Using PowerShell with Azure

There are two key things you need to do before you can start managing Azure features using PowerShell. The first is to obtain an Azure subscription. The second is to get access to the cmdlets you need to be able to access Azure (and Office 365's features).

Azure is a commercial service—each feature you use has a cost attached. Azure charges are based on resource usage. With an Azure VM, for example, you would pay to have the VM running, with additional charges for the storage the VM uses and for any network traffic.

The charges for Office 365, on the other hand, are user-based—a given user can use lots of email, for example, without incurring any additional charges. For details on costs for Azure, see https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/, and for details of Office 365 charges, see https://products.office.com/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans.

To use Azure's IaaS and PaaS features, you need to have an Azure subscription. There...