Alma Linux OS

AlmaLinux OS on Azure

A production-ready AlmaLinux OS server image, built and hardened for the Azure Marketplace. AlmaLinux is a free, 1:1 binary-compatible rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, founded by CloudLinux and stewarded by the non-profit AlmaLinux OS Foundation — the same RPM packages, the same dnf tooling, the same SELinux defaults, the same 10-year lifecycle as RHEL — at zero subscription cost. This image gives you that drop-in RHEL-compatible base pre-integrated with Azure and certified to Marketplace standards.

Who this is for: Operators replacing end-of-life CentOS with a stable, vendor-backed RHEL-compatible distribution, ISVs who certify on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and need a binary-compatible target, and teams who want enterprise Linux stability and a 10-year lifecycle without per-VM license costs.

Target industries & use cases: Financial services, healthcare, government, telecom, and regulated environments standardized on the RHEL ecosystem. Common workloads: CentOS-to-AlmaLinux replacement and migration, RHEL-compatible web and application hosting (Apache, nginx, Java/Tomcat, .NET on Linux), database servers, and any RPM/SELinux estate that needs a no-cost, foundation-backed enterprise host.

Value proposition: Provisioning a secure AlmaLinux host on Azure normally means installing the Azure Linux Agent, configuring Trusted Launch, applying kernel CVEs, tuning SELinux, and validating against Marketplace certification. This image does all of that for you:

• Monthly patch cadence — each version is rebuilt from upstream AlmaLinux security updates within days of release, tracking RHEL errata
• 33 documented hardening traps applied — every version is gated through an automated trap-audit covering Trusted Launch, sysprep race conditions, Defender pre-installation, hardening-script residue, and more
• Trusted Launch + Secure Boot enabled by default — Gen2 image with vTPM and signed-boot configured per Microsoft’s OEM requirements
• Azure Linux Agent pre-installed — walinuxagent.service is running; custom-script and run-command work on first boot
• Audit trail per release — build provenance and certification evidence retained

How this differs from rolling your own: The stock AlmaLinux cloud image boots, but it lacks the Azure-specific hardening (root SSH disabled, password auth disabled, auditd configured, SELinux enforcing, serial-console exposure closed) that production RHEL-class deployments require. This image applies that baseline every month and is aligned with our Rocky Linux fleet images for one operational playbook across every enterprise-Linux host, whichever RHEL-compatible distribution you standardize on.

Recommended deployment: Standard_D2as_v5 or larger for general-purpose enterprise app workloads; Standard_E2as_v5 or larger for memory-heavy databases. Premium SSD v2 for data disks. Front public workloads with Azure Application Gateway. SSH key authentication required.

Azure integration: Azure Linux Agent, Trusted Launch + Secure Boot, Azure Monitor Agent, Azure Backup, Azure Disk Encryption, Azure Defender for Servers, and Azure VM Run Command all attach via standard extensions. AlmaLinux is free and open-source with no subscription required; standard Azure compute and storage rates apply.

Support: support@dcassociatesgroup.com · www.dcassociatesgroup.com/support — 24-hour initial response SLA.

Documentation: www.dcassociatesgroup.com/docs/almalinux-on-azure — deployment guide, hardening reference, monthly changelog.