A. Azure Resource Manager templates: Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates are declarative templates that define the infrastructure and configuration of your Azure resources. With ARM templates, you can define the virtual machines' configuration, including their operating system, networking, storage, and more. By using ARM templates, you can ensure that all virtual machines are deployed with a consistent and standardized configuration, reducing manual effort and minimizing configuration drift.
B. The PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) extension for Windows: DSC is a feature in PowerShell that enables you to declare and manage the configuration of target nodes, such as Windows Server 2016 virtual machines. By using the DSC extension in Azure DevOps, you can apply and enforce the desired configuration on the virtual machines during the deployment process. DSC ensures that the virtual machines remain in the desired state, and any configuration drift is automatically corrected.