Common problem when uploading VHD to Azure

I have recently been working with uploading custom images to Azure for VM creation. I decided to share my experience, especially relevant for legacy use cases, when migrating custom Windows 2008 VM to Azure.

Microsoft has recently announced extended security support for Windows 2008 VM and SQL Server 2008 that gives customers extra time for migration ( that gives 3 more years of support after end of life) https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-new-options-for-sql-server-2008-and-windows-server-2008-end-of-support/

1. meaning: 2019+3=2022 for SQL 2008
2. meaning: 2020+3=2023 for Windows 2008

When working with uploading custom image to Azure, I have faced common problem in some cases and after a bit investigation - a known issue (mistake) when uploading VHD to Storage account on Azure.

Problem:

Error " Blob only support VHD format" when choosing OS disk in attempt to create VM

Solution and explanaition:

First action will be indeed to verify the format of the image (more often this is not the case but however :) Second and the most common is that VHD didn't have fixed OS size (being decimal/dynamic) OR you are putting different OS disk size when trying to create VM on Azure( VHD OS disk size should be equal to one you specify on Azure)

side note: Hyper-V doesn't support decimal/ Inspect command on Hyper-V can help you to verify size

Hope this small hint can help fellow architects :)