Linux Software Repository for Microsoft Products

Linux versions of many Microsoft software products are supported and hosted on the "Linux software repository for Microsoft products": https://packages.microsoft.com.

Packages.microsoft.com is a public repository meant to be consumed programmatically by Linux packaging clients, including apt (for Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Debian) dnf / yum (for RPM-based distributions like RedHat Enterprise, Fedora, CentOS, or Oracle Enterprise), or zypper (for SUSE Linux). In addition to the Linux packaging client directories, it includes related config files and keys.

You can learn more about the PMC service (packages.microsoft.com), file issues or pull requests, or report a security vulnerability on the affiliated GitHub repo: Microsoft Linux Package Repositories.

How to install Microsoft software packages using the Linux Repository

The Linux Software Repository can be configured to automatically install the Linux package that applies to your Linux distribution and version. Each Microsoft product may require a slightly different installation process. The package install includes the repository configuration, along with the GPG public key used to validate the signed packages and/or repository metadata.

Examples of available Microsoft products in the Linux Repository

The following Microsoft products are a few examples that offer Linux versions supported for install using the Linux Repository (package.microsoft.com). See the associated documentation link for more specific installation steps.

• .NET on Linux
• PowerShell on Linux
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux: (Manual deployment guide)
• SQL Server on Linux: (Offline install guidance)
• Microsoft Intune for Linux

Network Policy and DNS Considerations

The majority of Linux Software Repository users will be able to access https://packages.microsoft.com without issue. However, if your scenario requires SQL packages, and if you work in an environment using network policy to restrict access to certain domains, you will also need to enable access to https://pmc-geofence.trafficmanager.net.

SQL is a paid product, so to comply with regional tax laws, a geofence was enabled specifically for these packages. When your package client tries to download a SQL package, for example mssql-server-ha.deb, packages.microsoft.com will redirect your client to https://pmc-geofence.trafficmanager.net to fulfill the request. This secondary domain ensures the packages are delivered to you from a server within your geographic area.

How to use the GPG Repository Signing Key

Linux Software Repository for Microsoft Products uses the GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) enabling users to verify the authenticity of files and to check the signatures of downloaded packages.

• Microsoft's GPG public key may be downloaded here: https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
• Public Key ID: Microsoft (Release signing) [email protected]
• Public Key Fingerprint: BC52 8686 B50D 79E3 39D3 721C EB3E 94AD BE12 29CF

Command examples for using the Linux repository service

The following commands will configure your Linux OS to install packages from packages.microsoft.com. There are instructions for deb-based systems (e.g. Debian, Ubuntu) and rpm-based systems (e.g. Fedora, RHEL).

If you're unsure what distribution and version you are currently running, you can try entering lsb_release -a (for any distro that includes the “lsb-release" package) or cat /etc/os-release (for any distro that uses systemd).

Debian-based Linux distributions

• Download the repo config package:

curl -sSL -O https://packages.microsoft.com/config/<distribution>/<version>/packages-microsoft-prod.deb

• Install the repo config package:

sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

• Delete the repo config package after installing:

rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb

• Update package index files:

sudo apt-get update

• To install the Microsoft product package you're after using this Linux repository (packages.microsoft.com): sudo apt-get install <package-name>

See packages.microsoft.com to find the list of supported Linux distributions and versions.

In this example, entering cat /etc/os-release shows that Ubuntu, version 20.04, is running. Visiting packages.microsoft.com, we can see Ubuntu 20.04 on the list. To download the packages.microsoft.com repo, cURL is used to download with the command:

curl -sSL -O https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/20.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb

The repo config package is then installed with the command:

sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

And then deleted as not to take up space.

The list of packages is then updated with the apt package manager using the command:

sudo apt-get update

To search what Microsoft packages are available after installing, change to the root directory of your Linux distribution: cd / and look in the directory: /var/lib/apt/lists. You will see a list of files with titles something like: packages.microsoft.com_ubuntu_20.04_prod_dists_focal_main_binary-all_Packages. You can open this file in a text editor (for example, nano <file-name>) to see a list of the available packages.

Red Hat-based Linux distributions

The Red Hat Package Manager (rpm) instructions assume that the package management client command is dnf but some rpm-based Linux distributions might be using other package managers, such as yum or tdnf.

• Download the repo config package:

curl -sSL -O https://packages.microsoft.com/config/<distribution>/<version>/packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

• Install the repo config package:

sudo rpm -i packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

• Delete the repo config package after installing:

rm packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

• Update package index files:

sudo dnf update

• To install the Microsoft product package you're after using this Linux repository (packages.microsoft.com):

sudo dnf install <package-name>

As an example of a pckage client that uses yum, the steps may be slightly different.

• Download the repo config package:

curl -sSL -O https://packages.microsoft.com/config/<distribution>/<version>/packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

• Install the repo config package:

sudo rpm -i packages-microsoft-prod.rpm

• Update package index files:

sudo yum update

• To install the Microsoft product package you're after using this Linux repository (packages.microsoft.com):

sudo yum install <package-name>

See packages.microsoft.com to find the list of supported Linux distributions and versions. Once the packages.microsoft.com repo has been installed an updated, you can use the package manager to list the packages available from Microsoft.

For example:

dnf repository-packages packages-microsoft-com-prod list

or

yum repo-pkgs packages-microsoft-com-prod list

Recommendations for client package resources supported by a static interface

Recommendations for using the resources on packages.microsoft.com include:

• The metadata for each package should be considered the source of truth for a given package path if and when a change occurs.
• When possible, use the config files located under /config and use standard Linux package managers.
• If you need to programmatically "find" a given package, without using a package manager, be sure to parse the metadata, not the html.
• Avoid depending on individual metadata files (such as primary.sqlite.gz or Packages.bz2), as these are subject to change.
• Packages on packages.microsoft.com may incorporate material from third parties. License information for third party material may be found in the packages themselves or associated documentation. Source code for certain third party material may be available in an associated source directory. Alternatively, you may obtain corresponding source code for certain packages or material by sending an email to [email protected], including the package name and version information.

Static vs subject to change

When a Linux packaging client is referred to as “static”, it means that the client is designed to work with a fixed set of libraries. A static client will not dynamically link to any libraries outside of its own set and will instead use only the libraries that are included in the client itself. "Static" resources are typically more safe to depend on, but can still be subject to change.

Static resources on packages.microsoft.com include:

• The path to each repo's metadata, such as the repomd.xml or Release/Packages for Debian files. These metadata files are used by the client to determine which packages are available for installation and what their dependencies are.
• The paths to config files located under /config.
• The paths to the key files located under /keys.

Resources that are subject to change include:

• Paths to individual packages.
• The HTML/directory browsing interface is enabled only for interactive web browsing and is not a stable or supported API. This includes the underlying structure of the HTML, as well as, the timestamp and filesize presented.
• Package repositories often contain multiple copies of the same data in different formats. There's no guarantee that each format will be supported. For example, Debian repositories may include Packages, Packages.bz2, Packages.gz, etc. Rpm repositories may include primary.xml.gz or primary.sqlite.bz2, etc. Package managers will generally prefer one of these formats, but accept an array of format options.
• Clamav signatures located under /clamav will no longer be supported, with deprecation scheduled in 2023.

How to file an issue, request a feature, or report a security vulnerability

We want to ensure that our Linux customers are well-supported. The following communication channels are available to users of the PMC service:

• Report an issue: Help us improve the PMC service by reporting any issues you are experiencing.

• Request a feature: Request a new feature or enhancement to the PMC service.

• Report a security vulnerability: Help us to identify any potential security vulnerabilities by reviewing our security policy and reporting any issues.