Hi Ross,

Am I reading [1] correctly that Azure VMs are started from VHDs? If so,
we already have a function for creating virutalbox images that converts
a raw image containing a base NixOS system to VDI using qemu-img, so it
should be straightforward to tweak that to create a VHD instead.

[1]: 
http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-create-upload-vhd/

~Shea

On Fri, Sep 05, 2014 at 09:32:58PM +0000, Ross Gardler (MS OPEN TECH) wrote:
> I see that NixOS has images available for some of the popular clouds, but not 
> for Azure. I'd love to see a NixOS image on VM 
> Depot<http://vmdepot.msopentech.com/>. VM Depot is a community managed 
> repository of virtual machines for Azure. We have something like 8 different 
> Linux distros and around 1700 images built on those distros (ranging from 
> developer stacks through to end user applications).
> 
> The first step to getting folks to publish NixOS based images is to have a 
> base distribution of NixOS available and, preferably, updated every time 
> there is an official release of NixOS. Is anyone here interested in creating 
> and upload an image to VM Depot? I'm happy to help guide the process.
> 
> Some common questions for the curious:
> 
> 
> 1)      Does it cost anything to store an image on VM Depot? No - all storage 
> costs are paid by Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc (my employer)
> 
> 2)      Does it cost anything to publish an image on VM Depot? Probably not - 
> You will need an Azure subscription to temporarily store the image and there 
> will be bandwidth charges for the initial copy. However, there are mechanisms 
> by which we can ensure open source projects have sufficient Azure credits to 
> do this without receiving a bill. Create a free Windows Azure trial 
> subscription<http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/?WT.mc_id=AA4C1C935>
>  to get started straight away (one month, $200 credit)
> 
> 3)      Are there an restrictions on what can be uploaded to VM Depot? - 
> Short answer - if its open source then no there are no restrictions. Long 
> answer is in the Terms of Use http://vmdepot.msopentech.com/ToU.htm
> 
> 4)      Why would I want to upload an image to VM Depot? It is easy for 
> people to deploy a VM from VM Depot to Azure. This means it is easy for 
> people to experiment with your project. More people experimenting means more 
> users, more users means more potential contributors to the project and more 
> potential customers for those employing contributors.
> 
> 5)      How do I get started creating a new VM based on an existing 
> distribution? See 
> http://msopentech.com/blog/2014/05/14/deploy-customize-freebsd-virtual-machine-image-microsoft-azure/
>  for a description of the general process (need not be FreeBSD as the 
> starting image, the process is the same for any of the other images available)
> 
> 6)      How do I get started creating a new base distribution VM? 
> http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/virtual-machines-linux-tutorial/
> 
> 7)      Who can I contact for assistance? Ross Gardler - 
> [email protected]
> 
> Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc.
> A subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation
> MS Open Tech is hiring<http://aka.ms/msopentechjobs>! Ask me for details if 
> anyone you know is interested (http://aka.ms/msopentechjobs)
> 

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