Azure Local Multi Rack — Agent Skill by Microsoft

From the author

Plan, deploy, operate, and troubleshoot multi-rack (rack scale) deployments of Azure Local — preintegrated racks scaling to hundreds of machines, built on Network Fabric Controller, Cluster Manager, SAN storage, and managed network fabric. Use for the Microsoft.NetworkCloud and Microsoft.ManagedNetworkFabric control plane. NOT for standard 1-16 node Azure Local, and NOT for rack-aware clusters (two racks as availability zones, up to 8 nodes, synchronous replication) — those are standard scale. WHEN: multi-rack, rack scale Azure Local, aggregation rack, compute rack, Network Fabric Controller, NFC, Cluster Manager, network fabric, isolation domain, az networkcloud, az networkfabric, multi-rack logical network, multi-rack Arc VM.

— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The azure-local-multi-rack skill provides a structured approach to planning, deploying, and operating large-scale, multi-rack Azure Local environments. Unlike standard deployments, these rack-scale configurations utilize a specialized control plane involving a Network Fabric Controller (NFC) and Cluster Manager. This skill covers the unique requirements for managing preintegrated racks, SAN storage, and managed network fabrics, ensuring users follow the correct procedures for logical networks, Arc VM management, and fabric operations.

What it does

Guides users through planning and deploying rack-scale Azure Local infrastructure.
Provides procedures for managing Arc VMs, images, and storage in a multi-rack environment.
Facilitates configuration of network fabrics, isolation domains, and load balancers.
Supports operational tasks including monitoring, metrics, and serial console access.
Ensures correct usage of specialized Azure CLI extensions for multi-rack control planes.
Distinguishes between multi-rack and standard Azure Local deployment requirements.

When to use it

When deploying or managing rack-scale Azure Local environments with 100+ machines.
When working with preintegrated racks, aggregation racks, and managed network fabrics.
When utilizing the Microsoft.NetworkCloud and Microsoft.ManagedNetworkFabric control planes.
When you need to configure complex networking components like isolation domains or internal load balancers.
When troubleshooting issues specific to multi-rack infrastructure components.

Advantages

Prevents confusion by clearly separating multi-rack procedures from standard Azure Local workflows.
Provides a centralized map to authoritative Microsoft Learn documentation for preview features.
Promotes safe operations by requiring read-only verification before executing fabric or SAN changes.
Ensures the correct CLI extensions are identified and used for specific resource providers.

Usage examples

“How do I create a new logical network for my multi-rack deployment?”: The agent will guide you through the specific multi-rack logical network creation workflow, ensuring you use the correct network fabric commands rather than standard Azure Local procedures.
“I need to troubleshoot a VM issue on my rack-scale cluster.”: The agent will provide steps for using the serial console and monitoring tools specifically designed for Arc VMs within a multi-rack architecture.
“What are the prerequisites for setting up a new multi-rack instance?”: The agent will outline the necessary Network Fabric Controller and Cluster Manager setup, along with the required Azure CLI extensions and provider registrations.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/azure-local-multi-rack/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip azure-local-multi-rack.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Azure Local Multi-Rack

Multi-rack is in preview — say so, and confirm availability from the docs before committing to a design.

Quick Reference

Property	Value
Best for	Rack-scale Azure Local: 100+ machines, preintegrated racks, SAN, managed fabric
Scale	Minimum four racks — one aggregation rack plus three or more compute racks
Providers	`Microsoft.NetworkCloud`, `Microsoft.ManagedNetworkFabric`, `Microsoft.AzureStackHCI`
CLI	`az networkcloud`, `az networkfabric`, `az stack-hci-vm`
Related skill	`azure-local` for standard 1-16 node and rack-aware deployments

When to Use This Skill

Use when the deployment is multi-rack / rack scale: preintegrated racks, an aggregation rack, a Network Fabric Controller, a Cluster Manager, SAN storage, or the networkcloud / managednetworkfabric CLI extensions.

Do not use for standard Azure Local (1-16 node hyperconverged, up to 64 disaggregated) or rack-aware clusters — hand off to the azure-local skill. If the scale is unclear, ask first: the two have separate, non-interchangeable procedures for the same-sounding tasks (logical networks, VM creation, NSGs).

MCP Tools

No dedicated MCP namespace. Use generic Azure MCP tools: mcp_azure_mcp_extension_cli_generate (confirm networkcloud/networkfabric extensions first), mcp_azure_mcp_monitor (needs Log Analytics), mcp_azure_mcp_resourcehealth (partial; not fabric or SAN health), mcp_azure_mcp_documentation (multi-rack articles only — standard Azure Local pages do not apply).

Details: cli-and-prereqs.

Workflow

Confirm this is multi-rack, not standard Azure Local — see When to Use.
Plan/deploy -> plan-and-deploy
VMs, AKS, images, disks -> workload-management
Fabric, isolation domains, load balancers, NSGs -> networking
Monitoring, metrics, serial console, failures -> operate-and-monitor

Read the matched workflow first and use docs-map. Start read-only. Ask before fabric changes, isolation domain edits, VM power/delete operations, or anything touching the aggregation rack or SAN.

Error Handling

Scenario	Remediation
Scale unknown	Ask whether the deployment is multi-rack or standard before recommending procedures.
Standard Azure Local detected	Hand off to the `azure-local` skill; multi-rack procedures do not apply.
Missing CLI extension	Install per cli-and-prereqs before running commands.
Risky fabric or SAN change	Stop and follow safety-rules.
Doc URL 404/redirect	Search Learn for the title, scoped to multi-rack deployments of Azure Local.

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer1016 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.1 KiB
SKILL.md3.7 KiB
references/cli-and-prereqs.md2.5 KiB
references/docs-map.md4.0 KiB
references/resource-types.md2.7 KiB
references/safety-rules.md2.3 KiB
workflows/networking/networking.md2.9 KiB
workflows/operate-and-monitor/operate-and-monitor.md2.9 KiB
workflows/plan-and-deploy/plan-and-deploy.md3.5 KiB
workflows/workload-management/workload-management.md2.6 KiB

workflows/operate-and-monitor/operate-and-monitor.md

Multi-Rack Operations and Monitoring

Use for health, metrics, serial console access, and failure triage on a multi-rack instance.

Intake

Question	Why it matters
Confirmed multi-rack?	Standard Azure Local troubleshooting does not apply.
Scope of impact	Single VM, machine, rack, fabric, or SAN changes the approach.
When it started	Correlates with updates, fabric changes, or hardware events.
Monitoring configured?	Metrics and Log Analytics availability determines evidence sources.
Local or console access available?	Serial console may be required for machine-level issues.

Sequence

Confirm scale — See resource-types.
Establish blast radius — Read-only: cluster, racks, bare metal machines, storage appliances, fabric.
Check control plane — Cluster Manager and NFC provisioning state before blaming workloads.
Use documented monitoring — Fetch multi-rack-monitor-overview and cluster metrics guidance via docs-map.
Narrow by layer — Workload, then logical network, then fabric, then hardware. Do not skip layers.
Targeted references — Arc VM troubleshooting for VM-level faults; storage appliance error messages for SAN faults; serial console for machine-level access.
Propose remediation — Present the change, its blast radius, and its reversibility. Get confirmation before acting.

Triage routing

Symptom	Start at
Single VM unhealthy	Arc VM troubleshooting article
Multiple VMs on one machine	Bare metal machine state, then serial console
Whole rack affected	Rack and fabric state; check aggregation rack
East-west connectivity broken	Isolation domains and logical networks
North-south connectivity broken	Route policy, public IP, NAT gateway
Storage errors	Storage appliance error messages
Provisioning failures	Cluster Manager and NFC state, provider registration

Guardrails

Never restart, reimage, or replace a machine without explicit confirmation.
Never treat missing Resource Health data as a healthy fabric or SAN.
Do not recommend redeployment or rack removal as an early step.
Report partial evidence as partial; do not present absence of data as a clean result.
Follow safety-rules.

Evidence to collect

Cluster, Cluster Manager, NFC IDs and provisioning state.
Affected rack, machine, and VM identifiers.
Fabric and isolation domain state.
Storage appliance status and error messages.
Metrics and logs covering the incident window.
Recent changes: updates, fabric edits, workload deployments.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Node.js

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

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Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download azure-local-multi-rack.zip