Microsoft Launches Azure Linux 4.0 Preview for Azure VMs as 300 MB Distro Targets Cloud Workloads
Updated
Updated · WindowsLatest · Jun 29
Microsoft Launches Azure Linux 4.0 Preview for Azure VMs as 300 MB Distro Targets Cloud Workloads
3 articles · Updated · WindowsLatest · Jun 29
Summary
Azure Linux 4.0 entered public preview at Build 2026, making Microsoft’s in-house Linux distribution available free for Azure VMs and VM Scale Sets after years of internal use.
Version 4.0 shifts from Microsoft-built packages to Fedora 43-based overlays and replaces tdnf with dnf5, aiming for faster updates, clearer upstream changes and more predictable Red Hat-style behavior.
The distro is built for Azure-only server workloads, not desktops: it ships without a GUI, keeps a roughly 300 MB base image and is tuned for a smaller attack surface and faster CVE response.
Microsoft says the OS already underpins services including AKS, Azure SQL and Cosmos DB; LinkedIn moved its infrastructure to Azure Linux 3, while Databricks migrated more than 100,000 VMs and over 1 million CPU cores.
The launch supports Microsoft’s push to control the Linux stack on Azure as Linux now exceeds Windows Server on the cloud platform; AKS support and a WSL version are due later, while FIPS 140-3 certification is still pending.
Will Microsoft's Azure Linux sideline established distributions like Ubuntu and RHEL on its own cloud platform?
As cloud giants create their own Linux versions, is the era of the general-purpose server OS ending?
Azure Linux 4.0 Launch: Microsoft’s Strategic Leap to a Fedora-Based, Cloud-Optimized OS for AI and Enterprise Workloads
Overview
Microsoft has launched Azure Linux 4.0 in public preview, marking a major step in its Linux strategy. This new release is Microsoft’s broadest Linux server distribution yet, moving beyond earlier container-focused efforts to support a wider range of infrastructure workloads. Built on Fedora and using the efficient dnf5 package manager, Azure Linux 4.0 is designed for consistency and deep integration across Azure environments. Currently intended for evaluation and testing, it is not yet ready for production use or Secure Boot. This launch highlights Microsoft’s commitment to providing a robust, cloud-optimized Linux platform for Azure customers.