Create a managed disk from a VHD file in a storage account in the same subscription with CLI (Linux)

This script creates a managed disk from a VHD file in a storage account in the same subscription. Use this script to import a specialized (not generalized/sysprepped) VHD to managed OS disk to create a virtual machine. Or, use it to import a data VHD to managed data disk.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.

Prerequisites

• Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.

  

• If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

  • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.

  • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.

  • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Sample script

Launch Azure Cloud Shell

The Azure Cloud Shell is a free interactive shell that you can use to run the steps in this article. It has common Azure tools preinstalled and configured to use with your account.

To open the Cloud Shell, just select Try it from the upper right corner of a code block. You can also launch Cloud Shell in a separate browser tab by going to https://shell.azure.com.

When Cloud Shell opens, verify that Bash is selected for your environment. Subsequent sessions will use Azure CLI in a Bash environment, Select Copy to copy the blocks of code, paste it into the Cloud Shell, and press Enter to run it.

Sign in to Azure

Cloud Shell is automatically authenticated under the initial account signed-in with. Use the following script to sign in using a different subscription, replacing subscriptionId with your Azure subscription ID.

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.

subscription="subscriptionId" # Set Azure subscription ID here

az account set -s $subscription # ...or use 'az login'

For more information, see set active subscription or log in interactively.

Run the script

#Provide the subscription Id
subscriptionId="<subscriptionId>"

#Provide the name of your resource group.
#Ensure that resource group is already created 
resourceGroupName=myResourceGroupName

#Provide the name of the Managed Disk
diskName=myDiskName

#Provide the size of the disks in GB. It should be greater than the VHD file size.
diskSize=128


#Provide the URI of the VHD file that will be used to create Managed Disk. 
# VHD file can be deleted as soon as Managed Disk is created.
# e.g. https://contosostorageaccount1.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/contosovhd123.vhd 
vhdUri=https://contosostorageaccount1.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/contosoumd78620170425131836.vhd

#Provide the storage type for the Managed Disk. Premium_LRS or Standard_LRS.
storageType=Premium_LRS


#Provide the Azure location (e.g. westus) where Managed Disk will be located. 
#The location should be same as the location of the storage account where VHD file is stored.
#Get all the Azure location supported for your subscription using command below:
#az account list-locations
location=westus

#If you're creating an OS disk, uncomment the following lines and replace the values
#osType = 'yourOSType' #Acceptable values are either Windows or Linux
#hyperVGeneration = 'yourHyperVGen' #Acceptable values are either v1 or v2

#Set the context to the subscription Id where Managed Disk will be created
az account set --subscription $subscriptionId

#Create the Managed disk from the VHD file 
#If you're creating an OS disk, add the following: --os-type $osType -hyper-v-generation $hyperVGeneration 
az disk create --resource-group $resourceGroupName --name $diskName --sku $storageType --location $location --size-gb $diskSize --source $vhdUri

Clean up resources

Run the following command to remove the resource group, VM, and all related resources.

az group delete --name myResourceGroupName

Sample reference

This script uses following commands to create a managed disk from a VHD. Each command in the table links to command specific documentation.

Command	Notes
az disk create	Creates a managed disk using URI of a VHD in a storage account in the same subscription

Next steps

Create a virtual machine by attaching a managed disk as OS disk

For more information on the Azure CLI, see Azure CLI documentation.

Additional virtual machine and managed disks CLI script samples can be found in the Azure Linux VM documentation.