VM Connection Issue

Question

Subject: Urgent: LM Studio Runtime Failure on VM 'lmstudios' (Standard_B2ats_v2) - Likely RAM Issue, Need AVX2 Confirm & Recommendation

Azure Environment Details:

Subscription Name: Azure subscription 1

Subscription ID: 81207e62-2eab-45c4-a5e3-27ab1282beb6

Resource Group: LINUX

Virtual Machine Name: lmstudios

VM Location: West US 2

VM Size: Standard_B2ats_v2 (2 vcpus, 1 GiB memory)

Operating System: Linux (Debian 11)

Problem Description:

Hello Microsoft Azure Support,

I have identified the VM details for lmstudios: the size is Standard_B2ats_v2 running Debian 11.

I am attempting to run the third-party application LM Studio (https://lmstudio.ai/) on this VM. The application requires AVX2 CPU support and typically needs significant RAM (16GB+ often recommended).

While LM Studio appears to install successfully, it fails during runtime to upload and install LLM Studio file.

My specific concerns are:

Insufficient RAM: This VM size (Standard_B2ats_v2) only provides 1 GiB of memory. Is it correct to assume this is highly likely insufficient for running LM Studio and is the probable cause of the runtime failure, regardless of AVX2 support?

AVX2 Confirmation: Although documentation suggests the underlying processors for B-series v2 support AVX2, can you please provide definitive confirmation that the Standard_B2ats_v2 VM size provides AVX2 instruction set support?

Runtime Failure Details: Upload and install attached file error

Steps Taken:

Identified VM Size as Standard_B2ats_v2 and OS as Debian 11 via portal screenshot.

Successfully installed the LM Studio application.

Attempted to run LM Studio, leading to the runtime failure described above.

Noted LM Studio requires AVX2 and significant RAM.

Request:

Please assist me by:

Confirming AVX2 support status for Standard_B2ats_v2.

Confirming if the 1 GiB RAM is the expected cause of runtime failure for this type of application (LM Studio).

Recommending a suitable, cost-effective alternative VM Size in West US 2 that supports AVX2 and provides substantially more RAM (e.g., 16GB or 32GB minimum) appropriate for running local LLM applications like LM Studio. Examples like Dv5/Ev5 series might be relevant, but I seek your recommendation.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Regards,

Harold Huggins

Answer 1

Hi Harold Huggins,

Your patience is greatly appreciated.

While Ubuntu 20.04 or newer is recommended for Linux as per LM Studio official documentation, other distributions that support AppImage files and meet the hardware requirements (AVX2-compatible CPU) can also run LM Studio. https://lmstudio.ai/docs/app/system-requirements

The VM you configured is a Standard_B2ats_v2 is a Basv2 family AMD processor.https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/sizes/general-purpose/basv2-series?tabs=sizebasic#host-specifications

Check if your Linux machine supports AVX2 instruction sets by using grep command.

grep -o 'avx[^ ]*' /proc/cpuinfo

orelse, you can also use this command to check AVX2 support, cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep avx2

and also check your Linux kernel version which should be 2.6.30 or later, uname -r

Many of the Azure VM instance types have CPU processor that support AVX2 you can verify system requirements for running LM Studio.

Verify below VM pricing page that includes brief mention of the vCPU and RAM included with each instance type:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/virtual-machines/linux/

To optimize the performance and efficiency of Large Language Model (LLM) deployments on Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), it is highly recommended to utilize more robust VM configurations with a specific emphasis on higher vCPU counts and larger RAM capacities.

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