Storage Paths - hide from VM deployment in Azure Local

Hello there Azure Local doesn’t let you “hide” a custom storage path from the VM-creation auto-placement logic the way the built-in Infrastructure_1 volume is hidden. Any storage path you register on your cluster will show up under the “Choose automatically” pool and in the manual dropdown.

1. Always use manual placement for your VMs
   • In the portal, pick Choose manually for the Storage path and explicitly select one of your four user paths for VM OS disks.
   • For any image-only path, don’t select it when you create VMs only pick it when you’re creating or downloading images.
   • In CLI/ARM/PowerShell, override the storage path by specifying --storage-path-id or the vmConfigStoragePathId property so only your four paths ever get used.
2. Leverage naming conventions to hide from the image dropdown (hacky/unsupported)
   • In the “Troubleshoot Arc-Enabled VM Storage” docs, you’ll see that paths containing unsupported characters (for example underscores in certain positions) are filtered out of the image-download list.
   • If you rename your image-only path to include an underscore or other forbidden symbol, it may not appear in the Image dropdown just be aware this isn’t a formally supported “hide” feature.
3. Keep images on a share outside of your CSVs
   • Store your VM image files on an SMB share or blob storage instead of registering that path as an Azure Local “storage path.”
   • Import or download images manually via CLI/PowerShell when needed so they never show up in the VM-creation path list at all.

Reference docs:

1. Troubleshoot Arc-Enabled VM Storage (hiding via naming) - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/manage/troubleshoot-arc-enabled-vms?view=azloc-2604&tabs=azure-portal
2. Create storage path for Azure Local (portal & CLI registration) - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/manage/create-storage-path?view=azloc-2604&tabs=azurecli
3. Resource deployment failure due to insufficient disk space (manual storage-path selection) - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/troubleshooting/common-deployment-errors
4. Virtual machine resiliency for Azure Local (storage path considerations) - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/manage/disaster-recovery-vm-resiliency?view=azloc-2604

MB - Just checking if provided response was helpful! please let me know if you have any queries.

Hi Shekhar,

For option 2, although I don't like it how do you actually use an unsupported character? It doesn't allow it and removes it automatically after entering the character.

MB - Regarding option 2 while using unsupported or special characters to hide a storage path — this approach is not reliable or supported. The Azure portal enforces naming validation and automatically removes invalid characters, which is why you are unable to retain them. As such, this workaround cannot be used in practice and is not recommended.

From a supported standpoint, Azure Local currently does not provide a native capability to hide a registered storage path from the VM creation experience.

Recommended approach (supported)

1. To ensure image-only paths are not used unintentionally:
2. Always select “Choose manually” during VM creation and explicitly pick the intended storage path (for example, UserStorage1–4).
3. Treat the image storage path as operationally restricted and avoid selecting it during VM provisioning.
4. For automation scenarios (CLI/ARM/PowerShell), explicitly define the storage path (for example, using storagePathId / vmConfigStoragePathId) so only approved paths are used.
5. Consider maintaining clear naming conventions (for example, prefixing with IMAGES_) to distinguish image-only paths from VM workload paths.

Alternative (more controlled design)

1. Store VM images outside of Azure Local storage paths (for example, SMB share or external storage).
2. Import images only when required via CLI/PowerShell.
3. This ensures the image location does not appear in the VM creation dropdown at all.