Operating Systems Azure

CentOS Stream 10 on Azure User Guide

| Product: CentOS Stream 10 on Azure

Overview

This guide covers the deployment and configuration of CentOS Stream 10 on Microsoft Azure using cloudimg's pre configured virtual machine image from the Azure Marketplace.

What's included:

  • CentOS Stream 10, the continuously-delivered upstream development branch of RHEL 10, fully patched to the latest package set
  • Azure Linux Agent (waagent) plus cloud-init for Azure provisioning and cloud integration
  • Chronyd for NTP time synchronisation
  • SELinux in enforcing mode
  • Gen1 Hyper V virtual machine support (BIOS boot)
  • 24/7 cloudimg support

Platform: Microsoft Azure (Gen1 Hyper V) Default user: azureuser

Prerequisites

Before deploying this image, ensure you have:

  1. An active Microsoft Azure subscription
  2. Access to the Azure Portal or Azure CLI
  3. An SSH key pair for Linux VM access
  4. Familiarity with Azure VM management

Recommended VM Size: Standard_B2s (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) or larger.

Step 1: Deploy the Virtual Machine

Option A: Azure Portal

  1. Navigate to the Azure Marketplace and search for "CentOS Stream 10 on Azure cloudimg"
  2. Select the image and click Create
  3. Configure the basics:
  4. Subscription: Select your Azure subscription
  5. Resource Group: Create new or select existing
  6. Virtual Machine Name: Enter a name for your VM
  7. Region: Select your preferred Azure region
  8. Size: Standard_B2s recommended
  9. Under Administrator Account, select SSH public key and enter your key
  10. Under Inbound Port Rules, allow SSH (port 22)
  11. Click Review + Create, then Create

Option B: Azure CLI

az vm create \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name my-centos-stream-10-azure-vm \
  --image cloudimg:centos-stream-10-azure:default:latest \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --public-ip-sku Standard

Step 2: Connect via SSH

Once your VM is running, connect using SSH:

ssh azureuser@<public-ip-address>

To find your VM's public IP:

az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name my-centos-stream-10-azure-vm --show-details --query publicIps -o tsv

Step 3: Verify the Installation

After connecting, verify the operating system:

cat /etc/centos-release
cat /etc/os-release
uname -r

Check disk space and memory:

df -h
free -h

Verify the Azure Linux Agent is running:

systemctl status waagent

Step 4: Update the System

CentOS Stream 10 is continuously delivered (rolling), so keeping it current pulls the latest package set and all security backports:

sudo dnf upgrade -y

Step 5: Configure Firewall (Optional)

The Azure Network Security Group (NSG) is the primary inbound and outbound firewall for your VM. The minimal CentOS Stream 10 image does not ship a host firewall by default. If you want an additional host based firewall, install and enable firewalld first:

sudo dnf install -y firewalld
sudo systemctl enable --now firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

To allow additional ports:

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Common Use Cases

  • Tracking the next RHEL 10 minor release ahead of general availability
  • Building and testing RPMs against the RHEL 10 development stream
  • Container and Kubernetes workloads
  • Development, CI and staging environments that mirror the RHEL 10 platform

Troubleshooting

Cannot Connect via SSH

  1. Verify the VM is in Running state in the Azure Portal
  2. Check that port 22 is allowed in the Network Security Group
  3. Ensure you are using the correct username: azureuser
  4. Verify your SSH key matches the one configured during deployment

Azure Agent Not Running

sudo systemctl start waagent
sudo systemctl enable waagent

Package Manager Issues

sudo dnf upgrade -y

If repositories are unreachable, check DNS resolution:

getent hosts google.com

Important Notes

CentOS Stream is free and open source (GPLv2 and a collection of upstream open-source licences). It is the upstream development branch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, sponsored by Red Hat and maintained by the CentOS Project. No licence or paid subscription is required.

Support

For assistance with this image, contact cloudimg support: