Ubuntu images on Microsoft Azure have recently started shipping with the open source package azure-vm-utils included by default. Azure VM utils is a package that provides essential utilities and udev rules to optimize the Linux experience on Azure. This change results in more reliable disks, smoother networking on accelerated setups, and fewer tweaks to get things running. Here’s what you need to know:

What’s changing

• Smoother storage on modern Azure VMs: Ubuntu now provides consistent device naming across SCSI and NVMe, reducing post-reboot surprises and easing automation.
• Better handling of accelerated networking: environments using MANA or Mellanox benefit from safer defaults that avoid double-managing passthrough interfaces.
• Less image customization: the utility and rules that many platform teams previously added now ship in the image, removing one more custom step from your pipelines.

Why it matters

• Fewer post-boot surprises: predictable device names keep fstab, cloud-init and provisioning scripts stable across VM families and reboots.
• Smoother NVMe adoption: newer VM families lean NVMe-first for performance; built-in rules make that transition painless while keeping SCSI setups working.
• Less to maintain: the stock image now handles Azure disk naming and accelerated NICs (MANA/Mellanox), so teams can drop custom udev/Netplan snippets and avoid fstab surprises after reboots.

How to Get It

• For New VMs: No action is needed. The package is included by default in new Ubuntu images.
• For Existing VMs: You can install the package directly from the Ubuntu archive, where it’s available for all current LTS and interim releases: sudo apt update && sudo apt install azure-vm-utils
  

Quick ways to verify

azure-nvme-id --version           # tool present
find /dev/disk/azure -type l      # predictable Azure disk links