Create or update a virtual machine

19 minutes to read Contributors

For the update scenario, a PUT or PATCH request can be submitted with a subset of the VM properties. Alternatively, the RESTful way is to do a GET, tweak the properties and submit a PUT request. For non-updateable properties, you can specify them in the update request but they must have the same values as returned by GET.

Request

For information about getting started with Azure REST operations including request authentication, see Azure REST API Reference.

Method Request URI
PUT https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroup}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/{vm}&api-version={apiVersion}
Parameter Description
subscriptionId The identifier of your subscription.
resourceGroup The resource group that will contain the virtual machine.
vm The name of the virtual machine.
apiVersion The version of the API to use. The current version is 2016-04-30-preview.

The following example shows the request body for creating a virtual machine from a platform image. For examples of creating virtual machines in other ways, see the Examples section below. 

{
  "name": "myvm1",
  "location": "westus",
  "tags": {
    "department": "finance"
  },
  "properties": {
    "licenseType": "Windows_Server | Windows_Client",
    "availabilitySet": {
      "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/availabilitySets/myav1"
    },
    "hardwareProfile": {
      "vmSize": "Standard_A0"
    },
    "storageProfile": {
      "imageReference": {
        "publisher": "Publisher Name",
        "offer": "Publisher Offer",
        "sku": "Offer SKU",
        "version": "Version for the image" // Can also specify "latest" to automatically get the latest image
      },
      "osDisk": {
        "name": "myosdisk1",
        "vhd": {
          "uri": "http://mystorage1.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/myosdisk1.vhd"
        },
        "caching": "ReadOnly | ReadWrite", // Changing this value causes VM to reboot
        "createOption": "fromImage | attach",
        "encryptionSettings": {
          "enabled": true,
          "diskEncryptionKey": {
            "sourceVault": {
              "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/{vaultName}"
            },
            "secretUrl": "https://mykeyvault.vault.azure.net/secrets/{secret-name}/{secret-version}"
          },
          "keyEncryptionKey": {
            "sourceVault": {
              "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/{vaultName}"
            },
            "keyUrl": "https://mykeyvault.vault.azure.net/keys/{key-name}/{key-version}"
          }
        }
      },
      "dataDisks": [
        // sample of creating empty data disk
        {
          "name": "mydatadisk1",
          "diskSizeGB": "1",
          "lun": 0,
          "vhd": {
            "uri": "http://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk1.vhd"
          },
          "createOption": "empty"
        },
        // sample of attaching an existing VHD as a data disk
        {
          "name": "mydatadisk2",
          "diskSizeGB": "1",
          "lun": 1,
          "vhd": {
            "uri": "http://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk2.vhd"
          },
          "createOption": "attach"
        },
        {
          // sample of attaching a data disk from image
          "name": "mydatadisk3",
          "diskSizeGB": "1",
          "lun": 2,
          "image": { // specifies the location of the data disk vhd when creating the vm from user image
            "uri": "http: //storagename.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/VMImageName-datadisk.vhd"
          },
          "vhd": {
            "uri": "http://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk3.vhd"
          },
          "createOption": "fromImage"
        }
      ]
    },
    "osProfile": {
      "computerName": "myvm1",
      "adminUsername": "username",
      "adminPassword": "password",
      "customData": "",
      "windowsConfiguration": {
        "provisionVMAgent": true|false,
        "winRM": {
          "listeners": [
            {
              "protocol": "http"
            },
            {
              "protocol": "https",
              "certificateUrl": "url-to-key-vault-secret-that-has-the-certificate"
            }
          ]
        },
        "additionalUnattendContent": {
          "pass": "oobesystem",
          "component": "Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup",
          "settingName": "FirstLogonCommands|AutoLogon",
          "content": "<XML unattend content>"
        },
        "enableAutomaticUpdates": true|false,
        "timeZone": "Pacific Standard Time"
      },
      "linuxConfiguration": {
        "disablePasswordAuthentication": true|false,
        "ssh": {
          "publicKeys": [
            {
              "path": "Path-Where-To-Place-Public-Key-On-VM",
              "keyData": "PEM-Encoded-public-key-file"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "secrets": [
        {
          "sourceVault": {
            "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/myvault1"
          },
          "vaultCertificates": [
            {
              "certificateUrl": "https://myvault1.vault.azure.net/secrets/{secretName}/{secretVersion}",
              "certificateStore": "<certificateStoreName on Windows>" // Windows only property
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    "networkProfile": {
      "networkInterfaces": [
        {
          "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourceGroup1/providers /Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/mynic1",
          "properties": {
            "primary": true
          }
        },
        {
          "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourceGroup1/providers /Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/mynic2",
          "properties": {
            "primary": false
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "diagnosticsProfile": {
      "bootDiagnostics": {
        "enabled": true|false,
        "storageUri": " http://storageaccount.blob.core.windows.net/"
      }
    }
  }
}

Top level elements

Element name Required Type Description
name Yes String Specifies the name of the virtual machine. This name should be unique within the resource group.
location Yes String Specifies the supported Azure location where the virtual machine should be created. This location can be different from the location of the resource group. For more information, see List all the available geo-locations.
tags No String Specifies the tags that are assigned to the virtual machine. For more information about using tags, see Using tags to organize your Azure resources.
plan No Complex Type Specifies information about the marketplace image used to create the virtual machine. This element is only used for marketplace images. Before you can use a marketplace image from an API, you must enable the image for programmatic use. In the Azure portal, find the marketplace image that you want to use and then click Want to deploy programmatically, Get Started ->. Enter any required information and then click Save.
properties Yes Complex Type Specifies the properties of the virtual machine.

plan

Element name Required Type Description
name Yes String Specifies the name of the image from the marketplace. This is the same value that you use for Sku under the imageReference element. For more information about how to find image information, see Navigating and Selecting Azure Virtual Machine images with PowerShell and the Azure CLI
publisher Yes String Specifies the publisher of the image.
product Yes String Specifies the product of the image from the marketplace. This is the same value as Offer under the imageReference element.

properties

Element name Required Type Description
licenseType No String Specifies that the image or disk that is being used was licensed on-premises. This element is only used for images that contain the Windows Server operating system.

Possible values are:

Windows_Client

Windows_Server

If this element is included in a request for an update, the value must match the initial value. This value cannot be updated.

For more information, see Azure Hybrid Use Benefit for Windows Server

Minimum api-version: 2015-06-15
availabilitySet No Complex Type Specifies information about the availability set that the virtual machine should be assigned to. Virtual machines specified in the same availability set are allocated to different nodes to maximize availability. For more information about availability sets, see Manage the availability of virtual machines.

For more information on Azure planned maintainance, see Planned maintenance for virtual machines in Azure

Currently, a VM can only be added to availability set at creation time. An existing VM cannot be added to an availability set.
hardwareProfile Yes Complex Type Specifies the hardware settings for the virtual machine.
storageProfile Yes Complex Type Specifies the storage settings for the virtual machine disks.
osProfile Yes Complex Type Specifies the operating system settings for the virtual machine.
networkProfile Yes Complex Type Specifies the network interfaces of the virtual machine.
diagnosticsProfile No Complex Type Specifies the boot diagnostic settings state.

Minimum api-version: 2015-06-15

availabilitySet

Element name Required Type Description
id Yes String Specifies the resource Id for the availability set to which the Virtual Machine is added. To get this, you need to first create the availability set and then get its resource Id.

hardwareProfile

Element name Required Type Description
vmSize Yes String Specifies the size of the virtual machine. For more information about virtual machine sizes, see Sizes for virtual machines.

The available VM sizes depend on region and availability set. For a list of available sizes use these APIs:

List all available virtual machine sizes in an availability set

List all available virtual machine sizes in a region

List all available virtual machine sizes for resizing

storageProfile

Element name Required Type Description
imageReference No Complex Type Specifies information about the image to use. You can specify information about platform images, marketplace images, or virtual machine images. This element is required when you want to use a platform image, marketplace image, or virtual machine image, but is not used in other creation operations.
osDisk Yes Complex Type Specifies information about the operating system disk used by the virtual machine.

For more information about disks, see About disks and VHDs for Azure virtual machines.
dataDisks No Complex Type Specifies the parameters that are used to add a data disk to a virtual machine.

For more information about disks, see About disks and VHDs for Azure virtual machines.
imageReference
Element name Required Type Description
id Yes, if using a virtual machine image. String Specifies the resource identifier of a virtual machine image in your subscription. This element is only used for virtual machine images, not platform images or marketplace images.

Minimum api-version: 2016-04-30-preview
publisher Yes String Specifies the publisher of the platform image or marketplace image used to create the virtual machine. For more information about how to find image information, see Navigating and Selecting Azure Virtual Machine images with PowerShell and the Azure CLI.
offer Yes String Specifies the offer of the platform image or marketplace image used to create the virtual machine.
sku Yes String Specifies the SKU of the platform image or marketplace image used to create the virtual machine.
version Yes String Specifies the version of the platform image or marketplace image used to create the virtual machine. You can use the value of latest to use the latest version of an image.
osDisk
Element name Required Type Description
name Yes String Specifies the disk name. This element can be used to overwrite the name of the disk in a virtual machine image.
Uri Yes String Specifies the vhd uri.
caching No String Specifies the caching requirements. Note that the OS disk will always use read caching even if the setting is configured to None.

Possible values are:

None

ReadOnly

ReadWrite

Default: ReadWrite
createOption Yes String Specifies how the virtual machine should be created.

Possible values are:

Attach – This value is used when you are using a specialized disk to create the virtual machine.

FromImage – This value is used when you are using an image to create the virtual machine. If you are using a platform image, you also use the imageReference element described above. If you are using a marketplace image, you also use the plan element previously described.
diskSizeGB No Int Specifies the resized size of the OS Disk. Allows you to resize an existing OS disk size.

This value cannot be larger than 1023 GB. This element is not returned in the GET VM call unless specified on the first resize disk operation. The partitions on the VMs will need to be adjusted for the new size from within the OS.

Minimum api-version: 2015-06-15
osType Yes for user-image deployments
Do not specify for platform/marketplace image deployments		 Int This property allows you to specify the type of the OS that is included in the disk if creating a VM from user-image or a specialized VHD.

Possible values are:

Windows

Linux
encryptionSettings No Complex Type Specifies the encryption settings for the OS Disk.

Minimum api-version: 2015-06-15
encryptionSettings
Element name Required Type Description
enabled Yes boolean Specifies if the encryption is enabled

Minimum api-version: 2016-03-30
diskEncryptionKey Yes Complex Object Specifies the location of the disk encryption key.
keyEncryptionKey Yes Complex Object Specifies the location of the key encryption key.
diskEncryptionKey
Element name Required Type Description
sourceVault.Id Yes String Specifies the resource Id of the Key Vault to use.

For more on Key Vault, see What is Azure Key Vault?

Get started with Azure Key Vault
keyUrl Yes String Specifies the location of the disk encryption key.
keyEncryptionKey
Element name Required Type Description
sourceVault.Id Yes String Specifies the resource Id of the Key Vault to use.

For more on Key Vault, see What is Azure Key Vault?

Get started with Azure Key Vault
keyUrl Yes String Specifies the location of the key encryption key.
dataDisks
Element name Required Type Description
name Yes String Specifies the name of the data disk. This element can be used to overwrite the name of the disk in a virtual machine image.

For using letter D: for a data disk, see Use the D drive as a data drive on a Windows VM.

For adding a disk to your vm using CLI, see Add a disk to a Linux VM.

For creating a RAID array on Linux, see Configure Software RAID on Linux.
diskSizeGB Yes String Specifies the size of the data disk in gigabytes. This element can be used to overwrite the name of the disk in a virtual machine image.

This value cannot be larger than 1023 GB
caching No String Specifies the caching requirements.

Possible values are:

None

ReadOnly

ReadWrite

Default: None for Standard storage. ReadOnly for Premium storage
lun Yes Int Specifies the logical unit number of the data disk.
vhd Yes String Specifies the uri of the location in storage where the VHD for the virtual machine should be placed.
managedDisk Specified the identifier and optional storage account type for the disk.
creationOption Yes String Specifies how the data disk should be created.

Possible values are:

Attach - This value is used when you are using a specialized disk/VHD to attach to the virtual machine.

FromImage - This value is used when you are using an image to create the virtual machine. If you are using a platform image, you will also use the imageReference element described above. If you are using a marketplace image, you will also use the plan element described above.

managedDisk

Element name Required Type Description
Id Yes String Specifies the resource identifier of the managed disk.
storageAccountType No String Specifies the storage account type for the managed disk. Possible values are: Standard_LRS or Premium_LRS.

osProfile

Element name Required Type Description
computerName No String Specifies the host OS name of the virtual machine.

Max-length (Windows): 15 characters

Max-length (Linux): 64 characters.

For naming conventions and restrictions see Azure infrastructure services implementation guidelines.
adminUsername Yes String Specifies the name of the administrator account.

Windows-only restriction: Cannot end in "."

Disallowed values: "administrator", "admin", "user", "user1", "test", "user2", "test1", "user3", "admin1", "1", "123", "a", "actuser", "adm", "admin2", "aspnet", "backup", "console", "david", "guest", "john", "owner", "root", "server", "sql", "support", "support_388945a0", "sys", "test2", "test3", "user4", "user5".

Minimum-length (Linux): 1 character

Max-length (Linux): 64 characters

Max-length (Windows): 20 characters

  • For root access to the Linux VM, see Using root privileges on Linux virtual machines in Azure
  • For a list of built-in system users on Linux that should not be used in this field, see Selecting User Names for Linux on Azure
    		•
    adminPassword Yes on Windows

    No on Linux    		 Secure String Specifies the password of the administrator account.

    Minimum-length (Windows): 8 characters

    Minimum-length (Linux): 6 characters

    Max-length (Windows): 123 characters

    Max-length (Linux): 72 characters

    Complexity requirements: 3 out of 4 conditions below need to be fulfilled
    Has lower characters
    Has upper characters
    Has a digit
    Has a special character (Regex match [\W_])

    Disallowed values: "abc@123", "P@$$w0rd", "P@ssw0rd", "P@ssword123", "Pa$$word", "pass@word1", "Password!", "Password1", "Password22", "iloveyou!"

    For resetting the password, see How to reset the Remote Desktop service or its login password in a Windows VM

    For resetting root password, see Manage users, SSH, and check or repair disks on Azure Linux VMs using the VMAccess Extension
    customData No String Specifies a base-64 encoded string of custom data. The base-64 encoded string is decoded to a binary array that is saved as a file on the Virtual Machine. The maximum length of the binary array is 65535 bytes.

    For using cloud-init for your VM, see Using cloud-init to customize a Linux VM during creation
    windowsConfiguration Yes on Windows

    No on Linux    		 Complex Type Specifies Windows operating system settings on the virtual machine.
    linuxConfiguration No on Windows

    Yes on Linux    		 Complex Type Specifies the Linux operating system settings on the virtual machine.

    For a list of supported Linux distributions, see Linux on Azure-Endorsed Distributions

    For running non-endorsed distributions, see Information for Non-Endorsed Distributions.
    secrets No Complex Type Specifies set of certificates that should be installed onto the virtual machine.
    windowsConfiguration
    Element name Required Type Description
    provisionVMAgent No Boolean Indicates whether virtual machine agent should be provisioned on the virtual machine.

    When this property is not specified in the request body, default behavior is to set it to true. This will ensure that VM Agent is installed on the VM so that extensions can be added to the VM later.
    winRM No Collection Specifies the Windows Remote Management listeners. This enables remote Windows PowerShell.
    additionalUnattendContent No Complex Type Specifies additional XML formatted information that can be included in the Unattend.xml file, which is used by Windows Setup.
    enableAutomaticUpdates No Boolean Indicates whether virtual machine is enabled for automatic updates.
    timeZone No String Specifies the time zone of the virtual machine. e.g. "Pacific Standard Time"
    linuxConfiguration
    Element name Required Type Description
    disablePasswordAuthentication No Boolean Specifies whether password authentication should be disabled.
    ssh.publicKeys No if password specified

    Yes if password not specified    		 Collection Specifies a collection of keys to be placed on the virtual machine. When a SSH key is specified, "disablePasswordAuthentication" property is automatically set to "true".

    For creating ssh keys, see Create SSH keys on Linux and Mac for Linux VMs in Azure.
    publicKeys
    Element name Required Type Description
    path Yes String Specifies the full path on the created VM where ssh public key is stored. If the file already exists, the specified key is appended to the file. Example: /home/user/.ssh/authorized_keys
    keyData Yes String SSH public key certificate used to authenticate with the VM through ssh. The key needs to be at least 2048-bit and in ssh-rsa format.

    For creating ssh keys, see Create SSH keys on Linux and Mac for Linux VMs in Azure.
    winRM
    Element name Required Type Description
    protocol Yes String Specifies the protocol of listener.

    Possible values are:
    http

    https
    certificateUrl No String Specifies URL of the certificate with which new Virtual Machines is provisioned.

    This property is only needed when https is the specified protocol above.
    additionalUnattendContent
    Element name Required Type Description
    pass Yes String Specifies the name of the pass that the content applies to. The only allowable value is oobeSystem.
    component Yes String Specifies the name of the component to configure with the added content. The only allowable value is Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup.
    settingName Yes String Specifies the name of the setting to which the content applies. Possible values are: FirstLogonCommands and AutoLogon.
    content Yes String Specifies the XML formatted content that is added to the unattend.xml file for the specified path and component. The XML must be less than 4KB and must include the root element for the setting or feature that is being inserted.
    secrets
    Element name Required Type Description
    sourceVault Yes Complex Type Specifies the key vault to use.
    vaultCertificates Yes Collection Specifies additional certificate information.
    sourceVault
    Element name Required Type Description
    id Yes String Specifies the uri of the Key Vault that contains all of the secrets.
    vaultCertificates
    Element name Required Type Description
    certificateUrl Yes String This is the URL of a certificate that has been uploaded to Key Vault as a secret. For adding a secret to the Key Vault, see Add a key or secret to the key vault. In this case, your certificate needs to be It is the Base64 encoding of the following JSON Object which is encoded in UTF-8:

    {
    "data":"",
    "dataType":"pfx",
    "password":""
    }
    certificateStore No String For Windows VMs, specifies the certificate store on the Virtual Machine to which the certificate should be added. The specified certificate store is implicitly in the LocalMachine account.

    For Linux VMs, the certificate file is placed under the /var/lib/waagent directory, with the file name .crt for the X509 certificate file and .prv for private key. Both of these files are .pem formatted.

    networkProfile

    Element name Required Type Description
    networkInterfaces Yes Collection Specifies the list of resource Ids for the network interfaces associated with the virtual machine.

    networkInterfaces

    Element name Required Type Description
    id Yes String Specifies the resource Id of the network interface.
    primary No boolean Specifies the primary network interface in case the virtual machine has more than 1 network interface.

    diagnosticsProfile

    Element name Required Type Description
    bootDiagnostics Yes Collection Boot Diagnostics is a debugging feature which allows you to view Console Output and Screenshot to diagnose VM status.

    For Linux Virtual Machines, you can easily view the output of your console log.

    For both Windows and Linux virtual machines, Azure also enables you to see a screenshot of the VM from the hypervisor.

    bootDiagnostics

    Element name Required Type Description
    enabled Yes String Specifies if the bootDiagnostics is enabled.
    storageUri Yes String Uri of the storage account to use for placing the console output and screenshot.

    Response

    Status code: 200 (OK). 404 (NotFound) if a resource does not exist.

    The following example shows the response body for a virtual machine that was created from a platform image. Responses from other create operations will include the elements shown in the following Examples section. 

    {      
  "id":"/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/myvm1",    
  "name":"myvm1",     
  "type":"Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",    
  "location":"westus",    
  "tags": {      
    "department":"finance"    
  },    
  "properties": {      
    "availabilitySet": {      
      "id":"/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/availabilitySets/myavset1"    
    },    
    "hardwareProfile": {      
      "vmSize":"Standard_A0"    
    },    
    "storageProfile": {      
      "imageReference": {    
        "publisher":"MicrosoftWindowsServerEssentials",    
        "offer":"WindowsServerEssentials",    
        "sku":"WindowsServerEssentials",    
        "version":"latest"    
      },    
      "osDisk": {      
        "name":"myosdisk1",    
        "vhd": {      
          "uri":"mystorage1.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/myosdisk1.vhd"    
        },    
        "caching":"ReadWrite",    
        "createOption":"FromImage"    
      },    
      "dataDisks":[ {     
         "name":"mydatadisk1",     
         "diskSizeGB":"1",     
         "lun": 0,     
         "vhd": {     
           "uri" : "http://mystorage1.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk1.vhd"     
         },     
         "createOption":"Empty"     
       } ]    
    },    
    "osProfile": {      
      "computerName":"myvm1",    
      "adminUsername":"username",    
      "customData":"",    
      "windowsConfiguration": {      
      "provisionVMAgent": true,    
      "winRM": {    
        "listeners": [ {    
          "protocol": "https",    
          "certificateUrl": "url-to-certificate"    
        } ]    
      },    
      "additionalUnattendContent": {      
        "pass":"oobesystem",    
        "component":"Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup",    
        "settingName":"FirstLogonCommands|AutoLogon",    
        "content":"<XML unattend content>"    
      }      
      "enableAutomaticUpdates":true    
    },    
    "secrets":[ {     
       "sourceVault": {     
         "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/myvault1"     
         },     
         "vaultCertificates": [ {     
           "certificateUrl": "https://myvault1.vault.azure.net/secrets/{secretName}/{secretVersion}"     
           "certificateStore": "{certificateStoreName}"     
         } ]     
       } ]             
    },    
    "networkProfile": {      
      "networkInterfaces": [ {      
        "id":"/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/mynic1"    
      } ]    
    },    
    "provisioningState":"succeeded"    
  }    
}

    The provisioningState element specifies the status of the virtual machine deployment. For descriptions of the other elements in the response, see the Request section.

    Examples

    Create a managed VM

    "storageProfile": {
  "imageReference": {
    "publisher":"MicrosoftWindowsServerEssentials",    
    "offer":"WindowsServerEssentials",    
    "sku":"WindowsServerEssentials",    
    "version":"latest"
    "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/providers/Microsoft.Compute/locations/westus/publishers/MicrosoftWindowsServerEssentials/ArtifactTypes/vmimage/offers/WindowsServerEssentials/skus/WindowsServerEssentials/versions/latest"
  },
  "osDisk": {
    "name": "osdisk",
    "osType": "<Windows or Linux>",
    "createOption": "fromImage",
    "diskSizeGB": "10"
  }
}

    Create a VM from a virtual machine image

    This example shows how to create a VM from a virtual machine image. The key things to notice are the value fromImage for the createOption property and the imageReference.id property. The imageRefence.id value is the resource identifier of a virtual machine image in your subscription.

    "storageProfile": {
  "imageReference": {
    "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/images/myImage"
  },
  "osDisk": {
    "name": "osdisk",
    "osType": "<Windows or Linux>",
    "createOption": "fromImage"
  }
}

    Create a VM from a virtual machine image with an attached managed disk

    {
  "storageProfile": {
    "imageReference": {
      "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/images/myImage"
    },
    "osDisk": {
      "name": "myosdisk", # override the os disk name in the VM image
      "createOption": "fromImage"
    },
    "dataDisks": [
      {
        "name": "datadisk1", # override the data disk name in the VM image
        "diskSizeGB": "64" # override the size of the existing data disk
      },
      {
        "lun": "2", # add new managed datadisk
        "name": "datadisk2",
        "managedDisk": {
          "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/myDisk2",
          "storageAccountType": "Standard_LRS"
        },
        "createOption": "attach"
      }
    ]
  }
}

    Create a VM from a VHD in Azure storage

    This example shows how to create a VM from a generalized/sysprepped VHD in Azure storage. The key things to notice are the value fromImage for the createOption property and image.uri and vhd.uri properties in the osDisk object. image.uri is the location of your image and vhd.uri is where the disk is copied to and the VM is booted from.

    "osProfile": {
    "computerName": "contosoVM",
    "adminUsername": "contosouser",
    "adminPassword": "Contoso!pas1"
  },
  "storageProfile": {
    "osDisk": {
      "name": "osdisk",
      "osType": "<Windows or Linux>",
      "caching": "ReadWrite",
      "createOption": "FromImage",
      "image": {
        "uri": "http://storagename.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/VMImageName-osdisk.vhd"
      },
      "vhd": {
        "uri": "http://storagename.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/osdisk.vhd"
      }
    }
  },
"dataDisks": [
  {
    "name": "mydatadisk1",
    "diskSizeGB": "1",
    "lun": 0,
    "image": {
      "uri": "http://storagename.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/VMImageName-datadisk.vhd"
    },
    "vhd": {
      "uri": "http://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk3.vhd"
    },
    "createOption": "fromImage"
  }
]

    Creating a VM using an existing disk

    This example shows how to create a VM from an existing disk. The key things to notice are the value attach for the createOption property and vhd.uri properties in the osDisk object. image.uri isn't needed in this case since you are just attaching the vhd.uri and the VM is booted from it.

    In this case osProfile is not needed since all OS properties such as username/password as persisted in the VHD when it is not generalized.

    "storageProfile": {
  "osDisk": {
    "name": "osdisk",
    "osType": "<Windows or Linux>",
    "caching": "ReadWrite",
    "vhd": {
      "uri": "http://mystorage.blob.core.windows.net/vhds/mydatadisk3.vhd"
    },
    "createOption": "Attach"
  }
}

    Marketplace image

    The following example shows the additional plan element that is required when you use a marketplace image:

    {
  "id": "/subscriptions/{subscription-id/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/myvm1",
  "name": "myvm1",
  "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
  "location": "westus",
  "tags": { 
    "department": "finance" 
   }, 
  "plan": {
    "name": "imageName",
    "publisher": "imagePublisher",
    "product": "imageProduct"
  },
  "properties": {
  ...

    Linux VM

    The following example shows the linuxConfiguation element that is required when you are creating a Linux virtual machine.

    "osProfile": {
  "computerName": "virtualMachineName",
  "adminUsername": "username",
  "adminPassword": "password",
  "customData": "", 
  "linuxConfiguration": { 
    "disablePasswordAuthentication": "true|false", 
    "ssh": { 
      "publicKeys": [ { 
        "path": "key-path-on-vm", 
        "keyData": "public-key" 
    } ] 
  } 
} 
...

    On-Premises License/Hybrid Use Benefit

    The following example shows the licenseType element that is used when the image or disk was licensed on-premises.

    "properties": {  
   "licenseType": "Windows_Server",
   "availabilitySet": {  
     "id":"/subscriptions/{subscription-id}/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup1/providers/Microsoft.Compute/availabilitySets/myav1"
   },
   ...