Install Lustre client software

In this article, you learn how to install a Lustre client package. After you install the package, you can set up client virtual machines (VMs) and attach them to an Azure Managed Lustre cluster. Select an operating system version to see the instructions.

Before you install, see Plan your Lustre client installation for the support matrix and to choose between the prebuilt kmod and DKMS install methods.

If you need to upgrade an existing Lustre client to the current version, see Upgrade Lustre client software to the current version.

For more information on connecting clients to a cluster, see Connect clients to an Azure Managed Lustre file system.

For more information about the behavior of Azure Managed Lustre with Trusted Launch Virtual Machines, refer to Use Secure Boot with Azure Managed Lustre file system.

Install client software for AlmaLinux 8

This article shows how to install the client package to set up client VMs running AlmaLinux 8.

Install client software for AlmaLinux 9

This article shows how to install the client package to set up client VMs running AlmaLinux 9.

Install client software for Ubuntu 22.04

This article shows how to install the client package to set up client VMs running Ubuntu 22.04.

Install client software for Ubuntu 24.04

This article shows how to install the client package to set up client VMs running Ubuntu 24.04.

Download and install client software

Important

Microsoft recommends running on AlmaLinux 8.10, the latest (and terminal) RHEL 8 minor release. RHEL 8 is in Maintenance Support phase, and Red Hat ships security errata only for 8.10. Older 8.x minors (8.6 through 8.9) no longer receive Red Hat errata.

Verify the running RHEL minor version:
```
cat /etc/redhat-release
```
Expected output for a RHEL 8.10 system:
```
Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 8.10 (Ootpa)
```
If the system is on an older 8.x minor, upgrade to 8.10:
```
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y
sudo reboot
```

Install and configure the Azure Managed Lustre repository for the DNF package manager. Create the following script and name it repo.bash:

#!/bin/bash
set -ex

rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

DISTRIB_CODENAME=el8

REPO_PATH=/etc/yum.repos.d/amlfs.repo
echo -e "[amlfs]" > ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "name=Azure Lustre Packages" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/amlfs-${DISTRIB_CODENAME}" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "enabled=1" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "gpgcheck=1" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" >> ${REPO_PATH}

Run the script as a superuser:
```
sudo bash repo.bash
```
Install the Lustre client package. Choose the install method that best fits your needs:
- Prebuilt kmod
- DKMS
The metapackage version doesn't always align with the kernel version. Use the following command to install the proper metapackage:
```
sudo dnf install amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59-$(uname -r | sed -e "s/\.$(uname -p)$//" | sed -re 's/[-_]/\./g')-1
```
Note

Running dnf search amlfs-lustre-client doesn't show all available packages for your distribution. To see all available amlfs-lustre-client packages, run dnf list --showduplicates "amlfs-lustre-client*".

If you want to upgrade only the kernel and not all packages, you must (at minimum) also upgrade the amlfs-lustre-client metapackage so that the Lustre client can continue to work after the restart. The command should look similar to the following example:
```
export NEWKERNELVERSION=6.7.8
sudo dnf upgrade kernel-$NEWKERNELVERSION amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59-$(echo $NEWKERNELVERSION | sed -e "s/\.$(uname -p)$//" | sed -re 's/[-_]/\./g')-1
```
```
sudo dnf install -y lustre-client-dkms-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59
```
This DKMS package automatically includes the matching Lustre userspace tools package (lustre-client) as a dependency. So, a single dnf install command gives you both the module source and the userspace tools.

The DKMS package automatically compiles the Lustre kernel module for your running kernel. Unlike the prebuilt kmod package, you don't need to match a specific kernel version or use sed to transform the kernel version string. DKMS rebuilds the module automatically when your kernel is upgraded.

Note

DKMS requires kernel headers (kernel-devel), GCC, and Make to be installed. The package dependencies handle this requirement automatically, but the initial install takes a few minutes while the kernel module compiles.

Important

Azure Managed Lustre client packages don't yet support AlmaLinux 9.8 (released May 19, 2026). Support is expected to land with the upcoming Lustre 2.15.9 release. Before installing the Lustre client, make sure your VM is on a supported minor release. Check the Support matrix for the current list - 9.8 will be listed there once Azure Managed Lustre packages ship for it.

Important

For production workloads, Microsoft recommends pinning RHEL 9 systems to a Red Hat Extended Update Support (EUS) minor release before installing the Lustre client. Pinning keeps the kernel inside a stable z-stream that Microsoft actively validates the Lustre client against.

AlmaLinux 9 doesn't have an EUS program. For the same stability reasons, Microsoft recommends pinning AlmaLinux 9 to a specific minor release (currently 9.6) so the kernel doesn't roll forward unexpectedly.

Important

The procedure below pins the system at its current running minor - it doesn't change which minor the system is on. If cat /etc/redhat-release reports a minor newer than 9.6, this article doesn't cover the rollback.

The most reliable path is to deploy a new VM from the AlmaLinux 9.6 image in the Azure Marketplace and re-install the Lustre client there. In-place rollback to an earlier minor depends on the system's subscription type, RHUI versus BYOS configuration, and EUS entitlement; refer to Red Hat documentation or your Red Hat support channel for downgrade procedures.

Pin the system to a supported minor release so the kernel doesn't roll forward into an unsupported minor on the next update.

AlmaLinux 9 (minor-version pin, not EUS):

AlmaLinux 9 doesn't offer EUS. The steps below pin DNF's releasever to 9.6 so the system doesn't roll to a newer minor on the next dnf upgrade:
```
echo '9.6' | sudo tee /etc/dnf/vars/releasever
sudo dnf clean all && sudo dnf makecache
```

Install and configure the Azure Managed Lustre repository for the DNF package manager. Create the following script and name it repo.bash:

#!/bin/bash
set -ex

rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc

DISTRIB_CODENAME=el9

REPO_PATH=/etc/yum.repos.d/amlfs.repo
echo -e "[amlfs]" > ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "name=Azure Lustre Packages" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/yumrepos/amlfs-${DISTRIB_CODENAME}" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "enabled=1" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "gpgcheck=1" >> ${REPO_PATH}
echo -e "gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc" >> ${REPO_PATH}

Run the script as a superuser:
```
sudo bash repo.bash
```
Install the Lustre client package. Choose the install method that best fits your needs:
- Prebuilt kmod
- DKMS
The metapackage version doesn't always align with the kernel version. You can use the following command to install the proper metapackage:
```
sudo dnf install amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59-$(uname -r | sed -e "s/\.$(uname -p)$//" | sed -re 's/[-_]/\./g')-1
```
Note

Running dnf search amlfs-lustre-client doesn't show all available packages for your distribution. To see all available amlfs-lustre-client packages, run dnf list --showduplicates "amlfs-lustre-client*".

If you want to upgrade only the kernel and not all packages, you must (at minimum) also upgrade the amlfs-lustre-client metapackage so that the Lustre client can continue to work after the restart. The command should look similar to the following example:
```
export NEWKERNELVERSION=6.7.8
sudo dnf upgrade kernel-$NEWKERNELVERSION amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59-$(echo $NEWKERNELVERSION | sed -e "s/\.$(uname -p)$//" | sed -re 's/[-_]/\./g')-1
```
```
sudo dnf install -y lustre-client-dkms-2.15.8_39_g2d32b59
```
This DKMS package automatically includes the matching Lustre userspace tools package (lustre-client) as a dependency. So, a single dnf install command gives you both the module source and the userspace tools.

The DKMS package automatically compiles the Lustre kernel module for your running kernel. Unlike the prebuilt kmod package, you don't need to match a specific kernel version or use sed to transform the kernel version string. DKMS rebuilds the module automatically when your kernel is upgraded.

Note

DKMS requires kernel headers (kernel-devel), GCC, and Make to be installed. The package dependencies handle this requirement automatically, but the initial install takes a few minutes while the kernel module compiles.

Important

The Azure Marketplace image for the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS release uses the Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel by default. However, HWE kernels are supported only for six-month periods, and Lustre support for these kernels is often not available when they're released. We recommend that you switch to the LTS kernel because it gives you more stability and it maintains a kernel version that's supported with the Lustre client.

Install the LTS kernel metapackage:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install linux-image-azure-lts-22.04

Remove the default (HWE) kernel metapackage. The response to the following command also asks you to remove the linux-azure metapackage.
```
sudo apt remove linux-image-azure
```
List installed kernels and see which one the LTS metapackage supplies:
```
apt list --installed linux-image*
```
Newly provisioned hosts have two kernels, and older hosts might have more. Compare the version that the LTS metapackage provides against the other installed kernels.
Remove any kernels newer than the one mentioned in the LTS metapackage.
```
sudo apt remove linux-image-6.8.0-1027-azure
```
You receive a warning about removing the kernels, but these steps work if you're following them on a newly provisioned host. If you have concerns, consult Ubuntu documentation on configuring kernels to ensure that they can start after a restart.
List installed kernels again to verify that you don't have kernels newer than the one mentioned in the LTS metapackage:
```
apt list --installed linux-image*
```
Restart to load the LTS kernel.

Install and configure the Azure Managed Lustre repository for the APT package manager. Create the following script and name it repo.bash:

#!/bin/bash
set -ex

apt update && apt install -y ca-certificates curl apt-transport-https lsb-release gnupg
source /etc/lsb-release
echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/amlfs-${DISTRIB_CODENAME}/ ${DISTRIB_CODENAME} main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/amlfs.list
curl -sL https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg > /dev/null

apt update

Run the script as a superuser:
```
sudo bash repo.bash
```
Install the Lustre client package. Choose the install method that best fits your needs:
- Prebuilt kmod
- DKMS
The following command installs a metapackage that keeps the version of Lustre aligned with the installed kernel. For this alignment to work, you must use apt full-upgrade instead of apt upgrade when updating your system.
```
sudo apt install amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8-39-g2d32b59=$(uname -r)
```
Note

Running apt search amlfs-lustre-client doesn't show all available packages for your distribution. To see all available amlfs-lustre-client packages, run apt list -a "amlfs-lustre-client*".

Optionally, if you want to upgrade only the kernel and not all packages, you must (at minimum) also upgrade the amlfs-lustre-client metapackage so that the Lustre client can continue to work after the restart. The command should look similar to the following example:
```
apt upgrade linux-image-[new kernel version] amlfs-lustre-client-2.15.8-39-g2d32b59
```
```
sudo apt install -y amlfs-lustre-client-dkms-2.15.8-39-g2d32b59
```
This metapackage installs the Lustre userspace tools (lustre-client) together with the DKMS module source package (lustre-client-modules-dkms), so they stay at matching versions.

The DKMS package automatically compiles the Lustre kernel module for your running kernel. Unlike the prebuilt kmod package, you don't need to match a specific kernel version - DKMS rebuilds the module automatically when your kernel is upgraded.

Note

DKMS requires kernel headers, GCC, and Make to be installed. The package dependencies handle this requirement automatically, but the initial install takes a few minutes while the kernel module compiles.

Important

The Azure Marketplace image for the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release uses the Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel by default. However, HWE kernels are supported only for six-month periods, and Lustre support for these kernels is often not available when they're released. We recommend that you switch to the LTS kernel because it gives you more stability and it maintains a kernel version that's supported with the Lustre client.

Install the LTS kernel metapackage:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install linux-image-azure-lts-24.04

Remove the default (HWE) kernel metapackage. The response to the following command also asks you to remove the linux-azure metapackage.
```
sudo apt remove linux-image-azure
```
List installed kernels and see which one the LTS metapackage supplies:
```
apt list --installed linux-image*
```
Newly provisioned hosts have two kernels, and older hosts might have more. Compare the version that the LTS metapackage provides against the other installed kernels.
Remove any kernels newer than the one mentioned in the LTS metapackage.
```
sudo apt remove linux-image-6.11.0-1013-azure
```
You receive a warning about removing the kernels, but these steps work if you're following them on a newly provisioned host. If you have concerns, consult Ubuntu documentation on configuring kernels to ensure that they can start after a restart.
List installed kernels again to verify that you don't have kernels newer than the one mentioned in the LTS metapackage:
```
apt list --installed linux-image*
```
Restart to load the LTS kernel.

Install and configure the Azure Managed Lustre repository for the APT package manager. Create the following script and name it repo.bash:

 #!/bin/bash
 set -ex

 apt update && apt install -y ca-certificates curl apt-transport-https lsb-release gnupg dpkg-dev
 source /etc/lsb-release
 ARCH=$(dpkg-architecture -q DEB_BUILD_ARCH)
 echo "deb [arch=${ARCH}] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/amlfs-${DISTRIB_CODENAME}/ ${DISTRIB_CODENAME} main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/amlfs.list
 curl -sL https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg > /dev/null

 apt update

Run the script as a superuser:
```
sudo bash repo.bash
```
Install the Lustre client package. Choose the install method that best fits your needs:
- Prebuilt kmod
- DKMS
The following command installs a metapackage that keeps the version of Lustre aligned with the installed kernel. For this alignment to work, you must use apt full-upgrade instead of apt upgrade when updating your system.

Note

Version 2.17 is a non-LTS release of Lustre and the community support ends soon after the release of version 2.18. For more information about the 2.18 release, check back later.
```
sudo apt install amlfs-lustre-client-2.17.0-24-gf517bc4=$(uname -r)
```
Note

Running apt search amlfs-lustre-client doesn't show all available packages for your distribution. To see all available amlfs-lustre-client packages, run apt list -a "amlfs-lustre-client*".

Optionally, if you want to upgrade only the kernel and not all packages, you must (at minimum) also upgrade the amlfs-lustre-client metapackage so that the Lustre client can continue to work after the restart. The command should look similar to the following example:
```
apt upgrade linux-image-[new kernel version] amlfs-lustre-client-2.17.0-24-gf517bc4
```
Note

2.17 is a non-LTS release of Lustre. Community support ends soon after the 2.18 release.
```
sudo apt install -y amlfs-lustre-client-dkms-2.17.0-24-gf517bc4
```
This metapackage installs the Lustre userspace tools (lustre-client) together with the DKMS module source package (lustre-client-modules-dkms), so they stay at matching versions.

The DKMS package automatically compiles the Lustre kernel module for your running kernel. Unlike the prebuilt kmod package, you don't need to match a specific kernel version. DKMS rebuilds the module automatically when your kernel is upgraded.

Note

DKMS requires kernel headers, GCC, and Make to be installed. The package dependencies handle this requirement automatically, but the initial install takes a few minutes while the kernel module compiles.

Last updated on 2026-09-09

Install Lustre client software

Install client software for AlmaLinux 8

Install client software for AlmaLinux 9

Install client software for Ubuntu 22.04

Install client software for Ubuntu 24.04

Download and install client software

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Additional resources