Imagine calling upward Microsoft Tech Support Line in addition to bespeak for assist regarding your FreeBSD server! Too much? Well, that exactly happened. On June 8, 2016, Microsoft announced the availability of FreeBSD 10.3 every bit a ready-made VM ikon available straight from the Azure Marketplace. It agency that similar every other VM images inwards Azure, Microsoft created its ain FreeBSD image. This also agency that non exclusively tin you lot speedily bring-up a FreeBSD VM inwards Azure, but also that inwards the upshot you lot demand technical support, Microsoft back upward engineers tin assist. This is afterward their big annunciation regarding bash on Windows 10. 
If you lot select Azure access, it’s rattling slowly to create a VM. Login to your Azure portal in addition to exactly click on the +New on the left pane (or the marketplace tile on your dashboard), type “FreeBSD” inwards the search text box in addition to follow the on-screen wizard.
Here’s the description of this VM from Azure portal
FreeBSD 10.3 for Microsoft Azure provided yesteryear Microsoft. FreeBSD is an advanced estimator operating scheme used to mightiness modern servers, desktops in addition to embedded platforms.
The FreeBSD Logo in addition to the score FreeBSD are registered trademarks of The FreeBSD Foundation in addition to are used yesteryear Microsoft amongst the permission of The FreeBSD Foundation.
As the higher upward screenshot illustrates, Microsoft is the publisher of the FreeBSD ikon inwards the marketplace rather than the FreeBSD Foundation. The FreeBSD Foundation is supported yesteryear donations from the FreeBSD community, including companies that create their solutions on FreeBSD. They are non a solution provider or an ISV amongst a back upward arrangement but rather rely on a rattling active community that back upward 1 another. In social club to ensure our customers select an corporation SLA for their FreeBSD VMs running inwards Azure, nosotros took on the piece of job of building, testing, releasing in addition to maintaining the ikon inwards social club to take away that burden from the Foundation. We volition croak along to partner closely amongst the Foundation every bit nosotros brand farther investments inwards FreeBSD on Hyper-V in addition to inwards Azure.
“It’s quite a pregnant milestone for FreeBSD community in addition to for Microsoft to expose a supported FreeBSD ikon on Azure Marketplace. We actually appreciate Microsoft’s commitment in addition to investment inwards FreeBSD project”.
– Justin T. Gibbs, President of FreeBSD Foundation
Jason Anderson, principal PM director at Microsoft’s Open Source Technology Center says Redmond “took on the piece of job of building, testing, releasing in addition to maintaining the image” then it could “ensure our customers select an corporation SLA for their FreeBSD VMs running inwards Azure”.
What’s Different About the FreeBSD 10.3 Image from Microsoft?
The bulk of the investments nosotros brand at the nitty-gritty grade to enable network in addition to storage performance were up-streamed into the FreeBSD 10.3 release, then anyone who downloads a FreeBSD 10.3 ikon from the FreeBSD Foundation volition teach those investments from Microsoft built inwards to the OS. There are exactly about exceptions where nosotros included exactly about of import fixes that weren’t consummate inwards fourth dimension to brand the FreeBSD 10.3 release – you lot tin teach the details of those additional commits here.
In addition, nosotros select added the Azure VM Guest Agent, which is responsible for communication betwixt the FreeBSD VM in addition to the Azure Fabric for operations such every bit provisioning the VM on get-go utilisation (user name, password, hostname, etc) every bit good every bit enabling functionality for selective VM Extensions. For to a greater extent than information, take in Microsoft’s blog.
In illustration this are all tidings to you, Microsoft has been supporting Linux in addition to Open Source products for some fourth dimension now.
Supported Distributions & Versions
The next tabular array lists the Linux distributions in addition to versions that are supported on Azure.
The Linux Integration Services (LIS) drivers for Hyper-V in addition to Azure are nitty-gritty modules that Microsoft contributes straight to the upstream Linux kernel. The LIS drivers are either built into the distribution’s nitty-gritty yesteryear default, or for older RHEL/CentOS-based distributions are available every bit a form download here. Please come across this article for to a greater extent than data almost the LIS drivers.
The Azure Linux Agent is already pre-installed on the Azure Gallery images in addition to are typically available from the distribution’s packet repository. Source code tin endure works life on GitHub.
| Distribution | Version | Drivers | Agent |
| CentOS yesteryear OpenLogic | CentOS 6.3+, 7.0+ | CentOS 6.3: LIS DownloadCentOS 6.4+: In Kernel | Package: In OpenLogic repo nether “WALinuxAgent”Source Code: GitHub |
| CoreOS | 494.4.0+ | In Kernel | Source Code: GitHub |
| Debian yesteryear Credativ | Debian 7.9+, 8.2+ | In Kernel | Package: In repo nether “waagent”Source Code: GitHub |
| Oracle Linux | 6.4+, 7.0+ | In Kernel | Package: In repo nether “WALinuxAgent”Source Code: GitHub |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux | RHEL 6.7+, 7.1+ | In Kernel | Package: In repo nether “WALinuxAgent”Source Code: GitHub |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise | SLES eleven SP3+, SLES 12+ andSLES for SAP 11.3+ | In Kernel | Package: In Cloud:Tools repo nether “WALinuxAgent”Source Code: GitHub |
| openSUSE | openSUSE 13.1+ | In Kernel | Package: In Cloud:Tools repo nether “WALinuxAgent”Source Code: GitHub |
| Ubuntu | Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 15.10 in addition to 16.04 | In Kernel | Package: In repo nether “walinuxagent”Source Code: GitHub |
What produce you lot recall almost this news? I recall Linux in addition to Open Source is becoming big plenty for big players similar Microsoft, Oracle to jump inwards in addition to officially supporting it. Good for us those who works on opened upward root environment. So yeah, why not.. convey it on.
