blinkagent[bot]
0f6fbe7736
The existing README for the Azure Linux starter template only mentioned that the VM is ephemeral and the managed disk is persistent, but did not explain that the resource group, virtual network, subnet, and network interface also persist when a workspace is stopped. This led to confusion where users expected all Azure resources to be cleaned up on stop, when in reality only the VM is destroyed. ## Changes - Added the persistent networking/infrastructure resources to the resource list - Added "What happens on stop" section explaining which resources persist and why - Added "What happens on delete" section confirming all resources are cleaned up - Moved the existing note about ephemeral tools/files into a "Workspace restarts" subsection for clarity These changes exactly mirror https://github.com/coder/registry/pull/713 since the registry is not yet linked to the starter templates in `coder/coder`. Once the registry is linked, the starter templates will pull from the registry and this duplication will no longer be necessary. --------- Co-authored-by: blink-so[bot] <211532188+blink-so[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
display_name, description, icon, maintainer_github, verified, tags
| display_name | description | icon | maintainer_github | verified | tags | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure VM (Linux) | Provision Azure VMs as Coder workspaces | ../../../site/static/icon/azure.png | coder | true |
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Remote Development on Azure VMs (Linux)
Provision Azure Linux VMs as Coder workspaces with this example template.
Prerequisites
Authentication
This template assumes that coderd is run in an environment that is authenticated
with Azure. For example, run az login then az account set --subscription=<id>
to import credentials on the system and user running coderd. For other ways to
authenticate, consult the Terraform docs.
Architecture
This template provisions the following resources:
- Azure VM (ephemeral, deleted on stop)
- Managed disk (persistent, mounted to
/home/coder) - Resource group, virtual network, subnet, and network interface (persistent, required by the managed disk and VM)
What happens on stop
When a workspace is stopped, only the VM is destroyed. The managed disk, resource group, virtual network, subnet, and network interface all persist. This is by design — the managed disk retains your /home/coder data across workspace restarts, and the other resources remain because the disk depends on them.
This means you will see these Azure resources in your subscription even when a workspace is stopped. This is expected behavior.
What happens on delete
When a workspace is deleted, all resources are destroyed, including the resource group, networking resources, and managed disk.
Workspace restarts
Since the VM is ephemeral, any tools or files outside of the home directory are not persisted across restarts. To pre-bake tools into the workspace (e.g. python3), modify the VM image, or use a startup script. Alternatively, individual developers can personalize their workspaces with dotfiles.
Note
This template is designed to be a starting point! Edit the Terraform to extend the template to support your use case.
Persistent VM
Important
This approach requires the
azCLI to be present in the PATH of your Coder Provisioner. You will have to do this installation manually as it is not included in our official images.
It is possible to make the VM persistent (instead of ephemeral) by removing the count attribute in the azurerm_linux_virtual_machine resource block as well as adding the following snippet:
# Stop the VM
resource "null_resource" "stop_vm" {
count = data.coder_workspace.me.transition == "stop" ? 1 : 0
depends_on = [azurerm_linux_virtual_machine.main]
provisioner "local-exec" {
# Use deallocate so the VM is not charged
command = "az vm deallocate --ids ${azurerm_linux_virtual_machine.main.id}"
}
}
# Start the VM
resource "null_resource" "start" {
count = data.coder_workspace.me.transition == "start" ? 1 : 0
depends_on = [azurerm_linux_virtual_machine.main]
provisioner "local-exec" {
command = "az vm start --ids ${azurerm_linux_virtual_machine.main.id}"
}
}