---
title: "Deploying the vNIOS Instance on a Managed Disk on Azure Public Cloud"
canonical: "https://docs.infoblox.com/space/vniosazure/37487020/Deploying%20the%20vNIOS%20Instance%20on%20a%20Managed%20Disk%20on%20Azure%20Public%20Cloud"
format: markdown
---
> ⚠️ **Note**
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ Starting from NIOS 8.5.3, Azure virtual appliances can be deployed with managed disks. From NIOS 9.0.1 onwards, they can be deployed only with managed disks.  
> ⚠️ Deploying the appliances with unmanaged disks is supported only on versions prior to NIOS 9.0.1.

After uploading the vNIOS image, you are ready to create a VM instance and deploy it from the Azure CLI.

vNIOS instances running on NIOS 9.0.5 or later support virtual Accelerated DNS Protection (vADP), virtual DNS Caching Acceleration (vDCA), and dnstap. To achieve better performance when using these features, Azure recommends that you enable accelerated networking on the VM instances. The recommended configuration is:

- <span style="color: #172b4d">Accelerated networking must be enabled on LAN1 and HA (in case of HA deployments) interfaces to enable vADP and vDCA.</span>
- <span style="color: #172b4d">Enabling accelerated networking on the MGMT interface is not recommended. </span>

Note that virtual Accelerated DNS Protection, virtual DNS Caching Acceleration,, and dnstap do work when network interfaces are not enabled with accelerated networking, but the performance will be impacted<span style="color: #1d1c1d">. To enable accelerated networking on an existing VM, you must stop and deallocate a VM, enable the option, and then start the VM.</span>

To deploy a vNIOS image, complete the following steps in the Azure CLI:

1. Create a managed disk with the following details:  
`az disk create`  
` --name <managed_disk_name>`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --size <disk_size>`  
` --sku Premium_LRS`  
` --source "https://<resource_group_name>.blob.core.windows.net/<storage_container_blob_name>/<vhd_image_name>"`  
` --source-storage-account-id "/subscriptions/<subscription_name>/resourceGroups/<resource_group_name>/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/<storage_account_name>"`  
` --os-type Linux`
  Note: For better performance, specify `Premium_LRS`as the`sku`.
  Example:  
`az disk create`  
` --name nios-managed-disk`  
` --resource-group rg-east-01`  
` --size 250`  
` --sku Premium_LRS`  
` --source "https://rgeastcloudautomation.blob.core.windows.net/images/nios-image.vhd"`  
` --source-storage-account-id "/subscriptions/1abcd012-2abc-123a-4abc-12a345678ab1/resourceGroups/rg-east-01/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/rgeastcloudautomation"`  
` --os-type Linux`
  
2. Create LAN1 and MGMT network interfaces by specifying the resource group, subnet, and virtual network names corresponding to the interfaces:  
Note: When you need to add or delete a network interface from an existing vNIOS for Azure instance, you must power off the instance, add or delete the interface, and then start the instance. Deleting an interface can result in unexpected behavior.
  - LAN1 interface: Based on whether you want to enable accelerated networking, use one of the following commands:
    - Without accelerated networking:  
`az network nic create`  
` --name <LAN1_name>`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --subnet <subnet_name>`  
` --vnet-name <virtual_network_name>`
    - With accelerated networking:  
To enable accelerated networking for vADP, vDCA, or dnstap, configure `accelerated-networking` on the LAN1 interface:  
`az network nic create`  
` --name <LAN1_name>`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --subnet <subnet_name>`  
` --vnet-name <virtual_network_name>`  
` --accelerated-networking true --network-security-group all_allowed`
  - MGMT interface:
    `az network nic create`  
` --name <MGMT_name>`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --subnet <subnet_name>`  
` --vnet-name <virtual_network_name>`
3. If you need to attach an IPv6 address to an interface, define the IP configuration using the following command:  
`az network nic ip-config create`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --nic-name <nic_name>`  
` --name <ip_config_name>`  
` --subnet <subnet_name>`  
` --vnet-name <virtual_network_name>`  
` --private-ip-address-version IPv6`  
  
Specify the `nic-name` as follows:  
- To attach an IPv6 address to the LAN1 interface, specify the LAN1 name.  
- To attach an IPv6 address to the MGMT interface, specify the MGMT name.  
- To attach an IPv6 address to both LAN1 and MGMT interfaces, include one `az network nic ip-config create` block for each interface and specify the corresponding `nic-name`.  
  
**Note**:
  - vNIOS for Azure supports IPv6 networks from version 9.0.8 onwards.
  - Deploying the vNIOS instance with IPv6-only network interface is not supported from Azure cloud. However, you can assign the member with IPv6-only network in NIOS.
  - When deploying the vNIOS instance with IPv6 networks, configure the member in NIOS Grid Manager as follows:  
In the *Grid Member Properties* *Editor* > **Network** tab > **Type of Network Connectivity** drop-down list, choose one of the following based on the network type:  
- **IPv6**, for IPv6-only networks, and then configure fields in the **Ports and Addresses** table.  
- **IPv4 and IPv6**, for dual-stack networks, and then configure the fields in the **Ports and Addresses** table.  
For instructions to configure the network settings, see <u>*[Adding a Single Member](https://docs.infoblox.com/space/nios90/684752977/Adding+a+Single+Member)*</u>.
4. <span style="color: #000000">Create a NIOS instance by attaching the network interfaces and managed disk to it. Provide the following details:</span>  
`az vm create`  
` --resource-group <resource_group_name>`  
` --name <instance_name>`  
` --nics <NIC-1_name> <NIC-2_name>`  
` --attach-os-disk "/subscriptions/<Subscription_ID>/resourcegroups/<resource_group_name>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/<managed_disk_name>"`  
` --size <VM_size>`  
` --location <location_name>`  
` --os-type Linux`  
  
Example:  
`az vm create`  
` --resource-group rg-east-01`  
` --name nios-vm-with-managed-disk`  
` --nics nic1 nic2`  
` --attach-os-disk "/subscriptions/1abcd012-2abc-123a-4abc-12a345678ab1/resourcegroups/rg-east-01/providers/Microsoft.Compute/disks/nios-managed-disk"`  
` --size Standard_DS14_v2`  
` --location eastus`  
` --os-type Linux`  
**Note**<span style="color: #172b4d">:</span>  
When configuring the VM size for an instance, make sure that the setting for NUMA node is NUMA=1. This is required for using accelerated networking enabled features such as vADP, vDCA, or dnstap. When you choose high-end Infoblox models such as IB-V4126, the vNIOS instance may get automatically assigned with NUMA=2 in which case the stated features will not run.
5. If you are deploying the vNIOS instance for reporting, you must attach a data disk to the reporting VM for installing the reporting vNIOS license. <span style="color: #000000">Infoblox recommends that you allocate a minimum of 250 GB of additional disk space for the reporting storage requirements. To attach a second disk:</span>  
`az vm disk attach -g <MyResourceGroup>`  
` --vm-name <vm_name>`  
` --name <disk_name>`  
` --new`  
` --size-gb <disk_size>`  
  
Example:  
`az vm disk attach -g rg-east-01`  
` --vm-name vm-reporting`  
` --name data-disk`  
` --new`  
` --size-gb 500`

> ⚠️ **Note**
> ⚠️ 
> ⚠️ - <span style="color: #000000">When a vNIOS instance is deployed on a managed disk by using the Azure CLI, cloud-init functionalities do not work as expected. If you need to use the cloud-init functionalities, configure </span><span style="color: #000000">**Enhanced Options**</span><span style="color: #000000"> on the </span><span style="color: #000000">**VM Settings**</span><span style="color: #000000"> tab when </span><span style="color: #000000">*[Deploying vNIOS for Azure from the Marketplace](https://infoblox-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/vniosazure/pages/37486729)*</span><span style="color: #000000">.</span>
> ⚠️ - <span style="color: #000000">Starting from NIOS 8.6.2, IB-V5005 is the only reporting appliance supported. The appliance has been deployed and tested only with Managed disks in the Infoblox laboratory.</span>