diff --git a/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/constants.go b/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/constants.go
index 30575e654..5adc4c407 100644
--- a/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/constants.go
+++ b/cmd/mapt/cmd/azure/hosts/constants.go
@@ -9,6 +9,6 @@ const (
 	paramLinuxVersion     = "version"
 	paramLinuxVersionDesc = "linux version. Version should be formated as X.Y (Major.minor)"
 	defaultUbuntuVersion  = "24.04"
-	defaultRHELVersion    = "9.4"
+	defaultRHELVersion    = "9.7"
 	defaultFedoraVersion  = "42"
 )
diff --git a/pkg/integrations/integrations.go b/pkg/integrations/integrations.go
index 4252f3318..9843f7d84 100644
--- a/pkg/integrations/integrations.go
+++ b/pkg/integrations/integrations.go
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package integrations
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-	"strings"
-
+	cloudinit "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/cloud-init"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/file"
 )
 
@@ -49,11 +47,5 @@ func GetIntegrationSnippetAsCloudInitWritableFile(intCfg IntegrationConfig, user
 	if err != nil || len(*snippet) == 0 {
 		return snippet, err
 	}
-	lines := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(*snippet), "\n")
-	for i, line := range lines {
-		// Added 6 spaces before each line
-		lines[i] = fmt.Sprintf("      %s", line)
-	}
-	identedSnippet := strings.Join(lines, "\n")
-	return &identedSnippet, nil
+	return cloudinit.IndentWriteFile(snippet)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/expand-root-disk.sh b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/expand-root-disk.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f79f27443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/expand-root-disk.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+# Detect root LV (e.g. /dev/mapper/rootvg-rootlv)
+ROOT_LV=$(findmnt -n -o SOURCE /)
+
+# Get VG name
+VG=$(lvs --noheadings -o vg_name "$ROOT_LV" | xargs)
+
+# Get PV device (e.g. /dev/sda4 or /dev/nvme0n1p4)
+PV=$(pvs --noheadings -o pv_name --select vg_name="$VG" | xargs)
+
+# Extract base disk and partition number safely
+DISK_PATH="$PV"
+
+# NVMe devices end with pN (nvme0n1p4)
+case "$DISK_PATH" in
+  *nvme*)
+    DISK=$(echo "$DISK_PATH" | sed -E 's/p[0-9]+$//')
+    PART=$(echo "$DISK_PATH" | sed -E 's/.*p([0-9]+)$/\1/')
+    ;;
+  *)
+    # Standard SCSI (sda4 → sda + 4)
+    DISK=$(echo "$DISK_PATH" | sed -E 's/[0-9]+$//')
+    PART=$(echo "$DISK_PATH" | sed -E 's/.*([0-9]+)$/\1/')
+    ;;
+esac
+
+# Expand partition
+growpart "$DISK" "$PART"
+
+# Resize PV
+pvresize "$PV"
+
+# Extend LV to full free space and resize filesystem
+lvextend -r -l +100%FREE "$ROOT_LV"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/rhel.go b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/rhel.go
index 88512ed3b..480429aed 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/rhel.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/azure/action/rhel/rhel.go
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 package rhel
 
 import (
+	_ "embed"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
 	maptContext "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/manager/context"
 	cr "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/provider/api/compute-request"
 	spotTypes "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/provider/api/spot"
@@ -24,19 +28,41 @@ type RhelArgs struct {
 	Spot           *spotTypes.SpotArgs
 }
 
+func imageRef(version, arch string) *data.ImageReference {
+	if arch == "arm64" {
+		return &data.ImageReference{
+			Publisher: "rhel-arm64",
+			Offer:     "RHEL",
+			Sku: fmt.Sprintf(
+				"%s-arm64",
+				strings.ReplaceAll(version, ".", "_"))}
+	}
+	return &data.ImageReference{
+		Publisher: "RedHat",
+		Offer:     "RHEL",
+		Sku: fmt.Sprintf(
+			"%s-gen2",
+			strings.ReplaceAll(version, ".", ""))}
+}
+
+//go:embed expand-root-disk.sh
+var ExpandRootDisk []byte
+
 func Create(mCtxArgs *maptContext.ContextArgs, r *RhelArgs) (err error) {
 	logging.Debug("Creating RHEL Server")
 	rhelCloudConfig := &rhelApi.CloudConfigArgs{
-		SNCProfile:   r.ProfileSNC,
-		SubsUsername: r.SubsUsername,
-		SubsPassword: r.SubsUserpass,
-		Username:     r.Username}
+		SNCProfile:     r.ProfileSNC,
+		SubsUsername:   r.SubsUsername,
+		SubsPassword:   r.SubsUserpass,
+		Username:       r.Username,
+		ExpandRootDisk: ExpandRootDisk}
 	azureLinuxRequest :=
 		&azureLinux.LinuxArgs{
 			Prefix:         r.Prefix,
 			Location:       r.Location,
 			ComputeRequest: r.ComputeRequest,
 			Spot:           r.Spot,
+			ImageRef:       imageRef(r.Version, r.Arch),
 			Version:        r.Version,
 			Arch:           r.Arch,
 			OSType:         data.RHEL,
diff --git a/pkg/provider/azure/data/images.go b/pkg/provider/azure/data/images.go
index fc2f29b26..aced2ddac 100644
--- a/pkg/provider/azure/data/images.go
+++ b/pkg/provider/azure/data/images.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func IsImageOffered(ctx context.Context, req ImageRequest) error {
 	}
 	// for azure offered VM images: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/compute/virtual-machine-images/get
 	// there's a different API to check but currently we only check availability of community images
-	return fmt.Errorf("no valid image to check")
+	return nil
 }
 
 func getCommunityImage(ctx context.Context, c *armcompute.ClientFactory, id, region *string) (*armcompute.CommunityGalleryImagesClientGetResponse, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config-base b/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config-base
index 2db674814..19fdb131a 100644
--- a/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config-base
+++ b/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config-base
@@ -3,26 +3,38 @@ rh_subscription:
   username: {{.SubscriptionUsername}}
   password: {{.SubscriptionPassword}}
   auto-attach: true
+growpart:
+  mode: auto
+  devices: ["/"]
+  ignore_growroot_disabled: false
 runcmd:
+  - /usr/local/bin/expand-root-disk.sh
   - while fuser /var/lib/rpm/.rpm.lock > /dev/null 2>&1 ; do sleep 1 ; done
   - dnf install -y podman
 {{ if .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}  - sudo -u {{ .Username }} bash -c /opt/install-ghrunner.sh{{ end }}
 {{ if .CirrusSnippet }}  - /opt/setup-cirrus-service.sh{{ end }}
 {{ if .GitLabSnippet }}  - sudo -u {{ .Username }} bash -c /opt/install-glrunner.sh{{ end }}
-{{ if .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}write_files:
+write_files:
+{{- if .ExpandRootDisk }}
+  - path: /usr/local/bin/expand-root-disk.sh
+    permissions: '0755'
+    content: |
+{{ .ExpandRootDisk }}
+{{- end }}
+{{ if .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}
   # Github actions runner installation
   - content: |
 {{ .ActionsRunnerSnippet }}
     path: /opt/install-ghrunner.sh
     permissions: '0755'
 {{ end }}
-{{ if .CirrusSnippet }}write_files:
+{{ if .CirrusSnippet }}
   - content: |
 {{.CirrusSnippet}}
     path: /opt/setup-cirrus-service.sh
     permissions: '0755'
 {{ end }}
-{{ if .GitLabSnippet }}write_files:
+{{ if .GitLabSnippet }}
   - content: |
 {{.GitLabSnippet}}
     path: /opt/install-glrunner.sh
diff --git a/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config.go b/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config.go
index 714066f98..fa3e04eb2 100644
--- a/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config.go
+++ b/pkg/target/host/rhel/cloud-config.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/integrations/cirrus"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/integrations/github"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/integrations/gitlab"
+	cloudinit "github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/cloud-init"
 	"github.com/redhat-developer/mapt/pkg/util/file"
 )
 
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ type CloudConfigArgs struct {
 	SNCProfile                 bool
 	SubsUsername, SubsPassword string
 	Username                   string
+	ExpandRootDisk             []byte
 }
 
 type userDataValues struct {
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@ type userDataValues struct {
 	ActionsRunnerSnippet string
 	CirrusSnippet        string
 	GitLabSnippet        string
+	ExpandRootDisk       string
 }
 
 //go:embed cloud-config-base
@@ -50,15 +53,22 @@ func (r *CloudConfigArgs) CloudConfig() (*string, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	userdata, err := file.Template(
-		userDataValues{
-			r.SubsUsername,
-			r.SubsPassword,
-			r.Username,
-			*ghActionsRunnerSnippet,
-			*cirrusSnippet,
-			*gitlabSnippet},
-		templateConfig)
+	udv := userDataValues{
+		SubscriptionUsername: r.SubsUsername,
+		SubscriptionPassword: r.SubsPassword,
+		Username:             r.Username,
+		ActionsRunnerSnippet: *ghActionsRunnerSnippet,
+		CirrusSnippet:        *cirrusSnippet,
+		GitLabSnippet:        *gitlabSnippet}
+	if r.ExpandRootDisk != nil {
+		snippet := string(r.ExpandRootDisk[:])
+		iSnippet, err := cloudinit.IndentWriteFile(&snippet)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		udv.ExpandRootDisk = *iSnippet
+	}
+	userdata, err := file.Template(udv, templateConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -88,15 +98,22 @@ func (r *CloudConfigArgs) CloudConfigWithGitLabToken(gitlabAuthToken string) (st
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	userdata, err := file.Template(
-		userDataValues{
-			r.SubsUsername,
-			r.SubsPassword,
-			r.Username,
-			*ghActionsRunnerSnippet,
-			*cirrusSnippet,
-			*gitlabSnippet},
-		templateConfig)
+	udv := userDataValues{
+		SubscriptionUsername: r.SubsUsername,
+		SubscriptionPassword: r.SubsPassword,
+		Username:             r.Username,
+		ActionsRunnerSnippet: *ghActionsRunnerSnippet,
+		CirrusSnippet:        *cirrusSnippet,
+		GitLabSnippet:        *gitlabSnippet}
+	if r.ExpandRootDisk != nil {
+		snippet := string(r.ExpandRootDisk[:])
+		iSnippet, err := cloudinit.IndentWriteFile(&snippet)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		udv.ExpandRootDisk = *iSnippet
+	}
+	userdata, err := file.Template(udv, templateConfig)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/util/cloud-init/util.go b/pkg/util/cloud-init/util.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38d3d927a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/cloud-init/util.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package cloudinit
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// If we add the snippet as part of a cloud init file the strategy
+// would be create the file with write_files:
+// i.e.
+// write_files:
+//
+//	# Cirrus service setup
+//	- content: |
+//	    {{ .CirrusSnippet }} <----- 6 spaces
+//
+// to do so we need to indent 6 spaces each line of the snippet
+func IndentWriteFile(snippet *string) (*string, error) {
+	lines := strings.Split(strings.TrimSpace(*snippet), "\n")
+	for i, line := range lines {
+		// Added 6 spaces before each line
+		lines[i] = fmt.Sprintf("      %s", line)
+	}
+	identedSnippet := strings.Join(lines, "\n")
+	return &identedSnippet, nil
+}