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--- title: Create a scale set from a specialized image version using the Azure CLI description: Create a scale set using a specialized image version in an Azure Compute Gallery using the Azure CLI. author: sandeepraichura ms.author: saraic ms.service: azure-virtual-machine-scale-sets ms.subservice: shared-image-gallery ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 05/19/2026 ms.reviewer: wwilliams ms.custom: devx-track-azurecli, devx-track-azurepowershell # Customer intent: As a developer, I want to create a virtual machine scale set using a specialized image from an Azure Compute Gallery, so that I can efficiently manage and deploy scalable applications with predefined configurations. --- # Create a scale set using a specialized image version with the Azure CLI > [!IMPORTANT] > You can't currently create a Virtual Machine Scale Set using Flexible orchestration mode from an image shared by another tenant. Create a scale set from a [specialized image version](../virtual-machines/shared-image-galleries.md#generalized-and-specialized-images) stored in an Azure Compute Gallery. If you want to create a scale set using a generalized image version, see [Create a scale set from a generalized image](instance-generalized-image-version-cli.md). > [!IMPORTANT] > > When you create a new scale set from a specialized image, the VMs retain the computer name of the original VM. Other computer-specific information, like the CMID, is also kept. This duplicate information can cause issues. When using a specialized image, be aware of what types of computer-specific information your applications rely on. Replace resource names as needed in these examples. ## Create a scale set from your gallery ### [Portal](#tab/portal) Creating a scale set using an image stored in an Azure Compute Gallery is the same as creating a scale set using a Marketplace image, except when you select an image, select **See all images**. :::image type="content" source="./media/gallery/see-all-images.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing how to select other image to use when creating a scale set."::: The **Select an image** page will open. Select **My images** if the image you want is in your own gallery, or select **Shared images** if the image has been shared to you from someone else's gallery. :::image type="content" source="./media/gallery/my-shared.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing where to select the type of image to use to create a scale set."::: ### [CLI](#tab/cli) If you choose to install and use the CLI locally, this tutorial requires that you are running the Azure CLI version 2.35.0 or later. Run `az --version` to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see [Install Azure CLI]( /cli/azure/install-azure-cli). List the image definitions in a gallery using [az sig image-definition list](/cli/azure/sig/image-definition#az-sig-image-definition-list) to see the name and ID of the definitions. ```azurecli-interactive resourceGroup=myGalleryRG gallery=myGallery az sig image-definition list \ --resource-group $resourceGroup \ --gallery-name $gallery \ --query "[].[name, id]" \ --output tsv ``` Create a scale set using [`az vmss create`](/cli/azure/vmss#az-vmss-create) using the `--specialized` parameter to indicate the image is a specialized image. Use the image definition ID for `--image` to create the scale set instances from the latest version of the image that is available. You can also create the scale set instances from a specific version by supplying the image version ID for `--image`. Be aware that using a specific image version means automation could fail if that specific image version isn't available because it was deleted or removed from the region. We recommend using the image definition ID for creating your new VM, unless a specific image version is required. In this example, we are creating instances from the latest version of the *myImageDefinition* image. ```azurecli az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus az vmss create \ --resource-group myResourceGroup \ --name myScaleSet \ --image "/subscriptions/<Subscription ID>/resourceGroups/myGalleryRG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/galleries/myGallery/images/myImageDefinition" \ --specialized ``` ### [PowerShell](#tab/powershell) In this example, we are using the image definition ID to ensure your new VM will use the most recent version of an image. You can also use a specific version by using the image version ID for `-ImageReferenceId`. For example, to use image version *1.0.0* type: `-ImageReferenceId "/subscriptions/<subscription ID where the gallery is located>/resourceGroups/myGalleryRG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/galleries/myGallery/images/myImageDefinition/versions/1.0.0"`. Be aware that using a specific image version means automation could fail if that specific image version isn't available because it was deleted or removed from the region. We recommend using the image definition ID for creating your new VM, unless a specific image version is required. The following example creates a scale set named *myScaleSet*, in the *myVMSSRG* resource group, in the *SouthCentralUS* location. The scale set will be created from the *myImageDefinition* image, in the *myGallery* image gallery in the *myGalleryRG* resource group. When prompted, set your own administrative credentials for the VM instances in the scale set. ```azurepowershell-interactive # Get the image definition $imageDefinition = Get-AzGalleryImageDefinition ` -GalleryName myGallery ` -ResourceGroupName myGalleryRG ` -Name myImageDefinition # Define variables for the scale set $resourceGroupName = "myVMSSRG" $scaleSetName = "myScaleSet" $location = "South Central US" # Create a resource group New-AzResourceGroup -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName -Location $location # Create a networking pieces $subnet = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig ` -Name "mySubnet" ` -AddressPrefix 10.0.0.0/24 $vnet = New-AzVirtualNetwork ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName ` -Name "myVnet" ` -Location $location ` -AddressPrefix 10.0.0.0/16 ` -Subnet $subnet $publicIP = New-AzPublicIpAddress ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName ` -Location $location ` -AllocationMethod Static ` -Name "myPublicIP" $frontendIP = New-AzLoadBalancerFrontendIpConfig ` -Name "myFrontEndPool" ` -PublicIpAddress $publicIP $backendPool = New-AzLoadBalancerBackendAddressPoolConfig -Name "myBackEndPool" $inboundNATPool = New-AzLoadBalancerInboundNatPoolConfig ` -Name "myRDPRule" ` -FrontendIpConfigurationId $frontendIP.Id ` -Protocol TCP ` -FrontendPortRangeStart 50001 ` -FrontendPortRangeEnd 50010 ` -BackendPort 3389 # Create the load balancer and health probe $lb = New-AzLoadBalancer ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName ` -Name "myLoadBalancer" ` -Location $location ` -FrontendIpConfiguration $frontendIP ` -BackendAddressPool $backendPool ` -InboundNatPool $inboundNATPool Add-AzLoadBalancerProbeConfig -Name "myHealthProbe" ` -LoadBalancer $lb ` -Protocol TCP ` -Port 80 ` -IntervalInSeconds 15 ` -ProbeCount 2 Add-AzLoadBalancerRuleConfig ` -Name "myLoadBalancerRule" ` -LoadBalancer $lb ` -FrontendIpConfiguration $lb.FrontendIpConfigurations[0] ` -BackendAddressPool $lb.BackendAddressPools[0] ` -Protocol TCP ` -FrontendPort 80 ` -BackendPort 80 ` -Probe (Get-AzLoadBalancerProbeConfig -Name "myHealthProbe" -LoadBalancer $lb) Set-AzLoadBalancer -LoadBalancer $lb # Create IP address configurations $ipConfig = New-AzVmssIpConfig ` -Name "myIPConfig" ` -LoadBalancerBackendAddressPoolsId $lb.BackendAddressPools[0].Id ` -LoadBalancerInboundNatPoolsId $inboundNATPool.Id ` -SubnetId $vnet.Subnets[0].Id # Create a configuration $vmssConfig = New-AzVmssConfig ` -Location $location ` -SkuCapacity 2 ` -SkuName "Standard_DS2" ` -UpgradePolicyMode "Automatic" # Reference the image version Set-AzVmssStorageProfile $vmssConfig ` -OsDiskCreateOption "FromImage" ` -ImageReferenceId $imageDefinition.Id # Complete the configuration Add-AzVmssNetworkInterfaceConfiguration ` -VirtualMachineScaleSet $vmssConfig ` -Name "network-config" ` -Primary $true ` -IPConfiguration $ipConfig # Create the scale set New-AzVmss ` -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroupName ` -Name $scaleSetName ` -VirtualMachineScaleSet $vmssConfig ``` It takes a few minutes to create and configure all the scale set resources and VMs. --- ## Create a scale set from an image in a community gallery > [!IMPORTANT] > Microsoft does not provide support for images in the [community gallery](../virtual-machines/azure-compute-gallery.md#community). > > You can create scale sets from images in the community gallery, but if the image is removed at a later time, you won't be able to scale up. To ensure you have long-term access to the image, you should consider creating an image in your own gallery from a VM created using the community gallery image that you want to use for your scale set. For more information, see [Create an image definition and an image version](../virtual-machines/image-version.md). As an end user, to get the public name of a community gallery, you need to use the portal. Go to **Virtual machines** > **Create** > **Azure virtual machine** > **Image** > **See all images** > **Community Images** > **Public gallery name**. Replace resource names as needed in these examples. ### [CLI](#tab/cli2) If you choose to install and use the CLI locally, the community gallery requires that you are running the Azure CLI version 2.4.0 or later. Run `az --version` to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see [Install Azure CLI]( /cli/azure/install-azure-cli). To create a VM using an image shared to a community gallery, use the unique ID of the image for the `--image` which will be in the following format: ``` /CommunityGalleries/<community gallery name>/Images/<image name>/Versions/latest ``` To list all of the image definitions that are available in a community gallery using [az sig image-definition list-community](/cli/azure/sig/image-definition#az-sig-image-definition-list-community). In this example, we list all of the images in the *ContosoImage* gallery in *West US* and by name, the unique ID that is needed to create a VM, OS and OS state. ```azurecli-interactive az sig image-definition list-community \ --public-gallery-name "ContosoImages-1a2b3c4d-1234-abcd-1234-1a2b3c4d5e6f" \ --location westus \ --query [*]."{Name:name,ID:uniqueId,OS:osType,State:osState}" -o table ``` Create the scale set by setting the `--image` parameter to the unique ID of the image in the community gallery. In this example, we are creating a `Flexible` scale set. ```azurecli az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus imgDef="/CommunityGalleries/ContosoImages-1a2b3c4d-1234-abcd-1234-1a2b3c4d5e6f>/Images/myLinuxImage/Versions/latest" az vmss create \ --resource-group myResourceGroup \ --name myScaleSet \ --image $imgDef \ --orchestration-mode Flexible ``` When using a community image, you'll be prompted to accept the legal terms. The message will look like this: ```output To create the scale set from community gallery image, you must accept the license agreement and privacy statement: http://contoso.com. (If you want to accept the legal terms by default, please use the option '--accept-term' when creating VM/VMSS) (Y/n): ``` ### [Portal](#tab/portal2) Creating a scale set using an image from the community gallery is the same as creating a scale set using a Marketplace image, except when you select an image, select **See all images**. :::image type="content" source="./media/gallery/see-all-images.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing how to select other image to use when creating a scale set."::: The **Select an image** page will open. Select **Community images (PREVIEW)** to see the list of images available in the community gallery. :::image type="content" source="./media/gallery/my-shared.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing where to select the type of image to use to create a scale set."::: --- ## Next steps [Azure Image Builder (preview)](../virtual-machines/image-builder-overview.md) can help automate image version creation, you can even use it to update and [create a new image version from an existing image version](../virtual-machines/linux/image-builder-gallery-update-image-version.md). You can also create Azure Compute Gallery resource using templates. There are several Azure Quickstart Templates available: - [Create an Azure Compute Gallery](https://azure.microsoft.com/resources/templates/sig-create/) - [Create an Image Definition in an Azure Compute Gallery](https://azure.microsoft.com/resources/templates/sig-image-definition-create/) - [Create an Image Version in an Azure Compute Gallery](https://azure.microsoft.com/resources/templates/sig-image-version-create/)