--- title: Azure Linux 4.0 Overview | daily.dev description: Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft's Fedora-derived distribution, now expands beyond its original container-host role to support Azure virtual machines and virtual... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Azure Linux 4.0 Overview | daily.dev og:description: Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft's Fedora-derived distribution, now expands beyond its original container-host role to support Azure virtual machines and virtual... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/WlGPDa22v.png og:image:alt: Azure Linux 4.0 Overview og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Azure Linux 4.0 Overview **[John Savill's Technical Training](https://daily.dev/sources/john-savill)** · 17 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft's Fedora-derived distribution, now expands beyond its original container-host role to support Azure virtual machines and virtual machine scale sets. It is currently in preview, built on a small ~10,000-package RPM base with no GUI, SE Linux enforcing mode, secure boot readiness, FIPS/Fed RAMP/CIS compliance, and Microsoft-signed packages for supply chain security. It supports x64 and ARM64 (no 32-bit), runs on WSL for consistent dev-to-prod experience, and offers a separate immutable Azure Container Host variant derived from Flatcar Linux architecture built on Azinets 3.0 (upgrading to 4.0) for AKS. Microsoft reports over 80% of its internal Linux usage, including Xbox, LinkedIn, and Office, already runs on Azure Linux. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What's new in Azure Linux 4.0 compared to previous versions? Azure Linux 4.0 expands beyond its original container-host-only role to also support Azure virtual machine instances and virtual machine scale sets, as well as Azure Local. It is a Fedora-derived fork with about 10,000 RPM packages, no GUI, SE Linux enforcing mode by default, DNF 5.2 package manager, and a footprint around 812 megabytes. It is currently in preview and supports x64 and ARM v8 (no 32-bit). _Track Azure Linux 4.0's preview-to-GA rollout and feature changes as they land on daily.dev._ ### Can I run Azure Linux on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)? Yes, Azure Linux 4.0 is supported as a distribution on WSL, letting developers run the exact same OS locally that Azure uses in production. This gives a consistent developer experience from a laptop through to deployment, and VS Code integrates with it directly through the WSL extension. _Developers standardizing local and cloud environments can follow Azure Linux's WSL support on daily.dev._ ### What is the difference between Azure Linux and the Azure Container Host for AKS? Azure Linux is a general-purpose distribution usable for VMs, VM scale sets, and containers, while the Azure Container Host is a separate, immutable OS variant derived from Flatcar Linux architecture, built on Azinets 3.0 (upgrading to 4.0), intended solely as a container host for AKS. It has an even smaller package set, is read-only to prevent drift, uses containerd policy attestation to block unsigned images, and is gen-two only due to enhanced security features like SE Linux. _Teams choosing an AKS node OS can compare Azure Linux options as coverage develops on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Microsoft Announces Azure Linux 4.0, Its First General-Purpose Server Linux Distribution](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-announces-azure-linux-4-0-its-first-general-purpose-server-linux-distribution-7bccwwhhs) · InfoQ · 3 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#azure](https://daily.dev/tags/azure), [#containers](https://daily.dev/tags/containers) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Azure Linux 4.0 Overview","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v"},"datePublished":"2026-08-31T10:47:54.384Z","dateModified":"2026-08-31T10:48:20.253Z","description":"Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft's Fedora-derived distribution, now expands beyond its original container-host role to support Azure virtual machines and virtual...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_9C1d4PZ2Lc/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_9C1d4PZ2Lc/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"John Savill's Technical Training","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"John Savill's Technical Training","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--4rApg0fT--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780213220/logos/john-savill?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/john-savill"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"linux,azure,containers","timeRequired":"PT17M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Azure Linux 4.0 Overview","description":"Azure Linux 4.0, Microsoft's Fedora-derived distribution, now expands beyond its original container-host role to support Azure virtual machines and virtual...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_9C1d4PZ2Lc/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-08-31T10:47:54.384Z","duration":"PT17M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/WlGPDa22v","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/_9C1d4PZ2Lc"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"John Savill's Technical Training","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/john-savill"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Azure Linux 4.0 Overview"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/azure-linux-4-0-overview-wlgpda22v#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What's new in Azure Linux 4.0 compared to previous versions?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Azure Linux 4.0 expands beyond its original container-host-only role to also support Azure virtual machine instances and virtual machine scale sets, as well as Azure Local. 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