Set up Rock RMS on Microsoft Azure

@Jin Siang Low

Thanks for sharing the screenshot it gives me a good picture of what's going on. I can see a couple of things that need to be addressed before Rock RMS will install cleanly. Let me walk you through each one.

1.Your VM size needs an upgrade :
Your current VM is a Standard DS1 v2 — 1 vCPU, 3.5 GB RAM. Rock RMS requires at minimum a dual-core CPU and at least 2 GB RAM even for the smallest installs (under 1,000 records). The "Unhealthy" health state you see in the portal is likely a symptom of this undersized configuration.

Before going any further, I'd recommend resizing to at least a Standard B2s or DS2_v2 (2 vCPUs, 4+ GB RAM). You can do this without destroying the VM:

→ Azure Portal > Your VM > Size (left menu) > choose a new size > Resize

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/resize-vm

2.Connecting to your VM:
The Rock RMS documentation assumes you're already inside the server via RDP. If you haven't done this yet, that's likely why you can't find the commands — they need to be run inside the VM, not from the Azure portal shell.

→ Azure Portal > Your VM > Connect > Download RDP File > open it and log in with your admin credentials.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/connect-rdp

3.Installing IIS and .NET:
Since you're on Windows Server 2025, the GUI steps in Rock's older documentation translate perfectly to the following PowerShell commands. Once you're inside the VM, open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Net-Ext45, `
 Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Tools, `
 NET-Framework-45-Features -IncludeManagementTools

This installs IIS along with ASP.NET 4.5 and the management tools Rock needs. After it completes, verify IIS is running by opening a browser inside the VM and navigating to http://localhost — you should see the IIS default welcome page.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/install/installing-iis-85/installing-iis-85-on-windows-server-2012-r2

4.Database — use Azure SQL or SQL Server Express

Azure SQL Database (recommended for Azure): Create an Azure SQL server + database from the portal, then point Rock's installer at that connection string. This avoids installing SQL Server on the VM entirely.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/single-database-create-quickstart

SQL Server Express (on the VM): If you prefer keeping everything on one VM, download SQL Server Express 2022 from Microsoft and install it. Choose "Default Instance" during setup.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads

5.DNS name — configure it before finishing Rock setup:

I noticed your DNS name shows "Not configured" in the portal. Rock RMS will ask for your public web address during installation, so set this up now:

→ Azure Portal > Your VM > Overview > DNS name: Configure > set a label (e.g., tevoserver.southeastasia.cloudapp.azure.com)

Or, if you have a custom domain, create an A record pointing to your VM's public IP (20.17.180.126) with your domain registrar.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/custom-domain

Quick summary of the order of operations:**

1. Resize VM to DS2_v2 or B2s
2. RDP into the VM
3. Run Windows Updates
4. Run the PowerShell command above to install IIS + ASP.NET
5. Set up your database (Azure SQL or SQL Express)
6. Configure your DNS name
7. Download Rock RMS, unzip to C:\inetpub\wwwroot, and browse to [http://localhost/Start.aspx](http://localhost/Start.aspx) to complete setup

If you have any questions please feel free to reply back will be happy to assist.

Thanks,
Manish.

Hello @Jin Siang Low

I wanted to check if my last response made sense. I’d be glad to assist further or explain anything in more detail