blade, in the list of virtual machines, click az104-06-vm0.

  3. On the az104-06-vm0 virtual machine blade, in the Settings section, click Networking.

  4. Click the az104-06-nic0 link next to the Network interface label, and then, on the az104-06-nic0 network interface blade, in the Settings section, click IP configurations.

  5. Set IP forwarding to Enabled and save the change.

    Note: This setting is required in order for az104-06-vm0 to function as a router, which will route traffic between two spoke virtual networks.

    Note: Now you need to configure operating system of the az104-06-vm0 virtual machine to support routing.

  6. In the Azure portal, navigate back to the az104-06-vm0 Azure virtual machine blade and click Overview.

  7. On the az104-06-vm0 blade, in the Operations section, click Run command, and, in the list of commands, click RunPowerShellScript.

  8. On the Run Command Script blade, type the following and click Run to install the Remote Access Windows Server role.

    Install-WindowsFeature RemoteAccess -IncludeManagementTools

    Note: Wait for the confirmation that the command completed successfully.

  9. On the Run Command Script blade, type the following and click Run to install the Routing role service.

    Install-WindowsFeature -Name Routing -IncludeManagementTools -IncludeAllSubFeature

Install-WindowsFeature -Name "RSAT-RemoteAccess-Powershell"

Install-RemoteAccess -VpnType RoutingOnly

Get-NetAdapter | Set-NetIPInterface -Forwarding Enabled

    Note: Wait for the confirmation that the command completed successfully.

    Note: Now you need to create and configure user defined routes on the spoke virtual networks.

  10. In the Azure portal, search and select Route tables and, on the Route tables blade, click + Create.

  11. Create a route table with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Location the name of the Azure region in which you created the virtual networks
    Name az104-06-rt23
    Propagate gateway routes No

  12. Click Review and Create. Let validation occur, and click Create to submit your deployment.

    Note: Wait for the route table to be created. This should take about 3 minutes.

  13. Click Go to resource.

  14. On the az104-06-rt23 route table blade, in the Settings section, click Routes, and then click + Add.

  15. Add a new route with the following settings:

    Setting Value
    Route name az104-06-route-vnet2-to-vnet3
    Address prefix destination IP Addresses
    Destination IP addresses/CIDR ranges 10.63.0.0/20
    Next hop type Virtual appliance
    Next hop address 10.60.0.4

  16. Click Add

  17. Back on the az104-06-rt23 route table blade, in the Settings section, click Subnets, and then click + Associate.

  18. Associate the route table az104-06-rt23 with the following subnet:

    Setting Value
    Virtual network az104-06-vnet2
    Subnet subnet0

  19. Click Add

  20. Navigate back to Route tables blade and click + Create.

  21. Create a route table with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Region the name of the Azure region in which you created the virtual networks
    Name az104-06-rt32
    Propagate gateway routes No

  22. Click Review and Create. Let validation occur, and hit Create to submit your deployment.

    Note: Wait for the route table to be created. This should take about 3 minutes.

  23. Click Go to resource.

  24. On the az104-06-rt32 route table blade, in the Settings section, click Routes, and then click + Add.

  25. Add a new route with the following settings:

    Setting Value
    Route name az104-06-route-vnet3-to-vnet2
    Address prefix destination IP Addresses
    Destination IP addresses/CIDR ranges 10.62.0.0/20
    Next hop type Virtual appliance
    Next hop address 10.60.0.4

  26. Click OK

  27. Back on the az104-06-rt32 route table blade, in the Settings section, click Subnets, and then click + Associate.

  28. Associate the route table az104-06-rt32 with the following subnet:

    Setting Value
    Virtual network az104-06-vnet3
    Subnet subnet0

  29. Click OK

  30. In the Azure portal, navigate back to the Network Watcher - Connection troubleshoot blade.

  31. On the Network Watcher - Connection troubleshoot blade, use the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg1
    Source type Virtual machine
    Virtual machine az104-06-vm2
    Destination Specify manually
    URI, FQDN or IPv4 10.63.0.4
    Protocol TCP
    Destination Port 3389

  32. Click Run diagnostic tests and wait until results of the connectivity check are returned. Verify that the status is Success. Review the network path and note that the traffic was routed via 10.60.0.4, assigned to the az104-06-nic0 network adapter. If status is Fail, you should stop and then start az104-06-vm0.

    Note: This is expected, since the traffic between spoke virtual networks is now routed via the virtual machine located in the hub virtual network, which functions as a router.

    Note: You can use Network Watcher to view topology of the network.

Task 5: Implement Azure Load Balancer

In this task, you will implement an Azure Load Balancer in front of the two Azure virtual machines in the hub virtual network.

  1. In the Azure portal, search for and select Load balancers and, on the Load balancers blade, click + Create.

  2. Create a load balancer with the following settings (leave others with their default values) then click Next : Frontend IP configuration:

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg4 (if necessary create)
    Name az104-06-lb4
    Region name of the Azure region into which you deployed all other resources in this lab
    SKU Standard
    Type Public
    Tier Regional

  3. On the Frontend IP configuration tab, click Add a frontend IP configuration and use the following settings:

    Setting Value
    Name az104-06-fe4
    IP type IP address
    Public IP address Select Create new
    Gateway Load Balancer None

  4. On the Add a public IP address popup, use the following settings before clicking OK and then Add. When completed click Next: Backend pools.

    Setting Value
    Name az104-06-pip4
    SKU Standard
    Tier Regional
    Assignment Static
    Routing Preference Microsoft network

  5. On the Backend pools tab, click Add a backend pool with the following settings (leave others with their default values). Click + Add (twice) and then click Next:Inbound rules.

    Setting Value
    Name az104-06-lb4-be1
    Virtual network az104-06-vnet01
    Backend Pool Configuration NIC
    IP Version IPv4
    Click Add to add a virtual machine  
    az104-06-vm0 check the box
    az104-06-vm1 check the box

  6. On the Inbound rules tab, click Add a load balancing rule. Add a load balancing rule with the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add.

    Setting Value
    Name az104-06-lb4-lbrule1
    IP Version IPv4
    Frontend IP Address az104-06-fe4
    Backend pool az104-06-lb4-be1
    Protocol TCP
    Port 80
    Backend port 80
    Health probe Create new
    Name az104-06-lb4-hp1
    Protocol TCP
    Port 80
    Interval 5
    Close the create health probe window OK
    Session persistence None
    Idle timeout (minutes) 4
    TCP reset Disabled
    Floating IP Disabled
    Outbound source network address translation (SNAT) Recommended

  7. As you have time, review the other tabs, then click Review and create. Ensure there are no validation errors, then click Create.

  8. Wait for the load balancer to deploy then click Go to resource.

  9. Select Frontend IP configuration from the Load Balancer resource page. Copy the IP address.

  10. Open another browser tab and navigate to the IP address. Verify that the browser window displays the message Hello World from az104-06-vm0 or Hello World from az104-06-vm1.

  11. Refresh the window to verify the message changes to the other virtual machine. This demonstrates the load balancer rotating through the virtual machines.

    Note: You may need to refresh more than once or open a new browser window in InPrivate mode.

Task 6: Implement Azure Application Gateway

In this task, you will implement an Azure Application Gateway in front of the two Azure virtual machines in the spoke virtual networks.

  1. In the Azure portal, search and select Virtual networks.

  2. On the Virtual networks blade, in the list of virtual networks, click az104-06-vnet01.

  3. On the az104-06-vnet01 virtual network blade, in the Settings section, click Subnets, and then click + Subnet.

  4. Add a subnet with the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Name subnet-appgw
    Subnet address range 10.60.3.224/27

  5. Click Save

    Note: This subnet will be used by the Azure Application Gateway instances, which you will deploy later in this task. The Application Gateway requires a dedicated subnet of /27 or larger size.

  6. In the Azure portal, search and select Application Gateways and, on the Application Gateways blade, click + Create.

  7. On the Basics tab, specify the following settings (leave others with their default values):

    Setting Value
    Subscription the name of the Azure subscription you are using in this lab
    Resource group az104-06-rg5 (create new)
    Application gateway name az104-06-appgw5
    Region name of the Azure region into which you deployed all other resources in this lab
    Tier Standard V2
    Enable autoscaling No
    Instance count 2
    Availability zone None
    HTTP2 Disabled
    Virtual network az104-06-vnet01
    Subnet subnet-appgw (10.60.3.224/27)

  8. Click Next: Frontends > and specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When complete, click OK.

    Setting Value
    Frontend IP address type Public
    Public IP address Add new
    Name az104-06-pip5
    Availability zone None

  9. Click Next: Backends > and then Add a backend pool. Specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add.

    Setting Value
    Name az104-06-appgw5-be1
    Add backend pool without targets No
    IP address or FQDN 10.62.0.4
    IP address or FQDN 10.63.0.4

    Note: The targets represent the private IP addresses of virtual machines in the spoke virtual networks az104-06-vm2 and az104-06-vm3.

  10. Click Next: Configuration > and then + Add a routing rule. Specify the following settings:

    Setting Value
    Rule name az104-06-appgw5-rl1
    Priority 10
    Listener name az104-06-appgw5-rl1l1
    Frontend IP Public
    Protocol HTTP
    Port 80
    Listener type Basic
    Error page url No

  11. Switch to the Backend targets tab and specify the following settings (leave others with their default values). When completed click Add (twice).

    Setting Value
    Target type Backend pool
    Backend target az104-06-appgw5-be1
    Backend settings Add new
    Backend settings name az104-06-appgw5-http1
    Backend protocol HTTP
    Backend port 80
    Additional settings take the defaults
    Host name take the defaults

  12. Click Next: Tags >, followed by Next: Review + create > and then click Create.

    Note: Wait for the Application Gateway instance to be created. This might take about 8 minutes.

  13. In the Azure portal, search and select Application Gateways and, on the Application Gateways blade, click az104-06-appgw5.

  14. On the az104-06-appgw5 Application Gateway blade, copy the value of the Frontend public IP address.

  15. Start another browser window and navigate to the IP address you identified in the previous step.

  16. Verify that the browser window displays the message Hello World from az104-06-vm2 or Hello World from az104-06-vm3.

  17. Refresh the window to verify the message changes to the other virtual machine.

    Note: You may need to refresh more than once or open a new browser window in InPrivate mode.

    Note: Targeting virtual machines on multiple virtual networks is not a common configuration, but it is meant to illustrate the point that Application Gateway is capable of targeting virtual machines on multiple virtual networks (as well as endpoints in other Azure regions or even outside of Azure), unlike Azure Load Balancer, which load balances across virtual machines in the same virtual network.

Clean up resources

Note: Remember to remove any newly created Azure resources that you no longer use. Removing unused resources ensures you will not see unexpected charges.

Note: Don’t worry if the lab resources cannot be immediately removed. Sometimes resources have dependencies and take a longer time to delete. It is a common Administrator task to monitor resource usage, so just periodically review your resources in the Portal to see how the cleanup is going.

  1. In the Azure portal, open the PowerShell session within the Cloud Shell pane.

  2. List all resource groups created throughout the labs of this module by running the following command:

    Get-AzResourceGroup -Name 'az104-06*'

  3. Delete all resource groups you created throughout the labs of this module by running the following command:

    Get-AzResourceGroup -Name 'az104-06*' | Remove-AzResourceGroup -Force -AsJob

    Note: The command executes asynchronously (as determined by the -AsJob parameter), so while you will be able to run another PowerShell command immediately afterwards within the same PowerShell session, it will take a few minutes before the resource groups are actually removed.

Review

In this lab, you have:

  • Provisioned the lab environment
  • Configured the hub and spoke network topology
  • Tested transitivity of virtual network peering
  • Configuref routing in the hub and spoke topology
  • Implemented Azure Load Balancer
  • Implemented Azure Application Gateway