CentOS on Windows Azure Notifications

CentOS images provided by OpenLogic for use on Windows Azure are built with the Basic Server option during the installation process of CentOS 64-bit. This provides the groundwork for getting started with a CentOS virtual machine.

  • More information on CentOS can be found at centos.org
  • CentOS is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2
  • Licensing information for CentOS packages can be found in the running image in /usr/share/doc

Images are installed with only software provided in the CentOS installation media or online repositories except where noted below:

  • Hyper-V Device Drivers
    • Required to operate the virtualized hardware (Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform)
    • Project Page: Linux Integration Services Version 3.4 for Hyper-V
    • License: GNU General Public License v2
    • Download location: Linux Integration Services Version 3.4 for Hyper-V
    • Build Instructions:
      • $ rpmbuild --rebuild /path/to/SRPM
      • Notes:
        • The SRPM is provided with driver download
        • The RPM package 'rpmbuild' and a rpmbuild environment are required for build.
        • As of kernel 2.6.32-358.el6 - Hyper-V Device Drivers are now intergrated into the kernel stream.
  • Linux Integration Service Modules
    • Provides kernel modules required to operate the virtualized hardware (Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform)
    • Project Page: Linux Integration Services Version 3.4 for Hyper-V
    • License: GNU General Public License v2
    • Download location: Linux Integration Services Version 3.4 for Hyper-V
    • Build Instructions:
      • $ rpmbuild --rebuild /path/to/SRPM
      • Notes:
        • The SRPM is provided with module download
        • The RPM package 'rpmbuild' and a rpmbuild environment are required for build.
        • As of kernel 2.6.32-358.el6 - Linux Integration Service modules are now intergrated into the kernel stream.
  • Windows Azure Agent
    • Required to run on the Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform and Windows Azure Platform
    • Project Page: on GitHub
    • License: Apache 2.0
    • Download location: on GitHub
    • Build Instructions: Build instructions are provided here.
  • Kernel patches to the ATA Piix driver (CentOS 6.3, December 2012)
    • This is only required for kernels before 2.6.32-358.el6
    • Allows access virtual cdrom devices
    • Project Page: on GitHub
    • License: GNU General Public License v2
    • These patches have been added to upstream kernels and has been backported to work with CentOS 6 kernels.
    • Running kernel binary and source rpms - RPMS | SRPMS
    • Patches must be applied during a recomplile of the kernel. Once you've obtained the patches from the above links, you can apply them to future kernels by adding them to kernel.spec in the appropriate locations. More details on how to patch and build a new kernel RPM can be found here.
    • Note: Updating to a kernel without the Piix driver update may have a negative impact on the virtual machine and could result in loss of access. For this reason, until all the correct software makes it into the available upstream packages, the default update servers do not contain all upstream kernel packages. This can be easily changed by editing your yum repository configuration files and is not intended to hamper access to CentOS software. Use other kernels at your own risk.

After the server is running, you are able to install any packages as you normally would through an rpm or yum process. Be aware that updates to kernels, drivers, and networking (such as NetworkManager) can have a negative effect on how the system runs in the Windows Azure environment.