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How to create a Linux virtual machine with Azure Resource Manager templates

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Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets

Learn how to create a Linux virtual machine (VM) by using an Azure Resource Manager template and the Azure CLI from the Azure Cloud shell. To create a Windows virtual machine, see Create a Windows virtual machine from a Resource Manager template.

An alternative is to deploy the template from the Azure portal. To open the template in the portal, select the Deploy to Azure button.

Button to deploy the Resource Manager template to Azure.

Templates overview

Azure Resource Manager templates are JSON files that define the infrastructure and configuration of your Azure solution. By using a template, you can repeatedly deploy your solution throughout its lifecycle and have confidence your resources are deployed in a consistent state. To learn more about the format of the template and how you construct it, see Quickstart: Create and deploy Azure Resource Manager templates by using the Azure portal. To view the JSON syntax for resources types, see Define resources in Azure Resource Manager templates.

Quickstart template

Note

The provided template creates an Azure Generation 2 VM by default.

Note

Only SSH authentication is enabled by default when using the quickstart template. When prompted, provide the value of your own SSH public key, such as the contents of ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.

If you don't have an SSH key pair, create and use an SSH key pair for Linux VMs in Azure.

Click Copy to add the quickstart template to your clipboard:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "projectName": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies a name for generating resource names."
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the location for all resources."
      }
    },
    "adminUsername": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies a username for the Virtual Machine."
      }
    },
    "adminPublicKey": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Specifies the SSH rsa public key file as a string. Use \"ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048\" to generate your SSH key pairs."
      }
    },
    "vmSize": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_D2s_v3",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "description"
      }
    }
  },
  "variables": {
    "vNetName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-vnet')]",
    "vNetAddressPrefixes": "10.0.0.0/16",
    "vNetSubnetName": "default",
    "vNetSubnetAddressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24",
    "vmName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-vm')]",
    "publicIPAddressName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-ip')]",
    "networkInterfaceName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-nic')]",
    "networkSecurityGroupName": "[concat(parameters('projectName'), '-nsg')]",
    "networkSecurityGroupName2": "[concat(variables('vNetSubnetName'), '-nsg')]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkSecurityGroupName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "securityRules": [
          {
            "name": "ssh_rule",
            "properties": {
              "description": "Locks inbound down to ssh default port 22.",
              "protocol": "Tcp",
              "sourcePortRange": "*",
              "destinationPortRange": "22",
              "sourceAddressPrefix": "*",
              "destinationAddressPrefix": "*",
              "access": "Allow",
              "priority": 123,
              "direction": "Inbound"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses",
      "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
      "name": "[variables('publicIPAddressName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "publicIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic"
      },
      "sku": {
        "name": "Basic"
      }
    },
    {
      "comments": "Simple Network Security Group for subnet [variables('vNetSubnetName')]",
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkSecurityGroupName2')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "securityRules": [
          {
            "name": "default-allow-22",
            "properties": {
              "priority": 1000,
              "access": "Allow",
              "direction": "Inbound",
              "destinationPortRange": "22",
              "protocol": "Tcp",
              "sourceAddressPrefix": "*",
              "sourcePortRange": "*",
              "destinationAddressPrefix": "*"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
      "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
      "name": "[variables('vNetName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName2'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "addressSpace": {
          "addressPrefixes": [
            "[variables('vNetAddressPrefixes')]"
          ]
        },
        "subnets": [
          {
            "name": "[variables('vNetSubnetName')]",
            "properties": {
              "addressPrefix": "[variables('vNetSubnetAddressPrefix')]",
              "networkSecurityGroup": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName2'))]"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
      "apiVersion": "2020-05-01",
      "name": "[variables('networkInterfaceName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]",
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks', variables('vNetName'))]",
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups', variables('networkSecurityGroupName'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "ipConfigurations": [
          {
            "name": "ipconfig1",
            "properties": {
              "privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic",
              "publicIPAddress": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]"
              },
              "subnet": {
                "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', variables('vNetName'), variables('vNetSubnetName'))]"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2021-11-01",
      "name": "[variables('vmName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "dependsOn": [
        "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', variables('networkInterfaceName'))]"
      ],
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "[parameters('vmSize')]"
        },
        "osProfile": {
          "computerName": "[variables('vmName')]",
          "adminUsername": "[parameters('adminUsername')]",
          "linuxConfiguration": {
            "disablePasswordAuthentication": true,
            "ssh": {
              "publicKeys": [
                {
                  "path": "[concat('/home/', parameters('adminUsername'), '/.ssh/authorized_keys')]",
                  "keyData": "[parameters('adminPublicKey')]"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        },
        "storageProfile": {
          "imageReference": {
            "publisher": "Canonical",
            "offer": "0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy",
            "sku": "22_04-lts-gen2",
            "version": "latest"
          },
          "osDisk": {
            "createOption": "fromImage"
          }
        },
        "networkProfile": {
          "networkInterfaces": [
            {
              "id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', variables('networkInterfaceName'))]"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

You can also download or create a template and specify the local path with the --template-file parameter.

Create a quickstart template VM with Azure CLI

After acquiring or creating a quickstart template, create a VM with it using the Azure CLI.

The following command requests several pieces of input from the user. These include:

  • Name of the Resource Group (resourceGroupName)
  • Location of the Azure datacenter that hosts the VM (location)
  • A name for resources related to the VM (projectName)
  • Username for the administrator user (username)
  • A public SSH key for accessing the VM's terminal (key)

Creating an Azure virtual machine requires a resource group. Quickstart templates include resource group creation as part of the process.

To run the CLI script, click Open Cloudshell. Once you have access to the Azure Cloudshell, click Copy to copy the command, right-click the shell, then select Paste.

echo "Enter the Resource Group name:" &&
read resourceGroupName &&
echo "Enter the location (i.e. centralus):" &&
read location &&
echo "Enter the project name (used for generating resource names):" &&
read projectName &&
echo "Enter the administrator username:" &&
read username &&
echo "Enter the SSH public key:" &&
read key &&
az group create --name $resourceGroupName --location "$location" &&
az deployment group create --resource-group $resourceGroupName --template-uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/azure/azure-quickstart-templates/master/quickstarts/microsoft.compute/vm-sshkey/azuredeploy.json --parameters projectName=$projectName adminUsername=$username adminPublicKey="$key" &&
az vm show --resource-group $resourceGroupName --name "$projectName-vm" --show-details --query publicIps --output tsv

The last line in the command shows the public IP address of the newly created VM. You need the public IP address to connect to the virtual machine.

Connect to virtual machine

You can then SSH to your VM as normal. Provide your own public IP address from the preceding command:

ssh <adminUsername>@<ipAddress>

Other templates

In this example, you created a basic Linux VM. For more Resource Manager templates that include application frameworks or create more complex environments, browse the Azure Quickstart Templates.

To learn more about creating templates, view the JSON syntax and properties for the resources types you deployed:

Next steps