How to migrate and modernize Linux workloads and open source databases to Azure

With extensive support for all major Linux distributions including Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, and managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings for open source databases like Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Azure Database for MariaDB—it’s no surprise that Linux is the fastest growing platform on Azure. Furthermore, Azure Migrate makes the discovery, assessment, migration, and modernization of apps, databases, and servers—both Linux and Windows—to Azure seamlessly. In this blog, we will show you how to migrate and modernize an open-source Java web application running on Linux and a MySQL database, to Azure using Azure Migrate.

Easily migrate and modernize Linux and open source databases to Azure

Azure Migrate is your one-stop-shop in Azure for migrating and modernizing your virtual machines like Windows or Linux Servers, databases, data, web apps, and virtual desktops. Azure Migrate features free Azure migration tools with features like agentless datacenter discovery, Azure readiness analysis, cost estimation, app modernization, and app dependency visualization as well as popular migration tools from our ISV partners to help you in the discovery, assessment, and migration phases of your migration and modernization journey in one central location with end-to-end visibility.

In the below demo video, we migrated and modernized an open-source Java app, Airsonic, and its backend MySQL database, both running on-premises on Linux Virtual Machines, to Azure. To modernize the MySQL database, we moved the data from the on-premises virtual machine into Azure Database for MySQL, using the Azure Database Migration Service. Azure Database for MySQL is a managed database, so once you have the data in Azure Database for MySQL, you don’t have to worry about managing a virtual machine and you get the benefits of built-in scalability, high availability, enterprise-grade SLAs, and cost optimization.

For the modernizing the app, we containerized it using the Azure Migrate App Containerization tool, so you can achieve faster application development cycles, ease of deployment, and quick scalability offered by containers, all without making any code changes to the app. Also, check out this MySQL migration guide, to get detailed step-by-step guidance on how to migrate MySQL workloads to Azure Database for MySQL.

To learn more, watch the Microsoft Mechanics video below, which shows you step-by-step how to migrate and modernize your Linux and open source databases to Azure.

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Get full support for Linux and high availability, industry-leading SLAs for open source databases

Azure supports all major Linux distributions including Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian, Oracle Linux, and Flatcar Linux and open-source databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, MariaDB, and more. More than 60 percent of Azure Marketplace solutions run on Linux. Then, beyond the workload level, Azure also contributes back to the upstream Linux and Kubernetes communities, that many of the modern and cloud-native architectures rely on.

Microsoft has done a ton of work for performance, reliability, manageability, and security to make Azure the best home for running any open source workload. Starting at the foundational level, Microsoft is working with the leading Linux Distros to optimize the kernels and hypervisors of Azure, including tuning the kernel for Azure hypervisors. Microsoft also works closely with Red Hat for managed services like Azure Red Hat OpenShift and SUSE with SAP enhancements. So when you bring your workloads to Azure, there is a benefit every step of the way, from onboarding to operation and you gain more security than you might have had on-premises, in your private cloud, or in another cloud. And whether you are starting greenfield or bringing what you already have running to Azure, we’ve got you covered.

Here is a summary of the key advantages of running Linux workloads and open source database services on Azure:

• Support for all major Linux distros like Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu, Oracle Linux, Debian, CentOS, CoreOS, and OpenSUSE.
• Azure-tuned kernels provide 25 percent faster network throughput.
• Unique and integrated support experience. Our support teams work with Red Had and the SUSE support team, to triage your support cases together.
• Minimal administration required for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB with fully managed databases based on the latest community editions.
• The best total cost of ownership, high availability, and built-in intelligence provided by managed databases.
• Enterprise scalability with Hyperscale (Citus) which enables scaling of PostgreSQL across multiple servers and Query parallelization across those servers for faster responses.

Learn more

Find just about everything related to Linux running on Azure. And once you’re ready to try migration or modernize your apps and open source databases, you can use Azure Migrate to find the tools to migrate your databases. Get guidance on how to migrate and modernize your workloads, apps, and databases on Azure Migration Center and enroll in Azure Migration Program to get expert help. And we also have a ton of learning content available on Microsoft Learn to help you easily migrate and modernize your applications to Azure.

Chhavi Nijhawan

Senior Product Marketing Manager

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