Microsoft has made its Azure Linux distribution generally available. Jim Perrin, principal program manager lead for Azure Linux, spoke about the company’s decision to build a new distribution from scratch rather than an existing version of the open source OS. Perrin elaborated on the launch in a blog post, where he discussed the Azure Linux container host for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). This platform enables developers to easily deploy and manage their container workloads with the same tooling used by many of Microsoft’s own services.
The General Availability announcement follows Microsoft’s October preview announcement under the codename CBL-Mariner project. CBL stands for Common Base Linux, and is still known by that name in its GitHub repository.
Perrin noted that the Azure Linux container host is a lightweight, secure, and reliable OS platform optimized for performance on Azure. It also provides a “safe and reliable platform” with fewer packages, which means fewer security patches and faster patching. “We closely monitor and fully manage the software chain,” he said, “which enables greater assurance of quality and resilience from start to finish”.
Microsoft’s Azure Linux distribution is now generally available, providing developers with a secure and reliable platform to run their workloads. The platform is optimized for performance on Azure and offers a suite of tests to ensure quality and resilience. Several ISVs and vendors will support the new Azure Linux platform.
