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Attempting to create an ARM VM running Ubuntu 22.04 with nested virtualization support, but facing difficulties.
The VM configuration tried:
After creating the VM, running grep -c -w "vmx\|svm" /proc/cpuinfo returns 0, indicating KVM is not supported.
Is there a different VM size with ARM architecture that supports KVM, or should other configurations be modified?
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Hi @S, Akash (623),
Yes, Azure offers ARM-based virtual machine (VM) sizes that support KVM, specifically the Dpsv5 and Dpdsv5 series. These VMs are powered by the Ampere Altra processor, designed for scale-out cloud environments and offer good price-performance for general-purpose workloads.
Azure Arm-based virtual machines support a broad range of workloads
The Azure Arm-based virtual machine families include:
If you have any further queries, do let us know.
Hi @Nikhil Duserla ,
Thanks for the info.
I tried all three VM series — Dpsv5, Dplsv5, and Epsv5 — but all of them return 0 when I run the following command: grep -c -w "vmx\|svm" /proc/cpuinfo
Am I missing something? Is there any specific configuration that needs to be set either within the VM or via the Azure Portal to enable KVM support?
Thanks!
Hi @S, Akash (623),
Please confirm that your VM is set to Security type: Standard by browsing to your VM in portal, Overview blade, as shown below:
If it is not Standard you will need to re-create the VM and select Standard. When on the review page, right before you click to create the VM, double-check that it still says Standard because sometimes the portal will change it.
Despite not having tested it and not officially supported, it is possible to build a nested VM using Linux KVM in Azure, but there are certain requirements and limitations. Select a supported VM size for nested virtualization:
This are the NVM supported VM sizes-
You need to enable nested virtualization explicitly on the Azure VM. For a Linux-based VM like Ubuntu, this involves enabling the KVM module and configuring the system accordingly. SSH into your Azure VM and check if virtualization is supported-
grep -E 'vmx|svm' /proc/cpuinfo
Install KVM:
sudo
While going through this, you'll note that only Windows Server and Windows are mentioned. While not officially supported, there are blogs that will walk you through the process of creating a nested virtual machine in Azure with a Linux VM like this blog from brianlinkletter.com:
Please refer to this link for more information- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2086756/about-nested-vms-when-building-a-kvm-environment-i
If you have any further queries, do let us know.
Checking to see whether you have resolved the issue with the solution provided above, or if you need any further assistance, please let us know. We are happy to help.
Hi @Nikhil Duserla ,
Thanks for following up.
Unfortunately, I was not able to resolve the issue.
Yes, the Security type is set to Standard.
However, the VM series you listed (Dv5, Dsv5, etc.) are all based on x86-64 architecture, whereas I’m specifically looking to run a nested VM on ARM architecture. I was able to successfully run a nested VM on x86, but my requirement is to achieve the same on ARM.
Let me know if there’s any ARM-based VM series that supports nested virtualization.
Thanks!
Thanks Nikhil Duserla, for the clarification.
Appreciate your support throughout this!
Hello @S, Akash (623),
Apologies for the delayed response. I completely understand your query. While we do offer ARM-based VMs, please note that they currently do not support nested virtualization.
If you have any further queries, do let us know.
Hello @S, Akash (623),
Thanks! Could you please consider accepting an answer as a token of appreciation? It helps others in the community who may have the same query.
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Hi @Nikhil Duserla!We have an instance D8psv6. Initially, we had a QNX ARMv8 image that could run with QEMU. However, it didn’t perform well because we didn’t have an ARM host to enable KVM. Later, we wanted to try running it on the instance Azure VM. But as you mentioned, nested virtualization is currently not supported on Azure. Could you please let me know if there is an alternative solution for running our QNX image on an Azure VM while ensuring it has the same performance and behavior as when KVM is enabled?
Thank you!
Hello Hoai Tran Van,
Thank you for reaching out to us on the Q&A platform. I recommend posting new query along with your configurations and relevant details. Our team will then provide a solution. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/ask/