At Microsoft Build 2026, we announced the public preview of Azure Linux 4.0 – Microsoft’s first party Linux distribution, purpose-built for Azure. Azure Linux 4.0 is available now for Azure Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets, and container images – with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) support and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) coming soon after.
Why Azure Linux
Running Linux on Azure often involves a mix of distributions – one for VMs, another for Kubernetes nodes, a third for container base images, and sometimes something different on developer machines. That flexibility is powerful, but it can also introduce operational overhead: multiple patch schedules to coordinate, multiple security baselines to validate, and more moving parts for SRE and security teams to stay ahead of. A more consistent baseline – especially one with a smaller footprint – can help reduce exposure and simplify day‑to‑day maintenance
Azure Linux was built with that principle in mind: a single, Microsoft-supported Linux foundation designed to work across every Azure compute surface. From kernel updates to CVE patches, Azure Linux is built and maintained by Microsoft with a predictable update cadence designed around Azure infrastructure. Azure Linux is included with Azure compute at no additional cost.
What Is Azure Linux 4.0
Azure Linux is a Fedora-derived, RPM-based Linux distribution built and maintained by Microsoft. It is open source, free to use, and optimized specifically for Azure. Minimal by choice, secure by default; Azure Linux ships only the packages required for cloud workloads. Azure Linux is built exclusively for cloud and server workloads, it is not intended to support desktop usage or GUI applications.
Azure Linux already powers millions of cores across Azure’s internal services, including AKS, Azure SQL, Azure Cosmos DB, and many others. With 4.0, we’re bringing the same OS – same security posture, same performance tuning, same operational simplicity – to every Azure customer.
When Azure Linux 4.0 reaches General Availability, you can expect seamless integration with the Azure services you already rely on, including:
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud – vulnerability assessment and threat detection
- Azure Monitor – telemetry, logs, and performance monitoring
- Azure Migrate – discovery and migration tooling
- Trusted Launch and Secure Boot – hardware-rooted security
- Azure Portal, CLI, ARM, Bicep, Terraform, Ansible -deploy and manage with your existing tools
Read more at:
- Build 2026 Session: (22min) “Build, deploy, and run Linux workloads on Azure”
Explore how Azure empowers Linux and open‑source developers with streamlined, secure by default, cloud‑native services designed for fast startup, reduced operational overhead, and consistency across VMs and container workloads. Discover the latest Azure Linux capabilities. See live deployments, security defaults in action, and consistent workload execution from development through production across Azure VMs and AKS.
https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions/OD827 - Announcement:
Announcing Azure Linux 4.0: Purpose-Built for Azure, Now in Public Preview | Microsoft Community Hub - Documentation:
http://aka.ms/AzureLinux
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