Disconnected operations with Azure Local VMs enabled by Azure Arc

This article provides a brief overview of management features for Azure Local virtual machine (VM) for disconnected operations. It covers the benefits, components, and high-level workflow. This feature closely mirrors Azure Local VM capabilities and references many Azure Local VM articles for connected operations. You learn about key differences and limitations of disconnected operations.

Overview

Azure Local VM management lets you set up and manage VMs in your on-premises Azure Local environment. IT admins can use Azure management tools to let users manage VMs and automate deployment.

For more information, see What is Azure Local VM management?

Supported operating system versions

Here's a list of supported OS versions:

• Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2025
• Windows 10 Enterprise
• Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 LTS

Limitations

Azure Local VMs running disconnected operations have the following limitations:

Create Azure Local VMs with disconnected operations

Follow these steps to create Azure Local VMs running disconnected operations.

1. Review prerequisites.

   • Install the latest supported Azure CLI version.
   • Install the latest Azure Local extension stack-hci-vm version.
   • Sign into Azure interactively using the Azure CLI.

2. Assign role-based access control (RBAC) roles. Use the built-in RBAC roles to control access to VMs and VM resources.

3. Create a storage path. Check the limitations section.

   Here's an example script.

   # Install the Azure CLI extension.
   
   az extension add -n stack-hci-vm --version 1.3.0
   
   # Az log in.
   
   az login 
   
   # Check and update variables for your environment.
   # Replace with your actual values
   
   $subscriptionId = "<SubscriptionId>"  # The starter subscription Id
   $resource_group = "disconnected-test-rg"
   $customloc_name = "s-cluster-customlocation"
   $customLocationID = "/subscriptions/$SubscriptionId/resourceGroups/$resource_group/providers/Microsoft.ExtendedLocation/customLocations/$customloc_name"
   $location = "autonomous"
   
   # Create resource group.
   
   az group create -n $resource_group -l $location
   
   # Create storage path.
   
   az stack-hci-vm storagepath create `
       --resource-group $resource_group `
       --custom-location $customLocationID `
       --location $location `
       --path "C:\\ClusterStorage\\UserStorage_1\\VMPath" `
       --name "New_StoragePath"    
   $storagePathID=(az stack-hci-vm storagepath show --name "New_StoragePath" --resource-group $resource_group --query id -o tsv)
   

4. Create a VM image. The image should reside on a cluster shared volume available to all the machines in the instance. The default path can be C:\ClusterStorage. Check the limitations section.

   Here's an example script.

   curl.exe -o "C:\\ClusterStorage\\UserStorage_1\\testimage.vhdx" "https://ostempfolder.z13.web.core.windows.net/17763.30320.amd64fre.rs5_release_svc_asdb_2303b.230128-1700_client_enterprise_en-us_vl.vhdx"
   az stack-hci-vm image create `
       --resource-group $resource_group `
       --custom-location $customLocationID `
       --location $location `
       --storage-path-id $storagePathID `
       --image-path "C:\\ClusterStorage\\UserStorage_1\\testimage.vhdx" `
       --name "test-gallery-image" `
       --os-type "Windows"
   

   For an Ubuntu image, see Prepare Ubuntu image for Azure Local VM via Azure CLI.

5. Create logical network. Check the limitations section.

   Here's an example script:

   # Update vm-switch-name and IP addresses in address-prefixes, ip-pool-start, ip-pool-end, and gate for your environment.
   
   # You can find them in: C:\CloudDeployment\FullEnvironment.json
   
   # Find the “HostNetwork”, “Intents”, “Name” for the vm-switch-name. Take the vm-switch-name and put it in the parentheses of the example script. For example "ConvergedSwitch(NameFromJSON)" 
   
   # Find the "InfrastructureNetwork": section under “DeploymentData” to find the IP address details.
   
   az stack-hci-vm network lnet create `
       --resource-group $resource_group `
       --custom-location $customLocationID `
       --location $location `
       --name "arcvm-lnet-static" `
       --vm-switch-name '"ConvergedSwitch(managementcomputestorage)"' `
       --ip-allocation-method "Static" `
       --address-prefixes "192.168.200.0/24" `
       --ip-pool-start "192.168.200.180" `
       --ip-pool-end "192.168.200.190" `
       --gateway "192.168.200.1" `
       --dns-servers "192.168.200.222"
   

6. Create network interfaces. Check the limitations section.

   Here's an example script.

   # Pick an IP address between ip-pool-start and ip-pool-end from LNET.
   
   az stack-hci-vm network nic create `
       --resource-group $resource_group `
       --custom-location $customLocationID `
       --location $location `
       --name "arcvm-vnic" `
       --subnet-id "arcvm-lnet-static" `
       --ip-address "192.168.200.185"        
   

7. Create Azure Local VMs. Check the limitations section.

   Here's an example VM creation for disconnected operations on Azure Local using the portal:

   

   Here's an example script to create a VM.

   az stack-hci-vm create `
       --resource-group $resource_group `
       --custom-location $customLocationID `
       --location $location `
       --hardware-profile processors="4" memory-mb="8192" vm-size="Custom" `
       --nics "arcvm-vnic" `
       --storage-path-id $storagePathID `
       --computer-name "test-machine" `
       --admin-username "admin" `
       --admin-password "example" `
       --image "test-gallery-image" `
       --name "test-vm" `
       --enable-agent true
   

   Here's an example script to create a VM with trusted launch enabled.

   az stack-hci-vm create `
     --resource-group $resource_group `
     --custom-location $customLocationID `
     --location $location `
     --hardware-profile processors="4" memory-mb="8192" vm-size="Custom" `
     --nics "arcvm-vnic" `
     --storage-path-id $storagePathID `
     --computer-name "test-machine" `
     --admin-username "admin" `
     --admin-password "example" `
     --image "test-gallery-image" `
     --name "test-vm" `
     --security-type "TrustedLaunch" `
     --enable-secure-boot true `
     --enable-vtpm true `
     --enable-agent true
   

Manage Azure Local VMs and VM resources

To manage Azure Local VMs by using Azure CLI, see Azure Local VMs using the Azure CLI. To check the status of the VM, see Status of the VM.

Manage VM extensions

Supported VM extensions are Azure Monitor Agent and Custom Script.

To manage VM extensions, see Manage VM extensions on Arc-enabled VMs for Azure Local.

Related content

• Manage Azure Local VMs enabled by Azure Arc

• Collect log files for Azure Local VMs

• Troubleshoot Azure Local VM management

• Azure Local VM management FAQ

This feature is available only in Azure Local 2602 or later.