VM Depot from Microsoft Open Technologies

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If you are a fan of OSS and cloud computing then the recently launched preview of VM Depot from Microsoft Open Technologies is for you! The goal of the VM Depot is for developers and users of Windows Azure to host, discuss and rate various Linux based images ranging from base distro images to full stacks such as Ruby on Rails, Django & Drupal and more. Why do you care as a user of Windows Azure? Well, deploying an existing image from the VM Depot makes standing up a Linux virtual machine or deploying a particular stack on Windows Azure a breeze!

Deploy

Deploying an image from VM Depot is done via the Windows Azure Command Line Toolkit, OS specific downloads can be found here.

  1. Find the image you wish to deploy, such as this Ruby on Rails stack on Ubuntu from BitNami

  2. Click ‘Deployment Script’ at the top

  3. If prompted read and accept the terms of use

  4. Select the region you will be deploying to

  5. You should now see the deployment script

     Example: azure vm create DNS_PREFIX -o vmdepot-92-1-2 -l "East US" USER_NAME [PASSWORD]

For full details on deploying an image check out Deploy from VM Depot.

 

Publish

Got a distro or stack that you wish to share? Publishing is straightforward and you’ll find the full details here. At a high level though, you’ll need to log into VM Depot using your Windows, Google or Yahoo account. Then create a VHD image and store the .vhd file on a public blob share. Finally publish your vhd image on VM Depot by clicking Publish and filling out the details. Remember once you've uploaded your vhd you can delete it from your Windows Azure blob storage.

Rate & Comment

Join the community by signing in with your Windows, Google or Yahoo account and creating a profile. Now you can comment on & rate your favorite images! Publishers love to get feedback, so if you find their image useful or have a request, let them know! Full details here.

 

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