Availability of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on Azure VMs

In May 2024, Microsoft Azure announced the general availability of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) images across its Virtual Machines marketplace. This update reflects Azure’s commitment to supporting the latest and most secure open-source platforms, giving enterprises and developers the tools they need to run cloud-native Linux workloads with confidence.

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is Canonical’s newest long-term support release, offering 5 years of support (extendable to 10 years via Ubuntu Pro). With this integration, Azure customers can now launch VMs, containers, and edge workloads using the most recent and stable Linux foundation.

🐧 What’s New in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS?

Ubuntu 24.04 brings several improvements for security, performance, and compatibility:

🔐 Security Enhancements

  • Updated AppArmor profiles for tighter kernel confinement

  • Linux Kernel 6.8 with expanded hardware and container support

  • Built-in support for TPM-backed full disk encryption

  • Improved kernel live patching (via Ubuntu Pro)

⚡ Performance & Developer Tools

  • GCC 14, Python 3.12, Node.js 20.x, and Ruby 3.2 preinstalled

  • Optimized networking stack and improved cgroups v2 support

  • Better startup time and reduced VM image size

  • Enhanced snap boot performance

🧱 Cloud & Container Readiness

  • Native support for cloud-init 24.1

  • LXD 6.x container hypervisor included

  • Podman and OCI runtimes available by default

  • Optimized to run on Azure Hyper-V & Gen2 VM series

💻 Why It Matters on Azure

Bringing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to Azure VMs offers the following benefits:

Feature Value
Long-Term Stability Ideal for production apps needing 5–10 years of support
Security by Default Hardened kernel, improved memory isolation, FIPS readiness
Cloud-Optimized Boots faster, consumes less CPU/memory
Developer Friendly Pre-baked SDKs and compilers for AI, ML, web, and edge apps

 

Whether you're deploying web servers, container hosts, AI workloads, or edge services—Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gives you a robust, future-ready foundation on Azure.

🚀 Getting Started

You can launch a VM with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by:

Azure Portal

  1. Go to Create a Virtual Machine

  2. In Image, search: Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS - Gen2

  3. Choose VM size, disk, and region

  4. Configure networking and deploy

Azure CLI


 

bash

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az vm create --name Ubuntu2404VM --resource-group MyResourceGroup --image Canonical:0001-com-ubuntu-server-noble:24_04-lts:latest --size Standard_B2s --admin-username azureuser --generate-ssh-keys

🔄 Upgrade Path from Older LTS Versions

Already using Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04? You can upgrade via:


 

bash

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sudo do-release-upgrade

Remember to test the upgrade on staging VMs before applying to production.

🏁 Final Thoughts

The availability of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on Azure is more than just a version bump—it’s a signal of how Microsoft and Canonical continue to partner deeply in delivering secure, scalable, and enterprise-ready Linux in the cloud.

Whether you're building containers, deploying AI services, or running reliable web infrastructure, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is ready for the next generation of cloud workloads.