How to publish Azure VM Extension/Application offer in Marketplace?

Question

Hi
We provide a SaaS offering and out customer asked us to create an Azure VM extension. We have other offers published in the partner center, but i dont see a way to publish a VM extension. The partner guide doesnt cover any specifics either.

How can we publish a vm extension?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Nicholas DiCola

If your goal is for your extension to appear under “Extensions + applications” in the Azure portal, this scenario requires VM Extension Publisher onboarding. Please note that this process is separate from publishing an offer through Partner Center.

VM Extension publishing is not a self-service process. Access to the detailed publisher documentation and tooling is restricted to approved publishers. Onboarding requires engagement with the Microsoft VM Extension team, and typically includes:

1. Azure subscription ID
2. Reference link to the Q&A thread or support request
3. Availability to schedule an onboarding discussion

Additionally, the publicly visible azure-extensions-cli tooling is intended only for Microsoft employees or approved (whitelisted) extension publishers. It acts as a wrapper around Azure’s internal extension publishing APIs and is not available for general public use - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/marketplace-offers/azure-vm-offer-setup

If your objective is to deploy your SaaS agent or configuration components onto customer VMs, you do not need to become a VM Extension publisher.

The following supported approaches are recommended:

1. Azure Virtual Machine Offer (Marketplace) - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/marketplace-offers/marketplace-virtual-machines

You can publish an Azure Virtual Machine offer through Partner Center with your software pre-installed in the VM image. Customers can then deploy the image directly from the Marketplace.

This option is appropriate when:

• Your software needs to be baked into the OS image.
• You require Marketplace distribution.

2. Azure Application Offer (Marketplace)

You can publish an Azure Application offer that deploys infrastructure (including VMs) and performs post-deployment configuration using supported VM extensions (for example, Custom Script Extension).

This is suitable when:

• You need to orchestrate infrastructure deployment.
• Your components can be installed during or after deployment using standard VM extension mechanisms.

3. Use Existing VM Extension Mechanisms (Without Marketplace Packaging)

If Marketplace listing is not required, you can install and configure your solution using built-in VM extension capabilities. VM extensions are designed for post-deployment configuration and automation.

Examples include: az vm extension set

Custom Script Extension to download and execute installation scripts

This approach works well for direct deployments where Marketplace distribution is not necessary.

Answer 2

i might be off here… but vm‑ext publish just doesn’t surface unless ur acct is whitelisted. when it isn’t, the only sane path is wiring the ext thru arm/managed‑app… just don’t waste time lookin for a blade that won’t ever load.