Azure Update - 19th September 2025

Key Concepts

• App Service JBoss EAP BYOL
• AKS Azure Linux 2.0 Retirement & 3.0 Upgrade
• AKS Automatic (GA)
• Kubernetes Fleet Manager Approval Gates
• HBv5 VMs (Preview)
• DCa/ECa v6 VMs (GA) - Confidential Compute
• AKS on VMware Retirement
• Azure Functions .NET 10 Support
• Durable Functions Distributed Tracing (GA)
• Azure VMware Solution Licensing Change
• App Gateway v2 Backend TLS Validation & Dedicated Backend Connection
• At-Cost Data Transfer (GA) - Europe/UK
• Network Security Hub (GA)
• Azure Container Storage v2.0.0 (GA) - NVMe Focus
• Azure File Sync New Regions
• Azure Data Box Next Gen New Regions
• SQL Hub Experience (GA)
• Azure Databricks Standard Retirement
• PostgreSQL Flexible Server Confidential Computing
• Databricks One (Preview)
• HSM Platform 1 Retirement
• Saw Model Video to Video
• GitHub MCP Registry
• Azure Managed Prometheus Native Grafana Dashboards

Compute Updates

• App Service JBoss EAP BYOL: You can now bring your own Red Hat licenses to Azure App Service JBoss EAP, optimizing cloud costs by leveraging existing subscriptions.
• AKS Azure Linux 2.0 Retirement: Azure Linux 2.0 will be retired by the end of November 2025.
  • You must upgrade to AKS version 1.32, which includes Azure Linux 3.0, or stay on 1.28 or later and specify the OS SKU as Azure Linux 3.
  • Azure Linux 2.0 node images will be completely removed from March 31st, 2026.
  • Azure Linux is Microsoft's customized Linux distribution with a small footprint and low attack surface.
• AKS Automatic (GA): Provides a simplified way to deploy a production-ready AKS cluster preconfigured for security, reliability, and autoscaling best practices. It includes upgrades, node management, and dynamic autoscaling. It's an option during AKS cluster creation.
• Kubernetes Fleet Manager Approval Gates: Allows placing approval gates before and after update groups/stages in AKS cluster updates.
  • These gates can be manual approvals or automated checks (e.g., checking for errors or raised tickets).
  • Supports ring deployments and checks between rings.
• HBv5 VMs (Preview): High-performance computing VMs for memory bandwidth-intensive applications.
  • Features: 6.7 TBps memory bandwidth, 480 GB memory, up to 368 cores of 4th Gen Epyc processors, and 800 Gbps InfiniBand Nvidia networking.
• DCa/ECa v6 VMs (GA): AMD-based confidential compute VMs offering whole VM encryption (encrypted in use).
  • Uses AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Secure Nested Paging (SEV-SNP) features.
  • Available in general-purpose and memory-intensive optimized SKUs.
• AKS on VMware Retirement: AKS on VMware will be retired on March 16th, 2026. Migrate to AKS running on Azure instead.
• Azure Functions .NET 10 Support: Azure Functions now supports .NET 10 in preview.
  • Works for Linux and Windows apps, but not Linux consumption yet.
  • Requires the isolated worker model.

Data and Analytics Updates

• Durable Functions Distributed Tracing (GA): Provides developers with a complete, correlated view of call stacks across multiple systems and services, which is common in durable functions.

• Azure Databricks Standard Retirement: Azure Databricks Standard tier will be retired in October 2026. Users should migrate to the Premium tier for enhanced capabilities and latest innovations.

• PostgreSQL Flexible Server Confidential Computing: Azure PostgreSQL Flexible Server can now run on confidential computing SKUs, providing encryption in use and whole VM encryption.

• Databricks One (Preview): A user interface designed for business users to interact with data and AI in Azure Databricks without needing technical expertise.

Networking Updates

• Azure VMware Solution Licensing Change: Due to Broadcom's licensing policy change for hyperscalers (effective October 16th, 2025), you now have to bring your own licenses for Azure VMware Solution. Existing reserved instances are unaffected until the end of their term.
• App Gateway v2 Backend TLS Validation: App Gateway v2 now has controls for backend TLS validation.
  • You can enable/disable certificate chain and expiry verification.
  • You can enable/disable Server Name Indication (SNI) verification.
• App Gateway v2 Dedicated Backend Connection (GA): Ensures each incoming client connection is mapped to a distinct backend connection (one-to-one communication).
• At-Cost Data Transfer (GA) - Europe/UK: Customers and CSP partners in Europe and the UK transferring data from Azure to another data processing service provider over the internet can apply for a credit related to data egress costs. Qualification requirements apply (refer to documentation).
• Network Security Hub (GA): An expanded version of Azure Firewall Manager, now including Azure Firewall, Web Application Firewall, and DDoS protection capabilities.

Storage Updates

• Azure Container Storage v2.0.0 (GA): Designed for AKS/container environments, focusing on leveraging NVMe storage in node pools (L-series, ND-series, newer general-purpose SKUs).
  • Provides high IOPS and reduced latency.
  • NVMe storage is local to the node, so application-level replication is required for durability.
• Azure File Sync New Regions: Azure File Sync is now available in Poland Central and Spain Central.
• Azure Data Box Next Gen New Regions: Azure Data Box Next Gen (120 TB and 525 TB versions) is now available in India, Qatar, South Africa, and Korea. Cross-region population at no extra cost is still supported.

Database Updates

• SQL Hub Experience (GA): A new home for SQL in the Azure portal, offering guidance to find the right SQL option (SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, etc.) and compare options side-by-side. Includes a free offer option.

Miscellaneous Updates

• HSM Platform 1 Retirement: HSM platform 1 Azure Key Vault keys are being retired. Migrate to HSM platform 2 as soon as possible. New keys created will use HSM platform 2. Keys cannot be transferred between platforms.
• Saw Model Video to Video: The Saw model (image to video) can now do video to video. You can experiment with this in the Foundry playground.
• GitHub MCP Registry: A registry for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, allowing AI application authors to discover and leverage tools and knowledge sources. MCP provides a standard way for AI apps to interact with external tools and knowledge. The registry is easily leveraged in VS Code.
• Azure Managed Prometheus Native Grafana Dashboards: Azure Managed Prometheus now has native Grafana dashboards in preview within the portal. These dashboards visualize Prometheus metrics without requiring a separate Grafana server deployment.

Conclusion

This Azure update covers a range of improvements and changes across compute, networking, storage, database, and miscellaneous services. Key takeaways include the retirement of older technologies like Azure Linux 2.0 and Databricks Standard, the introduction of new confidential computing options, enhancements to AKS management, and improvements to developer tooling and monitoring. The licensing change for Azure VMware Solution is also a significant point for affected users. The focus is on providing more secure, efficient, and user-friendly solutions for various Azure workloads.