Ubuntu Server 20.04

Option A: Azure Portal

• Open the Azure Marketplace and search for "Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS on Azure SecureAnyCloud".
• Select the image and click Create.
• Configure the basics: choose your Subscription, create a new Resource Group or select an existing one, enter a Virtual Machine Name, select your preferred Region, and set Size (Standard_B2s is recommended).
• Under Administrator Account, choose the username you want to log in as. Then select SSH public key (recommended) and enter your key, or select Password and set a strong password.
• Under Inbound Port Rules, allow SSH (port 22).
• Click Review + Create, then Create.

Option B: Azure CLI

az vm image terms accept --urn sac1647283583153:ubuntu-20-04:default:latest
az vm create \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name my-ubuntu-server-20-04-azure-vm \
  --image sac1647283583153:ubuntu-20-04:default:latest \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --public-ip-sku Standard

Choosing a VM size

General-purpose, memory-optimised, compute-optimised and burstable sizes of the v5 generation and earlier run this image. Four kinds of size do not work with it:

• NVMe-only sizes (the v6 generation, such as Dsv6, Ddsv6, Dasv6 and Easv6): this image boots from a SCSI disk controller, so Azure refuses to create it on a size that offers only NVMe ("cannot boot with OS image or disk"). Choose a v5 or earlier size instead, for example Standard_D2s_v5 or Standard_D2as_v5.
• Confidential VM sizes (such as DCasv5, ECasv5 and their v6 successors): these need an image that supports the Confidential VM security type. This image supports the Standard security type only, not Trusted launch or Confidential VM. If your organisation's Azure Policy requires Trusted launch, Azure refuses the deployment.
• Arm64 sizes (a p in the size name, such as Standard_D2ps_v5): this image is x64.
• NVv4 GPU sizes (such as Standard_NV4as_v4): Microsoft supports the NVv4 AMD GPU on Windows only and retired the series on 30 September 2026, so the GPU cannot be used from Linux. For an NVIDIA GPU size, see Step 6.

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-ubuntu-server-20-04-azure-vm --show-details --query publicIps -o tsv

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. On Ubuntu its service is named walinuxagent:

systemctl status walinuxagent

Install the updates that are still published for Ubuntu 20.04. The free archive carries no new security fixes after May 2025 (see the note at the top of this guide).

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

The Azure Network Security Group (NSG) controls inbound and outbound traffic. Ubuntu's own firewall, ufw, ships inactive. Check its status with:

sudo ufw status verbose

To enable it, allow SSH first so you do not lock yourself out. Then allow any other ports you need:

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp
sudo ufw enable

The image ships without a GPU driver, so on an NVIDIA GPU size (such as the NC, ND and NV series with NVIDIA GPUs) nvidia-smi does not work until you install one. Canonical publishes prebuilt NVIDIA kernel modules for the image's Azure kernel, and ubuntu-drivers picks the right driver for your GPU. Run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ubuntu-drivers-common
sudo ubuntu-drivers list
sudo ubuntu-drivers install sudo reboot

After the reboot, run nvidia-smi to see the GPU. On a size without an NVIDIA GPU, ubuntu-drivers list prints nothing and ubuntu-drivers install has nothing to install.

ubuntu-drivers may also print an aplay error from its sound modem check. The error is harmless.