Azure Cloud Lab: Secure Linux VM, Monitoring & Automation

A hands-on cloud engineering project where I designed, deployed, secured, monitored, and automated a Linux-based infrastructure in Azure.

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Project Highlights

• Deployed Linux VM in Azure
• Secured infrastructure using NSG rules (least privilege)
• Hosted web server (Nginx)
• Enabled monitoring with Azure Monitor & Log Analytics
• Automated system health checks using Bash + cron

Screenshots

Azure VM Overview

Network Security Group Rules

Azure Monitor Metrics

Nginx Running in Browser

What I Built

Cloud Infrastructure

• Created Azure resource group and deployed Linux VM
• Configured Virtual Network and subnet
• Managed networking components (NIC, public IP)

Security (NSG)

• Restricted SSH access to my own IP
• Opened only required ports (HTTP when needed)
• Applied least-privilege principles

Web Server

• Installed and configured Nginx
• Exposed service securely via NSG
• Verified connectivity through public IP

Monitoring & Logging

• Configured Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
• Collected performance metrics and logs
• Queried logs using KQL

Automation

• Built Bash script to log system health
• Scheduled execution using cron
• Automated recurring admin tasks

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Azure fundamentals & infrastructure
• Linux system administration
• Network security (NSG)
• Monitoring & observability
• Bash scripting & automation
• Cloud security mindset

Example Automation Script

#!/bin/bash

echo "==== $(date) ====" >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log
echo "Hostname: $(hostname)" >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log

echo "CPU Load:" >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log
uptime >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log

echo "Disk usage:" >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log
df -h >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log

echo "Memory usage:" >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log
free -h >> /home/azureuser/system_health.log

Example Log Query (KQL)

Heartbeat
| take 10

What I Learned

This project helped me understand how cloud systems are:

• deployed and structured
• secured using network rules
• monitored using centralized logging
• maintained through automation

It also strengthened the connection between my cybersecurity background and cloud engineering.

Future Improvements

• Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)
• Multi-VM architecture
• Private networking (no public IP)
• CI/CD pipeline integration
• Docker container deployment

About Me

I am building my career at the intersection of Cloud Engineering and Cybersecurity, with a background in software development and hands-on experience in security monitoring and automation.

LinkedIn: tein-schoemaker