Install the maintenance environment on your machine for small form factor deployments of Azure Local (preview)

This article describes how to install the maintenance environment for small form factor deployments of Azure Local on supported hardware and extract the ownership vouchers required to connect your machine to Azure. The maintenance environment is a restricted operating system that supports Azure-based management of the machine, once it registers with Azure.

If you don't have access to physical hardware, you can test in a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM). For more information, see Test small form factor deployments of Azure Local in a Hyper-V virtual machine.

Prerequisites

Set up your subscription and make sure you have the following items.

Hardware

Use one of these supported devices:

• ASUS NUC 14 Pro
• ASUS NUC 15 Pro
• Lenovo ThinkEdge SE30
• Lenovo ThinkEdge SE100
• OnLogic HX521
• OnLogic K521

Software and tools

• A Windows PC with internet access and a USB port
• Rufus 4.12

Additional equipment

• A USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of capacity
• A USB keyboard
• An HDMI cable and monitor
• A direct Ethernet connection with internet access

Download the maintenance OS ISO and Configurator App

Download the following artifacts from the Azure portal:

To download the files:

1. In the Azure portal, select Azure Arc > Operations > Machine Provisioning (preview) > Get started > View downloads.

2. In the Download and Install pane, review the terms, and select Download all.

   

3. Wait for the downloads to complete. For the Configurator App, select Open or Save as if your browser prompts you.

   Note

   Make sure your browser allows multiple downloads. Each file downloads separately.

4. Extract the downloaded archive to access the provision-os.iso file.

Create a bootable USB drive

1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Windows PC.

2. Open Run from the Start menu.

3. Enter rufus, then select OK.

   Note

   If Rufus isn't installed, download it from the Rufus download page.

4. In Rufus, configure the following settings:

   • Device: Your USB drive
   • Boot selection: The downloaded ISO file
   • Partition scheme: Default
   • File system: Default

   

5. Select START.

6. If prompted, choose Write in ISO image mode.

   

7. Wait for the process to complete, and then safely eject the USB drive.

Prepare the physical device

1. Make sure the device can access a network with internet connectivity.

2. If you plan to assign static IP addresses later, reserve the required IPs on the network.

   

3. Connect the Ethernet cable to the device.

4. Connect power and turn on the device.

Install the maintenance environment

Boot from the USB drive

1. Connect a monitor and USB keyboard to the target machine.
2. Insert the bootable USB drive.
3. Connect the Ethernet cable.
4. Power on the device.
5. Repeatedly press the boot menu key:
   • ASUS NUC devices: F10
   • Lenovo devices: F12
6. From the boot menu, select the USB drive (usually labeled with UEFI:).

Complete the maintenance environment installation

1. Wait for the installer to start.
2. Allow the installation to complete automatically.
3. Don't sign in during the process.
4. Wait for the message Status: [Succeeded] Maintenance environment setup completed successfully.
5. Remove the USB drive after the installation finishes.

Extract ownership vouchers

The ownership voucher is a .pem file that proves the identity of the machine when you connect the provisioned machine to Azure from the Azure portal. In the portal deployment flow, this file is generated during installation and then made available either on the USB drive or on the device, depending on whether a USB drive is present when the voucher is written.

Use the .pem file in the next step when you connect the provisioned machine from the Azure portal. Treat this file as required deployment material for that machine.

If the .pem file is lost before you connect the machine to Azure, you can't recreate or redownload the same voucher later. In that case, you must redeploy the operating system on the machine to generate a new ownership voucher.

By default, the ownership voucher is written to your USB drive, and the local file on the device is then deleted for security. In that case, obtain the voucher by copying it from the USB drive.

If no USB drive is present when the voucher is written, the voucher remains on the device. In that case, you can download it by using the Configurator App, SSH, or SCP.

Obtain the ownership voucher in one of the following ways:

• Copy it from the USB drive
• Download it by using the Configurator App
• Download it by using SSH or SCP

/var/staging/export/vouchers/<serial-number>/<serial-number>.pem

scp -r edgeuser@<device-ip>:/var/staging/export/vouchers/ ./vouchers/

# Set variables for your environment
$ip   = "<device-ip-address>"
$user = "edgeuser"
$pass = "Password1"
$src  = "/var/staging/export/vouchers/*/*.pem"
$dst  = "D:\OV"
$pscp = "C:\path\to\pscp.exe"

# Download all voucher .pem files
& $pscp -pw $pass -r "$user@${ip}:$src" $dst

$devices = @("192.168.1.10", "192.168.1.11", "192.168.1.12")
$dst = "D:\OV"

foreach ($ip in $devices) {
    Write-Host "Extracting voucher from $ip..."
    scp -r edgeuser@${ip}:/var/staging/export/vouchers/ "$dst\"
}

Review your installation

Before you continue, confirm that:

• The bootable USB drive was created successfully.
• You installed the maintenance environment on the target machines.
• The installation completion message appeared.
• You extracted and securely stored the ownership vouchers.

Next step

• Continue to Connect a provisioned machine from the Azure portal.