/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/GPUs, configuring disks/networking, using CLI/PowerShell/REST, or securing with Key Vault, 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 Baremetal Infrastructure (use azure-baremetal-infrastructure), Azure Stack Edge (use azure-stack-edge).
compatibility: Requires network access. Uses mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch or fetch_webpage to retrieve documentation.
metadata:
  generated_at: "2026-11-08"
  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-L70 | Diagnosing and fixing Azure VM issues: kernel/AKS, package updates, hibernation, networking/NSG, disk encryption, restore points, image builder, GPU/resize, Trusted Launch, and Windows/Linux VM errors. | | Best Practices | L71-L113 | Best practices for VM performance, cost, HA, disk/snapshot usage, encryption, OS images, Linux/Windows tuning, HPC VM optimization, and safe upgrades/migrations. | | Decision Making | L114-L192 | Guidance for choosing Azure VM, disk, OS, and GPU/HPC options, planning migrations and retirements, managing costs/reservations, and designing workloads (Linux, Oracle, WebLogic, AKS) on Azure VMs. | | Architecture & Design Patterns | L193-L209 | Design patterns for Azure VMs: fleet allocation and capacity, low-latency placement, secure key release, and detailed HPC and Oracle app/database architectures (including cross-cloud and DR). | | Limits & Quotas | L210-L413 | VM size specs, disk performance/limits, quotas, dedicated host packing, GPU/memory/storage-optimized capacities, CVE SLAs, and billing/state behaviors for Azure Virtual Machines. | | Security | L414-L484 | Securing Azure VMs and disks: encryption (ADE, CMK, SSE, host), Key Vault integration, Trusted Launch, metadata protection, policies/RBAC, certificates, and secure image/gallery sharing. | | Configuration | [configuration.md](configuration.md) | Configuring Azure VMs and scale sets: disks, images, networking, maintenance, extensions (agents, GPU, security, monitoring), Linux/Windows settings, HPC/Oracle setups, and VM health/telemetry. | | Integrations & Coding Patterns | [integrations.md](integrations.md) | Scripts and patterns for managing Azure VMs: CLI/PowerShell/REST for disks, backups, restore points, maintenance, monitoring, metadata, ARM templates, and Oracle/SQL/Linux integrations. | | Deployment | [deployment.md](deployment.md) | Deploying and migrating Azure VMs and disks: image customization, storage/SSD/ZRS choices, encryption changes, region/zone moves, rolling/blue‑green deployments, and GPU/VDI setups. |

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 | | Troubleshoot per-disk resiliency issues on Azure VMs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-per-disk-resiliency-troubleshoot | | 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 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 | | Tro