The work
This was focused platform plumbing: the kind of work that matters when Windows server delivery has to run inside a regulated cloud environment.
On the Azure side, I worked on Windows VM provisioning runbooks that moved server builds away from manual request handling. The runbook path handled managed identity, explicit Az context selection, VM size and image parameters, region and zone placement, VNet and subnet targeting, disk encryption, tagging, boot diagnostics, and domain placement.
Post-build work ran through Azure VM extensions rather than manual logins. The workflow handled disk preparation, Windows activation, BitLocker cleanup, domain join, environment setup, and configuration-management handoff, then removed the temporary extensions after they completed.
On the image side, I worked on Packer baselines for Windows Server 2019 and
2022. The pipeline covered PowerShell provisioning, bootstrap files, certificate
setup, Windows Update passes, restarts, cleanup, and publication. The Azure path
used Packer azure-arm builds and image-gallery publication so VM provisioning
could start from a governed image baseline.
Why it matters
This is the background work behind a cleaner platform: fewer manual server-build steps, fewer long-lived automation credentials, more repeatable image inputs, and post-build configuration that lives in the delivery path instead of operator memory.