Create and configure virtual machines (VMs)

📘Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)

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For the AZ-104 exam, you must understand:

• What can and cannot be moved
• Prerequisites and limitations
• How to move VMs (resource group/subscription)
• How to move VMs to another region (since this is not a simple “move” operation)
• Tools used to move VMs

This lesson explains each concept clearly.

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1. Moving a VM to Another Resource Group or Subscription

Azure supports in-place moves for many resource types, including virtual machines.
This means Azure can transfer the VM and its associated resources without recreating it.

1.1 What Can Be Moved

A VM can be moved if all its related resources support move operations, such as:

• The VM itself
• NICs (network interface cards)
• OS disk and data disks
• Public IP address
• Network security group (NSG)
• Availability set (if used)
• Managed identity (system-assigned identity stays the same)

1.2 What Cannot Be Moved

You cannot move:

• VMs using Azure Backup vaults (backup must be stopped and items deleted)
• VMs with Azure Site Recovery enabled (replication must be disabled)
• VMs inside Proximity Placement Groups (must be removed first)
• VMs using Ephemeral OS disks (some regions/subscriptions may block move)
• VMs using Classic resources (classic model does not support move)

1.3 Requirements Before Moving

Before you move a VM:

• Ensure the target resource group or subscription exists
• Ensure you have appropriate permissions on both source and destination
  • Example: Owner or Contributor
• Check that resource locks (ReadOnly/Delete) are removed
• Check that all resources are in the same region (for RG/subscription moves)

🔥 Important for Exam:
Moving between resource groups or subscriptions does NOT change the region.
To change regions, you must perform a region-to-region migration, explained later.

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2. How to Move VMs Between Resource Groups

Moving between resource groups is the easiest process.

Steps (Portal):

1. Go to Virtual Machines
2. Select the VM
3. Choose Move → Move to another resource group
4. Select the resources to move (VM + disks + NICs)
5. Select the target resource group
6. Confirm

Azure PowerShell:

Move-AzResource -ResourceId <resource IDs> -DestinationResourceGroupName "<RG-Name>"

Azure CLI:

az resource move --destination-group <RG-Name> --ids <resource IDs>

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3. How to Move VMs Between Subscriptions

This uses the same method as resource group moves, but with extra checks.

Requirements:

• Both subscriptions must be in the same Azure AD tenant
• You must have Contributor or Owner on both subscriptions
• VM and all related resources must support subscription move

Steps (Portal):

1. Go to the VM
2. Select Move → Move to another subscription
3. Select the resources
4. Select the target subscription
5. Select the target resource group
6. Confirm

PowerShell Example:

Move-AzResource -ResourceId <resourceIDs> -DestinationSubscriptionId "<Subscription-ID>" `
  -DestinationResourceGroupName "<RG-Name>"

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4. Moving a VM to Another Region

This cannot be done with the “Move” option.
Azure does not allow cross-region moves directly.

⚠️ Important Exam Tip:
To change regions, you must recreate the VM in the destination region, using one of the following:

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4.1 Methods for Cross-Region VM Move

Option 1: Azure Site Recovery (ASR)

A common method in IT environments for region migration and disaster recovery.

How it works:

1. Enable replication for the VM to the target region
2. Azure copies:
   • OS disk
   • Data disks
   • VM configuration
3. Perform a failover
4. VM starts in the new region
5. Commit the failover

Best For:

• Production workloads
• Minimal downtime
• Multi-VM migration with dependencies

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Option 2: Azure Resource Mover (Recommended in AZ-104)

Azure Resource Mover helps migrate:

• VMs
• NICs
• Disks
• Public IPs
• NSGs
• Resource groups

How Resource Mover Works:

1. Add resources to a move collection
2. Validate dependencies
3. Prepare resources (creates temporary resources)
4. Move data
5. Commit the move
6. Recreate VM in destination region

Why Azure Resource Mover is important for the exam:

• It simplifies planning and migration
• Supports regional disaster recovery scenarios
• Shows dependency diagrams
• Handles multi-resource move automation

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Option 3: Manual Move (General IT Approach)

If you prefer full control, IT teams often do this:

Steps:

1. Create a managed disk snapshot
2. Copy snapshot to destination region
3. Create a managed disk from the snapshot
4. Create a new VM from the managed disk

This method requires more manual effort.

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5. Limitations and Considerations

Networking Constraints

• You cannot move a VM attached to a subnet whose VNet does not support resource move
• Public IP Standard SKU must support move
• Private IP settings are recreated if needed

Availability Set / Availability Zone

• You cannot move a VM into or out of an availability set
• You cannot change the availability zone during a move
• For region-to-region moves, you can recreate using a zone in the new region

Managed Disks

• Ensure all disks support region move (e.g., Ultra Disks may have limitations)

Encryption Settings

• Customer-managed keys must be available in the new region or subscription
• Disk encryption sets may need recreation

Downtime

• Moving between resource groups or subscriptions is usually a live operation
• Moving between regions causes downtime

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6. When an IT Team Would Move a VM

Here are realistic IT scenarios (NOT real-life everyday examples):

• A company reorganizes environments (Production, Test, Development)
  → Move VMs into new resource groups for better management
• A tenant restructures Azure billing
  → Move VMs into another subscription billed to a different department
• An organization opens a new data center region
  → Move VMs from one Azure region to another for better performance
• A team builds a disaster recovery setup
  → Replicate VMs to another region using ASR
• A compliance requirement forces workloads to be hosted in a specific region
  → Move VM using Azure Resource Mover

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7. Key Exam Tips (Memorize These)

✔ You cannot directly move a VM to another region
✔ Use Azure Resource Mover or Site Recovery for cross-region moves
✔ Subscriptions must be in the same tenant to move resources
✔ All related resources must be included when moving a VM
✔ Resource locks must be removed
✔ Backup/ASR must be disabled before moving
✔ Availability sets and zones cannot be changed during a move
✔ Moving between RG/subscription does not cause downtime
✔ Moving regions usually does cause downtime

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8. Summary

Moving virtual machines in Azure varies depending on destination:

Move Type	Supported?	Method
Resource Group	✔ Yes	Move option
Subscription	✔ Yes	Move option
Region	❌ Not directly	ASR, Azure Resource Mover, Manual

Understanding these methods, limitations, and tools is important for the AZ-104 exam and real-world Azure administration.