Deployment guide

AlmaLinux 8

Overview

AlmaLinux is a free, open source enterprise Linux distribution that is binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). This guide covers deploying and configuring AlmaLinux 8 on Microsoft Azure from SecureAnyCloud's preconfigured virtual machine image in the Azure Marketplace.

What you get:

AlmaLinux 8, fully binary compatible with RHEL 8
The Azure Linux Agent (waagent) for cloud integration
chronyd for NTP time synchronisation
SELinux in enforcing mode
Gen2 Hyper-V virtual machine support
24/7 SecureAnyCloud support
Platform: Microsoft Azure (Gen2 Hyper-V)
Default user: azureuser

Prerequisites

Before you deploy this image, make sure you have:

An active Microsoft Azure subscription
Access to the Azure Portal or the Azure CLI
An SSH key pair for Linux VM access
Familiarity with Azure VM management

Recommended VM size: Standard_B2s (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) or larger.

Deploy the virtual machine

Option A: Azure Portal

Open the Azure Marketplace and search for "AlmaLinux 8 on Azure SecureAnyCloud".
Select the image and click Create.
On the Basics tab, configure the following fields.
Subscription: select your Azure subscription.
Resource Group: create a new group or select an existing one.
Virtual Machine Name: enter a name for your VM.
Region: select your preferred Azure region.
Size: Standard_B2s is recommended.
Under Administrator Account, select SSH public key and enter your key.
Under Inbound Port Rules, allow SSH (port 22).
Click Review + Create, then click Create.

Option B: Azure CLI

az vm image terms accept --urn sac1647283583153:almalinux-8:default:latest
az vm create \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name my-almalinux-8-azure-vm \
  --image sac1647283583153:almalinux-8:default:latest \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --public-ip-sku Standard

Connect via SSH

When your VM is running, connect to it over SSH:

ssh azureuser@<public-ip-address>

To find your VM's public IP address, run:

az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name my-almalinux-8-azure-vm --show-details --query publicIps -o tsv

Verify the installation

After you connect, verify the operating system:

cat /etc/os-release uname -r

Check disk space and memory:

df -h free -h

Verify that the Azure Linux Agent is running:

systemctl status waagent

Update the system

Install the latest security patches to keep your system up to date:

sudo dnf update -y

Configure the firewall (optional)

The Azure network security group (NSG) controls inbound and outbound traffic. You can also configure the local firewall:

sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

To allow additional ports, run:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/tcp sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Common use cases

CentOS 8 replacement for production workloads
Enterprise application and database hosting
Web server and middleware deployments
Development and testing environments

Troubleshooting

Cannot connect via SSH

Verify that the VM is in the Running state in the Azure Portal.
Check that port 22 is allowed in the network security group.
Make sure you are using the correct username: azureuser.
Verify that your SSH key matches the one you configured during deployment.

Azure agent not running

sudo systemctl start waagent
sudo systemctl enable waagent

Package manager issues

sudo dnf update -y

If the repositories are unreachable, check DNS resolution:

nslookup google.com

Important notes

AlmaLinux is free and open source. No licence is required.

Support

For help with this image, contact SecureAnyCloud support:

Website: secureanycloud.com
Product catalogue: secureanycloud.com/products
User guides: secureanycloud.com/guides
SLA: 24 hour response guaranteed

Deploy on Azure

Launch AlmaLinux 8 on Azure with 24/7 support from SecureAnyCloud.

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Need Help?

Our support team is available 24/7.

sales@secureanycloud.com

Deploy on Azure