Rocky Linux 9.6

Option A: Azure Portal

• Open the Azure Marketplace and search for "Rocky Linux 9.6 SecureAnyCloud".
• Select the image, then select Create.
• On the Basics tab, set the following:
  • 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).
• Select Review + Create, then select Create.

Option B: Azure CLI

az vm image terms accept --urn sac1647283583153:rocky-linux-9-6:default:latest
az vm create \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name my-rocky-9-6-vm \
  --image sac1647283583153:rocky-linux-9-6:default:latest \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --public-ip-sku Standard

Run these commands on your own workstation, not on the VM. Find the public IP, then connect:

az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name my-rocky-9-6-vm --show-details --query publicIps -o tsv ssh azureuser@<vm-ip>

There is no password to enter. If SSH asks for one, your client is not offering the key that you supplied at create time.

Check that the machine runs the Rocky Linux 9.6 release you expect:

cat /etc/rocky-release grep -E '^(NAME|VERSION|ID|PLATFORM_ID)=' /etc/os-release uname -rm

Expected output:

Rocky Linux release 9.6 (Blue Onyx) NAME="Rocky Linux" VERSION="9.6 (Blue Onyx)" ID="rocky" PLATFORM_ID="platform:el9" 5.14.0-570.58.1.el9_6.x86_64 x86_64

The kernel version carries an el9_6 tag, which marks the machine as being on the 9.6 stream. Because this image is frozen to the 9.6 vault, the tag stays el9_6 for the life of the machine.

The image is fully synced to the 9.6 vault at build time. dnf check-update returns exit code 100 when updates are pending against the enabled repositories, and 0 when none are. Because the machine is pinned to the frozen 9.6 vault, it reports 0:

sudo dnf check-update echo "check-update exit code: $?"

Confirm that no reboot is outstanding. needs-restarting -r returns 0 when nothing requires a restart:

sudo dnf needs-restarting -r echo "needs-restarting exit code: $?"

List the enabled repositories to confirm that the update path is the vault:

dnf repolist --enabled

Expected output:

repo id repo name appstream-vault-9-6 Rocky Linux 9.6 - AppStream (vault, frozen) baseos-vault-9-6 Rocky Linux 9.6 - BaseOS (vault, frozen) crb-vault-9-6 Rocky Linux 9.6 - CRB (vault, frozen) extras-vault-9-6 Rocky Linux 9.6 - extras (vault, frozen)

Package signatures are verified on every install. No repository on this image sets gpgcheck=0, and the vault packages are signed with the same Rocky Linux 9 GPG key.

This is the defining property of this image and the reason to choose it over the rolling Rocky Linux 9 image. Every repository points at the archived 9.6 vault at dl.rockylinux.org/vault/rocky/9.6/. The rolling mirrorlist and metalink resolvers are disabled, so nothing can pull the machine forward to 9.8:

grep -h baseurl /etc/yum.repos.d/rocky-vault-9.6.repo | head -2
grep -rlE '^[[:space:]]*(mirrorlist|metalink)=' /etc/yum.repos.d/ 2>/dev/null || echo "no rolling resolver present"

Expected output:

baseurl=https://dl.rockylinux.org/vault/rocky/9.6/BaseOS/$basearch/os/ baseurl=https://dl.rockylinux.org/vault/rocky/9.6/AppStream/$basearch/os/ no rolling resolver present

Unattended updates are armed, but only against the frozen vault. dnf-automatic applies any errata published within the 9.6 stream and never rolls the machine to a newer minor release:

systemctl is-enabled dnf-automatic.timer grep -E '^(upgrade_type|download_updates|apply_updates)' /etc/dnf/automatic.conf

Expected output:

enabled upgrade_type = default download_updates = yes apply_updates = yes

If you would rather track whichever Rocky Linux 9 release is current, this frozen image is not the right choice. Use the SecureAnyCloud Rocky Linux 9 image, which follows the rolling stream. Alternatively, convert this machine to the rolling channel yourself by restoring the stock repositories:

echo "to move to the rolling 9 stream: sudo rm /etc/yum.repos.d/rocky-vault-9.6.repo && sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled baseos appstream extras && sudo dnf distro-sync -y"

This reverses the pin and lets the machine move to the current minor release of the 9 series. Leaving the vault in place is what keeps the machine reproducible.

Confirm that SELinux is enforcing, root is locked, and SSH is key-only:

getenforce grep -E '^[[:space:]]*SELINUX=' /etc/selinux/config
sudo passwd -S root
sudo sshd -T | grep -E '^(permitrootlogin|passwordauthentication|pubkeyauthentication|kbdinteractiveauthentication)'

Expected output:

Enforcing SELINUX=enforcing root LK 2009-12-22 -1 -1 -1 -1 (Alternate authentication scheme in use.) permitrootlogin without-password pubkeyauthentication yes passwordauthentication no kbdinteractiveauthentication no

without-password is how OpenSSH reports the prohibit-password setting. Both names mean the same thing: root may not authenticate with a password.

The check covers both the runtime mode and the persisted /etc/selinux/config value, because a runtime setting that is not persisted silently reverts on the next reboot.

Confirm that the Azure Linux Agent, cloud-init and time synchronization are healthy, and check your resources:

systemctl is-active waagent
systemctl is-enabled waagent cloud-init --version
systemctl is-active chronyd df -h / free -h

waagent lets Azure provision your SSH key, resize the OS disk, run extensions and report VM health, so it should always be active and enabled.

Note that free -h reports 0B of swap. This is deliberate. Azure manages swap on the ephemeral resource disk through waagent rather than on the OS disk, and a swap file baked into a Marketplace image fails certification. If your workload needs swap, configure it yourself through waagent.

The Azure Network Security Group (NSG) controls inbound and outbound traffic. It is the first place, and usually the only place, where you need to open a port.

This image is a minimal build, so firewalld is not installed. This is deliberate. With no host firewall in the way, your NSG rules take effect exactly as written, with no second layer to keep in sync. Confirm what is listening before you open anything:

ss -tlnu

On a fresh machine, SSH on port 22 is the only externally bound listener. Chrony appears on 127.0.0.1:323, which is loopback-only and not reachable from the network.

rpcbind is disabled on this image. The stock Rocky cloud image enables it because nfs-utils depends on it, which leaves TCP and UDP port 111 open on every interface. NFSv4, the default in Rocky Linux 9, does not use rpcbind at all. This image therefore disables rpcbind and closes the port, while keeping nfs-utils installed and fully working for NFSv4 mounts:

echo "rpcbind.socket: $(systemctl is-enabled rpcbind.socket 2>/dev/null || echo disabled)" rpm -q nfs-utils

If you need NFSv3, which requires the portmapper, turn rpcbind back on with one command:

echo "to re-enable NFSv3 support: sudo systemctl enable --now rpcbind.socket"

rpcbind is disabled rather than masked, so this command works without further steps.

If your policy also requires a host firewall, install and enable it yourself:

sudo dnf install -y firewalld
sudo systemctl enable --now firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Once firewalld is running, a port must be open in both the Azure NSG and firewalld before traffic can reach your service.

AppStream carries the application packages, served from the 9.6 vault. Search AppStream, then install what you need:

dnf search nginx

Install a package and enable it in the usual way, for example sudo dnf install -y nginx followed by sudo systemctl enable --now nginx. Everything you install comes from the frozen 9.6 vault, so a package you add today resolves to the same version on a machine you build from this image next year.

To add another administrator, create the account with sudo adduser <name> and add it to the wheel group with sudo usermod -aG wheel <name>. Then copy your public key into /home/<name>/.ssh/authorized_keys. Set the file to mode 600 and the .ssh directory to mode 700, both owned by that user.

The image ships with no human accounts, so azureuser is the only login until you add one:

getent group wheel