Tutorial: Create and Manage Linux VMs with the Azure CLI

Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets

Azure virtual machines provide a fully configurable and flexible computing environment. This tutorial covers basic Azure virtual machine deployment items such as selecting a VM size, selecting a VM image, and deploying a VM. You learn how to:

This tutorial uses the CLI within the Azure Cloud Shell, which is constantly updated to the latest version.

If you choose to install and use the CLI locally, this tutorial requires that you are running the Azure CLI version 2.0.30 or later. Run az --version to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see Install Azure CLI.

Create resource group

Below, we declare environment variables. A random suffix is appended to resource names that need to be unique for each deployment.

export RANDOM_SUFFIX=$(openssl rand -hex 3)
export REGION="eastus2"
export MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME="myResourceGroupVM$RANDOM_SUFFIX"
az group create --name $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --location $REGION

Results:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroupVMxxx",
  "location": "eastus2",
  "name": "myResourceGroupVMxxx",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  }
}

An Azure resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed. A resource group must be created before a virtual machine. In this example, a resource group named myResourceGroupVM is created in the eastus2 region.

The resource group is specified when creating or modifying a VM, which can be seen throughout this tutorial.

Create virtual machine

When you create a virtual machine, several options are available such as operating system image, disk sizing, and administrative credentials. The following example creates a VM named myVM that runs SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). A user account named azureuser is created on the VM, and SSH keys are generated if they do not exist in the default key location (~/.ssh).

export MY_VM_NAME="myVM$RANDOM_SUFFIX"
az vm create \
    --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME \
    --name $MY_VM_NAME \
    --image SuseSles15SP5 \
    --public-ip-sku Standard \
    --admin-username azureuser \
    --generate-ssh-keys

It may take a few minutes to create the VM. Once the VM has been created, the Azure CLI outputs information about the VM. Take note of the publicIpAddress; this address can be used to access the virtual machine.

{
  "fqdns": "",
  "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroupVMxxx/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/myVMxxx",
  "location": "eastus2",
  "macAddress": "00-0D-3A-23-9A-49",
  "powerState": "VM running",
  "privateIpAddress": "10.0.0.4",
  "publicIpAddress": "52.174.34.95",
  "resourceGroup": "myResourceGroupVMxxx"
}

Connect to VM

You can now connect to the VM with SSH in the Azure Cloud Shell or from your local computer. Replace the example IP address with the publicIpAddress noted in the previous step.

To connect to the VM, first retrieve the public IP address using the Azure CLI. Execute the following command to store the IP address in a variable: export IP_ADDRESS=$(az vm show --show-details --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME --query publicIps --output tsv)

Once you have the IP address, use SSH to connect to the VM. The following command connects to the VM using the azureuser account and the retrieved IP address: ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no azureuser@$IP_ADDRESS

Understand VM images

The Azure Marketplace includes many images that can be used to create VMs. In the previous steps, a virtual machine was created using a SUSE image. In this step, the Azure CLI is used to search the marketplace for an Ubuntu image, which is then used to deploy a second virtual machine.

To see a list of the most commonly used images, use the az vm image list command.

az vm image list --output table

The command output returns the most popular VM images on Azure.

Architecture    Offer                         Publisher               Sku                                 Urn                                                                             UrnAlias                 Version
--------------  ----------------------------  ----------------------  ----------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------------------  ---------
x64             debian-10                     Debian                  10                                  Debian:debian-10:10:latest                                                      Debian                   latest
x64             flatcar-container-linux-free  kinvolk                 stable                              kinvolk:flatcar-container-linux-free:stable:latest                              Flatcar                  latest
x64             opensuse-leap-15-3            SUSE                    gen2                                SUSE:opensuse-leap-15-3:gen2:latest                                             openSUSE-Leap            latest
x64             RHEL                          RedHat                  7-LVM                               RedHat:RHEL:7-LVM:latest                                                        RHEL                     latest
x64             sles-15-sp3                   SUSE                    gen2                                SUSE:sles-15-sp3:gen2:latest                                                    SLES                     latest
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy  Canonical               18.04-LTS                           Canonical:UbuntuServer:18.04-LTS:latest                                         UbuntuLTS                latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2022-Datacenter                     MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-Datacenter:latest                     Win2022Datacenter        latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2022-datacenter-azure-edition-core  MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-datacenter-azure-edition-core:latest  Win2022AzureEditionCore  latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2019-Datacenter                     MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2019-Datacenter:latest                     Win2019Datacenter        latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2016-Datacenter                     MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2016-Datacenter:latest                     Win2016Datacenter        latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2012-R2-Datacenter                  MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2012-R2-Datacenter:latest                  Win2012R2Datacenter      latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2012-Datacenter                     MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2012-Datacenter:latest                     Win2012Datacenter        latest
x64             WindowsServer                 MicrosoftWindowsServer  2008-R2-SP1                         MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2008-R2-SP1:latest                         Win2008R2SP1             latest

A full list can be seen by adding the --all parameter. The image list can also be filtered by --publisher or –-offer. In this example, the list is filtered for all images, published by OpenLogic, with an offer that matches 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy.

az vm image list --offer 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy --publisher Canonical --all --output table

Example partial output:

Architecture    Offer                              Publisher    Sku              Urn                                                                       Version
--------------  ---------------------------------  -----------  ---------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202204200          22.04.202204200
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202205060          22.04.202205060
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202205280          22.04.202205280
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202206040          22.04.202206040
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202206090          22.04.202206090
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202206160          22.04.202206160
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202206220          22.04.202206220
x64             0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy       Canonical    22_04-lts        Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:22.04.202207060          22.04.202207060

To deploy a VM using a specific image, take note of the value in the Urn column, which consists of the publisher, offer, SKU, and optionally a version number to identify the image. When specifying the image, the image version number can be replaced with latest, which selects the latest version of the distribution. In this example, the --image parameter is used to specify the latest version of Ubuntu 22.04.

export MY_VM2_NAME="myVM2$RANDOM_SUFFIX"
az vm create --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM2_NAME --image Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy:22_04-lts:latest --generate-ssh-keys

Understand VM sizes

A virtual machine size determines the amount of compute resources such as CPU, GPU, and memory that are made available to the virtual machine. Virtual machines need to be sized appropriately for the expected work load. If workload increases, an existing virtual machine can be resized.

VM Sizes

The following table categorizes sizes into use cases.

Find available VM sizes

To see a list of VM sizes available in a particular region, use the az vm list-sizes command.

az vm list-sizes --location $REGION --output table

Example partial output:

  MaxDataDiskCount    MemoryInMb  Name                      NumberOfCores    OsDiskSizeInMb    ResourceDiskSizeInMb
------------------  ------------  ----------------------  ---------------  ----------------  ----------------------
4                   8192          Standard_D2ds_v4           2                1047552           76800
8                   16384         Standard_D4ds_v4           4                1047552           153600
16                  32768         Standard_D8ds_v4           8                1047552           307200
32                  65536         Standard_D16ds_v4          16               1047552           614400
32                  131072        Standard_D32ds_v4          32               1047552           1228800
32                  196608        Standard_D48ds_v4          48               1047552           1843200
32                  262144        Standard_D64ds_v4          64               1047552           2457600
4                   8192          Standard_D2ds_v5           2                1047552           76800
8                   16384         Standard_D4ds_v5           4                1047552           153600
16                  32768         Standard_D8ds_v5           8                1047552           307200
32                  65536         Standard_D16ds_v5          16               1047552           614400
32                  131072        Standard_D32ds_v5          32               1047552           1228800
32                  196608        Standard_D48ds_v5          48               1047552           1843200
32                  262144        Standard_D64ds_v5          64               1047552           2457600
32                  393216        Standard_D96ds_v5          96               1047552           3686400

Create VM with specific size

In the previous VM creation example, a size was not provided, which results in a default size. A VM size can be selected at creation time using az vm create and the --size parameter.

export MY_VM3_NAME="myVM3$RANDOM_SUFFIX"
az vm create \
    --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME \
    --name $MY_VM3_NAME \
    --image SuseSles15SP5 \
    --size Standard_D2ds_v4  \
    --generate-ssh-keys

Resize a VM

After a VM has been deployed, it can be resized to increase or decrease resource allocation. You can view the current size of a VM with az vm show:

az vm show --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME --query hardwareProfile.vmSize

Before resizing a VM, check if the desired size is available on the current Azure cluster. The az vm list-vm-resize-options command returns the list of sizes.

az vm list-vm-resize-options --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME --query [].name

If the desired size is available, the VM can be resized from a powered-on state, although it will be rebooted during the operation. Use the az vm resize command to perform the resize.

az vm resize --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME --size Standard_D4s_v3

If the desired size is not available on the current cluster, the VM needs to be deallocated before the resize operation can occur. Use the az vm deallocate command to stop and deallocate the VM. Note that when the VM is powered back on, any data on the temporary disk may be removed. The public IP address also changes unless a static IP address is being used. Once deallocated, the resize can occur.

After the resize, the VM can be started.

az vm start --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME

VM power states

An Azure VM can have one of many power states. This state represents the current state of the VM from the standpoint of the hypervisor.

Power states

Find the power state

To retrieve the state of a particular VM, use the az vm get-instance-view command. Be sure to specify a valid name for a virtual machine and resource group.

az vm get-instance-view \
    --name $MY_VM_NAME \
    --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME \
    --query instanceView.statuses[1] --output table

Output:

Code                Level    DisplayStatus
------------------  -------  ---------------
PowerState/running  Info     VM running

To retrieve the power state of all the VMs in your subscription, use the Virtual Machines - List All API with parameter statusOnly set to true.

Management tasks

During the life-cycle of a virtual machine, you may want to run management tasks such as starting, stopping, or deleting a virtual machine. Additionally, you may want to create scripts to automate repetitive or complex tasks. Using the Azure CLI, many common management tasks can be run from the command line or in scripts.

Get IP address

This command returns the private and public IP addresses of a virtual machine.

az vm list-ip-addresses --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME --output table

Stop virtual machine

az vm stop --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME

Start virtual machine

az vm start --resource-group $MY_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --name $MY_VM_NAME

Deleting VM resources

Depending on how you delete a VM, it may only delete the VM resource, not the networking and disk resources. You can change the default behavior to delete other resources when you delete the VM. For more information, see Delete a VM and attached resources.

Deleting a resource group also deletes all resources in the resource group, like the VM, virtual network, and disk. The --no-wait parameter returns control to the prompt without waiting for the operation to complete. The --yes parameter confirms that you wish to delete the resources without an additional prompt to do so.

Next steps

In this tutorial, you learned about basic VM creation and management such as how to:

Advance to the next tutorial to learn about VM disks.