Chapter 3. Deploying a Red Hat Enterprise Linux image as a virtual machine on Microsoft Azure

Procedure

1. Convert the image from qcow2 to raw format.

   $ qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O raw <image-name>.qcow2 <image-name>.raw

2. Create a shell script with the following content.

   #!/bin/bash
   MB=$((1024 * 1024))
   size=$(qemu-img info -f raw --output json "$1" | gawk 'match($0, /"virtual-size": ([0-9]+),/, val) {print val[1]}')
   rounded_size=$((($size/$MB + 1) * $MB))
   if [ $(($size % $MB)) -eq  0 ]
   then
    echo "Your image is already aligned. You do not need to resize."
    exit 1
   fi
   echo "rounded size = $rounded_size"
   export rounded_size

3. Run the script. This example uses the name align.sh.

   $ sh align.sh <image-xxx>.raw

   • If the message "Your image is already aligned. You do not need to resize." displays, proceed to the following step.
   • If a value displays, your image is not aligned.

4. Use the following command to convert the file to a fixed VHD format.

   The sample uses qemu-img version 2.12.0.

   $ qemu-img convert -f raw -o subformat=fixed,force_size -O vpc <image-xxx>.raw <image.xxx>.vhd

   Once converted, the VHD file is ready to upload to Azure.

5. If the raw image is not aligned, complete the following steps to align it.

   1. Resize the raw file by using the rounded value displayed when you ran the verification script.

      $ qemu-img resize -f raw <image-xxx>.raw <rounded-value>

   2. Convert the raw image file to a VHD format.

      The sample uses qemu-img version 2.12.0.

      $ qemu-img convert -f raw -o subformat=fixed,force_size -O vpc <image-xxx>.raw <image.xxx>.vhd

      Once converted, the VHD file is ready to upload to Azure.

Procedure

1. Import the Microsoft repository key.

   $ sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

2. Create a local Azure CLI repository entry.

   $ sudo sh -c 'echo -e "[azure-cli]\nname=Azure CLI\nbaseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/azure-cli\nenabled=1\ngpgcheck=1\ngpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" > /etc/yum.repos.d/azure-cli.repo'

3. Update the dnf package index.

   $ dnf check-update

4. Check your Python version (python --version) and install Python 3.x, if necessary.

   $ sudo dnf install python3

5. Install the Azure CLI.

   $ sudo dnf install -y azure-cli

6. Run the Azure CLI.

   $ az

Procedure

1. Authenticate your system with Azure and log in.

   $ az login

   Note

   If a browser is available in your environment, the CLI opens your browser to the Azure sign-in page. See Sign in with Azure CLI for more information and options.

2. Create a resource group in an Azure region.

   $ az group create --name <resource-group> --location <azure-region>

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az group create --name azrhelclirsgrp --location southcentralus
   {
     "id": "/subscriptions//resourceGroups/azrhelclirsgrp",
     "location": "southcentralus",
     "managedBy": null,
     "name": "azrhelclirsgrp",
     "properties": {
       "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
     },
     "tags": null
   }

3. Create a storage account. See SKU Types for more information about valid SKU values.

   $ az storage account create -l <azure-region> -n <storage-account-name> -g <resource-group> --sku <sku_type>

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az storage account create -l southcentralus -n azrhelclistact -g azrhelclirsgrp --sku Standard_LRS
   {
     "accessTier": null,
     "creationTime": "2017-04-05T19:10:29.855470+00:00",
     "customDomain": null,
     "encryption": null,
     "id": "/subscriptions//resourceGroups/azrhelclirsgrp/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/azrhelclistact",
     "kind": "StorageV2",
     "lastGeoFailoverTime": null,
     "location": "southcentralus",
     "name": "azrhelclistact",
     "primaryEndpoints": {
       "blob": "https://azrhelclistact.blob.core.windows.net/",
       "file": "https://azrhelclistact.file.core.windows.net/",
       "queue": "https://azrhelclistact.queue.core.windows.net/",
       "table": "https://azrhelclistact.table.core.windows.net/"
   },
   "primaryLocation": "southcentralus",
   "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
   "resourceGroup": "azrhelclirsgrp",
   "secondaryEndpoints": null,
   "secondaryLocation": null,
   "sku": {
     "name": "Standard_LRS",
     "tier": "Standard"
   },
   "statusOfPrimary": "available",
   "statusOfSecondary": null,
   "tags": {},
     "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts"
   }

4. Get the storage account connection string.

   $ az storage account show-connection-string -n <storage-account-name> -g <resource-group>

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az storage account show-connection-string -n azrhelclistact -g azrhelclirsgrp
   {
     "connectionString": "DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net;AccountName=azrhelclistact;AccountKey=NreGk...=="
   }

5. Export the connection string by copying the connection string and pasting it into the following command. This string connects your system to the storage account.

   $ export AZURE_STORAGE_CONNECTION_STRING="<storage-connection-string>"

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ export AZURE_STORAGE_CONNECTION_STRING="DefaultEndpointsProtocol=https;EndpointSuffix=core.windows.net;AccountName=azrhelclistact;AccountKey=NreGk...=="

6. Create the storage container.

   $ az storage container create -n <container-name>

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az storage container create -n azrhelclistcont
   {
     "created": true
   }

7. Create a virtual network.

   $ az network vnet create -g <resource group> --name <vnet-name> --subnet-name <subnet-name>

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az network vnet create --resource-group azrhelclirsgrp --name azrhelclivnet1 --subnet-name azrhelclisubnet1
   {
     "newVNet": {
       "addressSpace": {
         "addressPrefixes": [
         "10.0.0.0/16"
         ]
     },
     "dhcpOptions": {
       "dnsServers": []
     },
     "etag": "W/\"\"",
     "id": "/subscriptions//resourceGroups/azrhelclirsgrp/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/azrhelclivnet1",
     "location": "southcentralus",
     "name": "azrhelclivnet1",
     "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
     "resourceGroup": "azrhelclirsgrp",
     "resourceGuid": "0f25efee-e2a6-4abe-a4e9-817061ee1e79",
     "subnets": [
       {
         "addressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24",
         "etag": "W/\"\"",
         "id": "/subscriptions//resourceGroups/azrhelclirsgrp/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/azrhelclivnet1/subnets/azrhelclisubnet1",
         "ipConfigurations": null,
         "name": "azrhelclisubnet1",
         "networkSecurityGroup": null,
         "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
         "resourceGroup": "azrhelclirsgrp",
         "resourceNavigationLinks": null,
         "routeTable": null
       }
     ],
     "tags": {},
     "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
     "virtualNetworkPeerings": null
     }
   }

Procedure

1. Upload the VHD file to the storage container. It may take several minutes. To get a list of storage containers, enter the az storage container list command.

   $ az storage blob upload \
       --account-name <storage-account-name> --container-name <container-name> \
       --type page --file <path-to-vhd> --name <image-name>.vhd

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az storage blob upload \
   --account-name azrhelclistact --container-name azrhelclistcont \
   --type page --file rhel-image-{ProductNumber}.vhd --name rhel-image-{ProductNumber}.vhd
   
   Percent complete: %100.0

2. Get the URL for the uploaded VHD file to use in the following step.

   $ az storage blob url -c <container-name> -n <image-name>.vhd

   Example:

   $ az storage blob url -c azrhelclistcont -n rhel-image-9.vhd "https://azrhelclistact.blob.core.windows.net/azrhelclistcont/rhel-image-9.vhd"

3. Create the Azure custom image.

   $ az image create -n <image-name> -g <resource-group> -l <azure-region> --source <URL> --os-type linux

   Note

   The default hypervisor generation of the VM is V1. You can optionally specify a V2 hypervisor generation by including the option --hyper-v-generation V2. Generation 2 VMs use a UEFI-based boot architecture. See Support for generation 2 VMs on Azure for information about generation 2 VMs.

   The command may return the error "Only blobs formatted as VHDs can be imported." This error may mean that the image was not aligned to the nearest 1 MB boundary before it was converted to VHD.

   Example:

   $ az image create -n rhel9 -g azrhelclirsgrp2 -l southcentralus --source https://azrhelclistact.blob.core.windows.net/azrhelclistcont/rhel-image-9.vhd --os-type linux

Procedure

1. Enter the following command to create the VM.

   $ az vm create \
       -g <resource-group> -l <azure-region> -n <vm-name> \
       --vnet-name <vnet-name> --subnet <subnet-name> --size Standard_A2 \
       --os-disk-name <simple-name> --admin-username <administrator-name> \
       --generate-ssh-keys --image <path-to-image>

   Note

   The option --generate-ssh-keys creates a private/public key pair. Private and public key files are created in ~/.ssh on your system. The public key is added to the authorized_keys file on the VM for the user specified by the --admin-username option. See Other authentication methods for additional information.

   Example:

   [clouduser@localhost]$ az vm create \
   -g azrhelclirsgrp2 -l southcentralus -n rhel-azure-vm-1 \
   --vnet-name azrhelclivnet1 --subnet azrhelclisubnet1 --size Standard_A2 \
   --os-disk-name vm-1-osdisk --admin-username clouduser \
   --generate-ssh-keys --image rhel9
   
   {
     "fqdns": "",
     "id": "/subscriptions//resourceGroups/azrhelclirsgrp/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/rhel-azure-vm-1",
     "location": "southcentralus",
     "macAddress": "",
     "powerState": "VM running",
     "privateIpAddress": "10.0.0.4",
     "publicIpAddress": "<public-IP-address>",
     "resourceGroup": "azrhelclirsgrp2"

   Note the publicIpAddress. You need this address to log in to the VM in the following step.

2. Start an SSH session and log in to the VM.

   [clouduser@localhost]$ ssh -i /home/clouduser/.ssh/id_rsa clouduser@<public-IP-address>.
   The authenticity of host ',<public-IP-address>' can't be established.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
   Warning: Permanently added '<public-IP-address>' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
   
   [clouduser@rhel-azure-vm-1 ~]$

Procedure

1. Register your system.

   # subscription-manager register --auto-attach

2. Attach your subscriptions.

   • You can use an activation key to attach subscriptions. See Creating Red Hat Customer Portal Activation Keys for more information.
   • Alternatively, you can manually attach a subscription by using the ID of the subscription pool (Pool ID). See Attaching and Removing Subscriptions Through the Command Line.

3. Optional: To collect various system metrics about the instance in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console, you can register the instance with Red Hat Insights.

   # insights-client register --display-name <display-name-value>

   For information on further configuration of Red Hat Insights, see Client Configuration Guide for Red Hat Insights.

Procedure

1. Use the Gold Image to create a RHEL 9 VM in your Azure instance. For instructions, see Creating and starting the VM in Azure.
2. Start the created VM.

3. In the RHEL 9 VM, enable automatic registration.

   # subscription-manager config --rhsmcertd.auto_registration=1

4. Enable the rhsmcertd service.

   # systemctl enable rhsmcertd.service

5. Disable the redhat.repo repository.

   # subscription-manager config --rhsm.manage_repos=0

6. Power off the VM, and save it as a managed image on Azure. For instructions, see How to create a managed image of a virtual machine or VHD.
7. Create VMs by using the managed image. They will be automatically subscribed to RHSM.