/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](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)

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](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](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](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 | | Trouble