How can I replicate an Azure Virtual Machine

Question

I need to install a few software on a virtual machine in order to test my application. It would take 2-3hours to set it up. Can I just replicate the virtual machine 3 times after that, so that I don't need to spend another 5 hours to install the software on the other 2 virtual machines?

Answer 1

To create a managed image of a generalized Windows VM in Azure: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-capture-image-windows-server/

and to know How to create an image of a virtual machine or VHD: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/capture-image?toc=%2Fazure%2Fvirtual-machines%2Flinux%2Ftoc.json

Capture capability de-allocates the original VM and it becomes unusable.