Frequently asked question about Linux Virtual Machines

All subscribers can run server software on an Azure virtual machine. For more information, see Linux on Azure-Endorsed Distributions

Each data disk can be up to 32,767 GiB. The number of data disks you can use depends on the size of the virtual machine. For details, see Sizes for Virtual Machines.

Azure Managed Disks are the recommended disk storage offerings for use with Azure Virtual Machines for persistent storage of data. You can use multiple Managed Disks with each Virtual Machine. Managed Disks offer two types of durable storage options: Premium and Standard Managed Disks. For pricing information, see Managed Disks Pricing.

Azure storage accounts can also provide storage for the operating system disk and any data disks. Each disk is a .vhd file stored as a page blob. For pricing details, see Storage Pricing Details.

Establish a remote connection to sign on to the virtual machine, using Secure Shell (SSH). See the instructions on how to connect from Windows or from Linux and Mac. By default, SSH allows a maximum of 10 concurrent connections. You can increase this number by editing the configuration file.

If you’re having problems, check out Troubleshoot Secure Shell (SSH) connections.

Don't use the temporary disk, mounted under (/mnt) to store data. It's only there for temporary storage and if you want swap files. Data stored in there can't be recovered and it will be removed during certain virtual machine operations (stop/start, redeploy, and others).

Yes. For instructions, see How to create a copy of a Linux virtual machine in the Resource Manager deployment model.

The two new regions of Canada Central and Canada East aren't automatically registered for virtual machine creation for existing Azure subscriptions. This registration is done automatically when a virtual machine is deployed through the Azure portal to any other region using Azure Resource Manager. After a virtual machine is deployed to any other Azure region, the new regions should be available for subsequent virtual machines.

Yes, this is now possible. The VM first needs to be stopped deallocated. Then you can add or remove a NIC (unless it's the last NIC on the VM).

Yes. The computer name can be a maximum of 64 characters in length. See Naming conventions rules and restrictions for more information around naming your resources.

Yes. The resource group name can be a maximum of 90 characters in length. See Naming conventions rules and restrictions for more information about resource groups.

Usernames should be 1 - 32 characters in length.

The following usernames aren't allowed:

• 1
• 123
• a
• actuser
• adm
• admin
• admin1
• admin2
• administrator
• aspnet
• backup
• console
• david
• guest
• john
• owner
• root
• server
• sql
• support_388945a0
• support
• sys
• test
• test1
• test2
• test3
• user
• user1
• user2
• user3
• user4
• user5
• video

There are varying password length requirements, depending on the tool you're using:

• Azure portal - between 12 - 72 characters
• Azure PowerShell - between 8 - 123 characters
• Azure CLI - between 12 - 123 characters
• Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates - 12 - 72 characters and control characters aren't allowed

Passwords must also meet three out of the following four complexity requirements:

• Have lower characters
• Have upper characters
• Have a digit
• Have a special character (Regex match [\W_])

The following passwords aren't allowed:

• abc@123
• P@$$w0rd
• P@ssw0rd
• P@ssword123
• Pa$$word
• pass@word1
• Password!
• Password1
• Password22
• iloveyou!