What is the primary purpose of Azure Bastion?

The primary purpose of Azure Bastion is to enable secure RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and SSH (Secure Shell) connectivity to virtual machines directly in the Azure portal without exposing them to the public internet. This service helps to protect the virtual machines from potential threats by providing a secure connection method that does not rely on public IP addresses.

Azure Bastion implements the security concept of effectively managing access to resources in the cloud. By using a fully managed platform service, it allows administrators to connect to their VMs using RDP or SSH directly from the Azure portal rather than using a public IP, which reduces the attack surface often associated with unnecessary exposure to vulnerabilities. This results in a robust security posture as administrators can securely manage their resources without the added complexities and risks normally associated with managing exposure to the internet.

The other options focus on different functionalities not related to connection management, thus making them less relevant in the context of Azure Bastion’s primary role.