azure-virtual-machines

name	azure-virtual-machines
description	Expert knowledge for Azure Virtual Machines development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. Use when choosing VM sizes, disks/NVMe, GPU/HPC, encryption (ADE/CMK), or Oracle/RHEL/Linux VM setups, and other Azure Virtual Machines related development tasks. Not for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-sql-virtual-machines), Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets (use azure-vm-scalesets), Azure Stack Edge (use azure-stack-edge), Azure Baremetal Infrastructure (use azure-baremetal-infrastructure).
compatibility	Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
metadata	{"generated_at":"2026-08-09","generator":"docs2skills/1.0.0"}

Azure Virtual Machines Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Virtual Machines. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

How to Use This Skill

IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., L35-L120), use read_file with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., [security.md](security.md)), use read_file on the linked reference file

IMPORTANT for Agent: If metadata.generated_at is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If mcp_microsoftdocs tools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide

This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:

• Preferred: Use mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.
• Fallback: Use fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.

Category Index

Category	Location	Description
Troubleshooting	L37-L67	Diagnosing and fixing Azure VM issues: kernel/AKS, package updates, hibernation, networking/NSG, encryption (Linux/Windows), extensions, restore points, Trusted Launch, and Image Builder failures.
Best Practices	L68-L103	Best practices for Azure VM performance, scaling, cost, HA, storage, encryption, Linux/Windows tuning, HPC/InfiniBand, updates, and migration using Azure Linux, disks, and Image Builder.
Decision Making	L104-L176	Guidance for choosing VM/disk/OS options, managing lifecycle, costs, and migrations (sizes, SKUs, OS images, Oracle, AKS, GPU/HPC) and planning retirements, backups, and reservations.
Architecture & Design Patterns	L177-L192	Architecting Azure VM solutions: compute fleet patterns, low-latency/NUMA placement, clustered/shared disk designs, and high-availability, DR, and cross-cloud architectures for Oracle and OpenShift.
Limits & Quotas	L193-L400	VM size specs, disk/NVMe limits, dedicated host packing, performance targets, vCPU quotas, and hardware benchmarks to plan capacity, storage, and workload sizing for Azure VMs.
Security	L401-L470	Securing Azure VMs and disks: encryption (ADE, CMK, host/double), Key Vault, certificates, Trusted Launch/MSP, RBAC/Policy, and secure sharing/import/export of images and galleries.
Configuration	configuration.md	Configuring Azure VMs and scale sets: OS images, disks, networking, GPU/HPC, extensions, monitoring/telemetry, maintenance, restore points, and Oracle/RHEL/Linux-specific VM setup.
Integrations & Coding Patterns	integrations.md	Scripts and patterns for automating Azure VM operations: backups, restore points, disk and snapshot management, maintenance events, monitoring, metadata, networking, and Oracle/SQL integrations via CLI, PowerShell, REST.
Deployment	deployment.md	Deploying and migrating Azure VMs and disks: image customization, storage/encryption changes, in-place OS upgrades, blue/green and rolling deployments, and cross-region/zone moves.

Troubleshooting

Topic	URL
Manage and debug Azure Linux kernel issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/faq-kernel
Troubleshoot AKS ACL workloads by toggling SELinux	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/selinux-toggle-troubleshoot
Resolve outdated kernel versions on Azure Linux AKS nodes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/troubleshoot-kernel-version
Troubleshoot automatic package upgrade failures on Azure Linux AKS	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/troubleshoot-package-upgrade-aks
Resolve Azure Spot VM and scale set error codes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/error-codes-spot
Troubleshoot Azure Windows VM extension failures	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/extensions/troubleshoot
Diagnose and fix issues on Azure HB/HBv and N-series VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/hb-hc-known-issues
Diagnose and fix Azure VM hibernation issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/hibernate-resume-troubleshooting
Diagnose and fix Azure cloud-init VM provisioning issues	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/cloud-init-troubleshooting
Resolve common Azure Disk Encryption issues on Linux VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/disk-encryption-faq
Run ADE on Linux VMs in isolated networks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/disk-encryption-isolated-network

Best Practices

Topic	URL
Operate and support Azure Linux distributions	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/faq-general
Manage Azure Linux packages and upgrades	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/faq-packages
Perform common developer tasks on Azure Linux	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/get-started-developer
Apply best practices for upgrading Azure Linux AKS nodes	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/tutorial-upgrade-azure-linux-nodes
Choose and configure Azure Linux VM update strategy	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/update-vm-azure-linux
Apply scaling best practices for Azure HPC apps	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/compiling-scaling-applications
Scale and tune HPC applications on Azure VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/compiling-scaling-applications
Optimize InfiniBand-enabled H-series and N-series VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/configure
Optimize InfiniBand-enabled H-series and N-series VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/configure
Apply best practices for Azure VM cost optimization	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/cost-optimization-best-practices
Benchmark applications using Azure Disk Storage	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-benchmarks
Apply high-availability best practices for VMs and disks

Decision Making

Topic	URL
Plan AKS support lifecycle for Azure Linux hosts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/aks-support-cycle
Choose the right Azure Linux deployment option	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/deployment-options
Use Azure Linux as AKS node OS effectively	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/faq-aks
Select Azure Linux or ACL for AKS workloads	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/get-started-aks
Decide and execute AKS node migration to Azure Linux	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/tutorial-migrate-azure-linux-aks
Choose Azure HPC/AI VM images for InfiniBand	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/azure-hpc-vm-images
Decide when to use Azure VMs without temp disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/azure-vms-no-temp-disk
Plan backup and disaster recovery for managed disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/backup-and-disaster-recovery-for-azure-iaas-disks
Choose between Azure VMs, VMSS, and Compute Fleet	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/compare-compute-products
Select constrained vCPU VM sizes for licensing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/constrained-vcpu
Monitor and control Azure VM spending with Cost Management	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/cost-optimization-monitor-costs

Architecture & Design Patterns

Topic	URL
Choose Azure Compute Fleet allocation strategies	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-compute-fleet/allocation-strategies
Use Managed mode to maintain Azure Compute Fleet capacity	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-compute-fleet/managed-mode
Use proximity placement groups to minimize VM latency	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/co-location
Architect clustered workloads with Azure shared disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-shared
HC VM architecture and NUMA-aware placement	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/hc-series-overview
Design OpenShift deployments on Azure Stack Hub	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/openshift-azure-stack
Plan Azure v6/v7 VM migration architecture	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/migration/sizes/sizes-v6-v7-migration-plan
Reference architectures for Oracle apps and DB on Azure VMs	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/oracle/deploy-application-oracle-database-azure
Design Oracle disaster recovery architectures on Azure	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/oracle/oracle-disaster-recovery
Architect Oracle apps on Azure VMs with databases on OCI	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/oracle/oracle-oci-applications
Architect cross-cloud Oracle apps with Azure and OCI

Limits & Quotas

Topic	URL
Understand CVE handling SLAs for Azure Linux and ACL	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/manage-cves
Understand Azure VM compute throttling limits	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/compute-throttling-limits
Check support matrix and limits for Azure VM restore points	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/concepts-restore-points
Compute optimized Dedicated Host SKU capacities and packing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/dedicated-host-compute-optimized-skus
VM packing specs for General Purpose Dedicated Hosts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/dedicated-host-general-purpose-skus
GPU optimized Dedicated Host SKU capacities and packing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/dedicated-host-gpu-optimized-skus
Reference VM packing specs for memory-optimized dedicated hosts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/dedicated-host-memory-optimized-skus
Storage optimized Dedicated Host SKU capacities and packing	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/dedicated-host-storage-optimized-skus
Use Azure VM managed disk bursting performance limits	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-bursting
Understand performance tiers for Azure Managed Disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-change-performance
Enable performance plus for Azure SSD and HDD disks

Security

Topic	URL
Manage trusted root and custom certificates on Azure Linux	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/certificate-management
Install custom root CAs on Azure Linux AKS hosts	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-linux/install-certificates-aks
Configure server-side encryption for Azure managed disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disk-encryption
Use disk encryption sets across Entra tenants	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-cross-tenant-customer-managed-keys
Configure customer-managed keys for Azure managed disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-enable-customer-managed-keys-portal
Configure double encryption at rest for managed disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-enable-double-encryption-at-rest-portal
Configure encryption at host for Azure managed disks	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-enable-host-based-encryption-portal
Secure Azure managed disk import/export with Private Link	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-enable-private-links-for-import-export-portal
Configure restrictions on Azure managed disk import/export	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-restrict-import-export-overview
Secure managed disk uploads/downloads with Entra ID and RBAC	https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-secure-upload-download