Cross-Platform CLI Equivalent of New-AzureVMConfig

Q: What's the equivalent of New-AzureVMConfig using the Azure cross-platform CLI?

A: Azure has a downloadable PowerShell module that enables full Azure management. If you can't use PowerShell, Microsoft also provides a cross-platform CLI. For details about the Azure cross-platform command-line interface (xplat-cli), see "Install and Configure the Azure Cross-Platform Command-Line Interface." When creating a virtual machine with Azure PowerShell via the New-AzureVMConfig cmdlet, you can create a full configuration, which is then used to actually create a virtual machine. An equivalent of this isn't possible with the cross-platform CLI because data can't be stored between commands. Instead, you'll create the virtual machine as a single operation using the azure vm create command.