How to add Azure Virtual machine to an existing availability set

Question

Hey guys

I want to create two virtual machines in Azure which should not be connected to each other. I created first virtual machine and also created an availability set as part of its creation process.

Now when I create the second virtual machine then I don't get the availability set created as part of first virtual machine in the drop down list of availability sets.

However if I try to connect the second virtual machine as part of first one then I am able to see the availability set created as part of first virtual machine.

Is it mandatory for virtual machines to be connected to each other so that I can add them to the same availability set? Is this a limitation only from azure portal and there is a workaround using powershell?

UPDATE:

If we connect two virtual machines then we can get the benefit of availability set. However, at the same time both virtual machine becomes part of same cloud service and hence are load balanced by azure which does not support sticky session.

My scenerio is that I have identical front-ends which needs to support sticky session. Therefore I don't want to connect them to each other. However, I want to get the benefits of availability sets as mentioned in the article on Availability sets.

So can I set availability set for two identical virtual machines not connected to each other?

TIA

Answer 1

You cannot associate an Availability Set to an existing Virtual Machine, as it can be done only while creating a new VM.

There is a workaround for this, where you can recreate a new VM from existing one and to make it really easy, there is a powershell script to do this for you here - https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Set-Azure-Resource-Manager-f7509ec4

Run the script and provide the requested parameters -

Set-ArmVmAvailabilitySet.ps1 –VmName 'MyNewVmName' –ResourceGroup 'MyResource Group' –AvailabilitySetName 'AsName'

Key in your subscription details when prompted for it.

Hope this helps!!

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Thank you!!