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Azure

Ubuntu on Azure

Optimise your Ubuntu experience in Azure, delivered in partnership with Canonical.
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Overview

Maximize performance and security for your apps

Enhance the performance, security, and flexibility of your business-critical applications with an Azure-optimised kernel, automatic patching and updates, and flexible pricing options.
  • Ubuntu on Azure runs on an Azure-optimised kernel that provides faster boot speed, better runtime performance, and advanced device support. All images come with improved device drivers such as Accelerated Networking and GPUs on Azure, offering consistent ultra-low network latency and maximizing virtual machine performance.
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  • Ubuntu on Azure offers automatic security patches and updates for key infrastructure and software components. Ubuntu Pro provides advanced features such as kernel live patching—delivering kernel updates in real time without the need for reboot. The Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) offered by Ubuntu tracks and patches all high and critical Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) for the entire collection of software packages delivered with Ubuntu.
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  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Migration Assessment is a comprehensive consulting package to assess your readiness and help you plan your enterprise app modernization and migration to Azure and AKS. Start with the one-week assessment and then move on to build a modernization and migration implementation plan.
Features

Ubuntu on Azure

Ubuntu LTS Server

A genuine Ubuntu image that offers an Azure-optimised kernel designed for any workload—with security patches and updates for the kernel and key infrastructure components, open-source application components, and five-year support.
Launch Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS

Ubuntu Pro for Azure

A premium image optimised for production workloads running in Azure—with kernel live patching and enhanced stability, security, and compliance features—covering 26,000 open-source application components, and offering 10-year support.
Launch Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS

Ubuntu Pro FIPS for Azure

The first and only FIPS 140-2 and CC-EAL certified image—built on Ubuntu Pro for Azure—that allows customers to meet government requirements and offers security hardening tools to enable runtime verification and rehardening.
Launch Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS

Ubuntu-based Kubernetes

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), a secure and fully managed Kubernetes service, offering seamless deployment and management of containerized apps across hybrid and multicloud environments, enabled by Azure Arc.
Learn about AKS
Resources

Resources to get started with Ubuntu on Azure

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Quickstart

Create an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine using an ARM template

Learn how to use an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template to deploy an Ubuntu Linux virtual machine (VM) in Azure.
Get started
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Quickstart

Set up a data science virtual machine for Linux (Ubuntu)

Get up and running with the Ubuntu 20.04 Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM) and the Azure DSVM for PyTorch.
Get started
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Quickstart 

Install SQL Server and create a database on Ubuntu

In this quickstart, you install SQL Server 2019 (15.x) on Ubuntu 20.04. Then you can connect with sqlcmd to create your first database and run queries.
Get started
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Frequently asked questions

  • Published by Canonical, Ubuntu is an open-source Linux distribution for servers, desktops, cloud, and IoT. Ubuntu offers premium images optimised for the public cloud with improved performance, enhanced security, and extended support. Ubuntu is used and trusted by millions of developers to build applications and innovate.

  • The benefits of Ubuntu on Azure include:

    • An Azure-optimised kernel and user space components—built from the latest releases.
    • Enhanced security and compliance features with Ubuntu Pro and Pro FIPS for Azure.
    • The broadest open-source application portfolio—Ubuntu ships over 30,000 Debian packages.
  • Use Ubuntu on Azure if you're looking for features such as: 5 years of free LTS security maintenance that can be extended to 10 years, full-stack 24-hour, 7-days-a-week support from Canonical, certified compliance for FIPS and security hardening tools, and enhanced security such as kernel live patching and Extended Security Maintenance offered by Canonical.

  • Ubuntu images are available through the Azure Marketplace. It's easy to get started.

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Next steps

Choose the Azure account that’s right for you

Get started with Ubuntu on Azure today. Pay as you go or try Azure free for up to 30 days. There’s no upfront commitment—cancel anytime.
Get started with Azure

[1] IDC Business Value White Paper sponsored by Microsoft, The Business Value of Ubuntu on Microsoft Azure, Michele Rosen, Adam Reeves, Matthew Marden, January 2025.