Azure Updates for July 2024 

Last Updated on August 1, 2024 by Arnav Sharma

July 5, 2024

1. Generally Available: Run your Databricks jobs with serverless compute for workflows
   • Users can now run Azure Databricks jobs without configuring infrastructure, simplifying the setup process.
2. Generally Available: Interactive Serverless Compute
   • Serverless compute for notebooks allows quick execution without infrastructure setup, streamlining data analysis workflows.
3. Generally Available: DLT with serverless compute
   • Delta Live Tables (DLT) with serverless compute allows users to run streaming data pipelines without infrastructure configuration.
4. Public Preview: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) integration with Virtual WAN
   • Cisco FTD integration with Virtual WAN hub provides enhanced security and gateway functionalities.
5. Public Preview: Azure CDN Standard From Microsoft (classic) zero-downtime migration to Azure Front Door
   • Migrate Azure CDN Standard from Microsoft (classic) to Azure Front Door for improved security and analytics capabilities.
6. In Development: ExpressRoute resiliency enhancements
   • Enhancements to ExpressRoute improve multi-site and zonal resiliency.
7. Public Preview: Online migration for MongoDB in Azure Data Studio
   • Azure Data Studio now supports online MongoDB migration for uninterrupted database transfers.
8. Public Preview: Azure SQL updates for early-July 2024
   • Enhancements and updates for Azure SQL are now available in public preview.
9. Public Preview: Azure cross-subscription Load Balancer
   • Connect cross-subscription resources to Azure Load Balancer, simplifying network configurations.
10. Private Preview: Azure Backup for Elastic SAN
    • Azure Backup introduces private preview support for backup and restore of Elastic SAN Volumes.
11. Retirement: Onco-Phenotype model within Azure AI Health Insights
    • Onco-Phenotype model within Azure AI Health Insights will be retired on July 31, 2024.
12. Public Preview: Azure Machine Learning Announcement
    • Azure Machine Learning introduces a feature that allows uniform and consistent model predictions without changing underlying code.
13. Generally Available: Azure Machine Learning Announcement
    • Three new features in Azure Machine Learning now generally available, including improved AI/ML model deployment and interactive experience.
14. Generally Available: Spain Central region added to Azure HDInsight
    • Azure HDInsight is now available in the Spain Central region, expanding service availability.
15. Public Preview: JavaScript (JS) Challenge on Azure WAF integrated with Azure Application Gateway
    • Increase your security posture and generate a non-intrusive mitigation when a request matches a WAF bot rule or custom rule using Azure WAF JS challenge.
16. Public Preview: Azure Container Apps available in Azure Government Cloud Virginia
    • Azure Container Apps is now available in public preview in Azure Government Cloud Virginia.
17. Generally Available: Announcing kube-egress-gateway for Kubernetes
    • You can now configure different egress IPs for your pods without creating multiple nodes with instance-level public IPs.
18. Generally Available: OS Security Patch channel for Linux in AKS
    • You can now use OS Security Patch channel for Linux in AKS to limit disruption from patching.
19. Generally Available: az command invoke in AKS
    • You can now access the API server and control plane of a private cluster more easily.
20. Public Preview: Upgrade Policies for Virtual Machine Scale Sets with Flexible Orchestration
    • Upgrade Policies help ensure your virtual machines in your scale set remain up to date with the latest scale set model.
21. Generally Available: Azure Monitor Log Enablement Policy Expansion
    • Azure Monitor is announcing the release of new and updated Azure Policy built-in policies and initiatives for enabling platform logging at-scale for Azure services.
22. Generally Available: Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry-based Distro adds Live Metrics
    • Azure Monitor now offers a way to get Live Metrics while using vendor-neutral OpenTelemetry APIs that are the foundation of the Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro.
23. Generally Available: Azure Virtual Network Manager mesh and direct connectivity
    • Azure Virtual Network Manager mesh and direct connectivity are generally available in all public regions.
24. Generally Available: Run load tests in debug mode on Azure Load Testing
    • Run load tests in debug mode with enhanced logging. You get the debug logs and request and response data for failed requests.
25. Public Preview: Summary rules in Azure Monitor Log Analytics, for optimal consumption experiences and cost
    • Aggregate ingested data to workspace continuously per given query and cadence to enable efficient queries on large data sets and time ranges.
26. Generally Available: Azure Monitor, Log Analytics dedicated clusters now supported in Azure portal
    • Manage Log Analytics Dedicated cluster in Azure portal.
27. Public Preview: Announcing Foundation Model Training
    • With Foundation Model Training, Azure Databricks users can use their own data to customize a foundation model to optimize performance.
28. Generally Available: Run Azure Load Testing on Azure Functions
    • Load test your functions directly from Azure Functions in Azure portal.
29. Azure support plan offer being discontinued on June 30, 2024
    • End of Azure Standard support offer on June 30, 2024. Customers without another paid support plan and who wish to maintain technical support coverage should purchase support.
30. General Availability: vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB now supports Mongo Ver 7.0
    • vCore-based Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB has expanded its capabilities and now supports Mongo Version 7.0.
31. Public Preview: Azure Cosmos DB continuous backup for accounts using Azure Synapse Link
    • Now Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB customers can migrate to continuous backup.
32. Public Preview: Azure SQL updates for mid-June 2024
    • Public preview enhancements and updates released for Azure SQL in mid-June 2024.

July 9, 2024

1. Generally Available: Azure Site Recovery support for Azure Trusted Launch VMs (Windows OS)
   • Azure Site Recovery now supports Trusted Launch VMs running Windows OS, enhancing compliance and security.

July 11, 2024

1. Retirement: Azure Cloud Services Guest OS Families 2, 3, and 4
   • Azure will retire Guest OS Families 2, 3, and 4, with end-of-life dates for Windows Server 2008 R2 in December 2024, and Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 in February 2025.
2. Generally Available: Encryption using Customer Managed Keys for Backup Vaults
   • Azure Backup now supports encryption of data in Backup vaults using Customer Managed Keys, enhancing data security.
3. Generally Available: Backup and restore of virtual machines with private endpoint enabled disks
   • Azure Backup now supports backing up VMs with private endpoint-enabled disks and specifying network settings during restore.
4. Generally Available: Azure Elastic SAN Feature Updates
   • Users can now scale down unused capacity at the SAN level, utilize diagnostic logging, and access services in new regions.
5. Public Preview: Advanced Network Observability for AKS clusters through Azure Monitor
   • Azure Monitor now provides pod-level and DNS metrics for troubleshooting Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster networks.

July 18, 2024

1. Retirement: Azure Lab Services
   • Azure Lab Services will be retired on June 28, 2027, with new sign-ups closing on July 15, 2024. Users should transition to alternative Microsoft VDI services or recommended partner solutions by the retirement date.
2. Public Preview: Upgrade existing Azure Gen1/Gen2 VMSS to Gen2-Trusted launch
   • Azure introduces preview support for enabling Trusted launch on existing Azure Gen1/Gen2 Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS) Uniform by upgrading the VMSS resource to Gen2-Trusted launch.
3. Retirement: Azure Synapse Runtime for Apache Spark 3.2 and 3.3
   • Deprecation of Azure Synapse Runtime for Apache Spark versions 3.2 and 3.3, with version 3.3 disabled by March 2025.
4. Generally Available: Support for .NET 8 using the in-process model in Azure Functions
   • Azure Functions now support .NET 8 using the in-process model, allowing for improved performance and integration.
5. Generally Available: Redis extension for Azure Functions
   • Azure Functions now support Redis as a trigger, expanding the functionality for real-time data processing.
6. Public Preview: Managed Java component (Admin for Spring) in Azure Container Apps
   • Users can now monitor and configure Spring Boot web applications using a managed Admin Java component within Azure Container Apps.
7. Public Preview: Managed identity support for scaling rules in Azure Container Apps
   • Azure Container Apps now support managed identities in scaling rules, enhancing security and management.
8. Generally Available: Azure Container Apps support for peer-to-peer encryption
   • Azure Container Apps now support peer-to-peer encryption, enhancing network security for applications within the environment.
9. Generally Available: Support for Azure Key Vault certificates in Azure Container Apps
   • Users can now store and manage TLS/SSL certificates for Azure Container Apps at the environment level using Azure Key Vault.
10. Generally Available: ExpressRoute Traffic Collector support for provider circuits
    • ExpressRoute Traffic Collector can now be enabled on provider circuits, improving network traffic monitoring.
11. Generally Available: ExpressRoute FastPath Support for Vnet Peering & UDR
    • Announcing support for ExpressRoute FastPath Virtual Network Peering and User Defined Routes (UDR) connectivity.
12. Generally Available: Azure Virtual Network Manager mesh and direct connectivity
    • Enables direct communication between a group of virtual networks without additional hops, improving latency and management.
13. Public Preview: Azure Data Box now supports select cross region transfers
    • Azure Data Box introduces preview support for cross-region data transfers, enhancing data mobility and backup solutions.
14. Retirement: API “Microsoft.AlertsManagement alerts 2018-05-05-preview”
    • The API “Microsoft.AlertsManagement alerts 2018-05-05-preview” will be deprecated on October 10, 2024.
15. Generally Available: Pgvector 0.7 support in Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server
    • Pgvector 0.7 is now available, improving performance and capabilities for PostgreSQL databases.
16. Generally Available: Major version upgrade support for PostgreSQL 16
    • In-place major version upgrade support for PostgreSQL 16 in Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server.
17. Generally Available: Latest PostgreSQL minor versions supported by Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server
    • Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server now supports minor versions 16.3, 15.7, 14.12, 13.15, and 12.19.
18. Generally Available: Multi-select delete in Azure Cosmos DB with Data Explorer
    • Users can now delete multiple items at once in Azure Cosmos DB with Data Explorer.
19. Generally Available: Update records in a Kusto Database
    • The .update command is now generally available, allowing users to modify records directly within Kusto Databases.

July 25, 2024

1. Public Preview: Convert to Azure Premium SSD v2 disks
   • This feature allows users to convert existing Standard SSD, Standard HDD, or Premium SSD v1 disks to Premium SSD v2 (PV2) disks with minimal downtime. The process avoids disk destruction, eliminates the need for snapshots, and doesn’t require waiting for background data copying.
2. Public Preview: New Azure Monitor Auxiliary Logs Plan
   • Azure Monitor introduces a new logs plan called Auxiliary Logs, enhancing the monitoring capabilities and providing more flexible log management options.
3. Public Preview: Azure NetApp Files large volume enhancement
   • Azure NetApp Files now support large volumes with increased throughput up to 12.5 GiB/s and a maximum volume size of 2 PiB, enhancing performance for large-scale applications.
4. Public Preview: 6th generation Intel-based VMs – Dv6/Ev6
   • Azure’s 6th generation Intel-based VMs offer up to 20% higher vCPU performance and a 3x larger L3 cache compared to the previous generation, improving compute-intensive workloads.
5. Generally Available: New capabilities added to Azure Monitor Basic Logs plan
   • Azure Monitor Basic Logs plan now includes new capabilities designed to maximize customer benefit and enhance functionality.
6. Generally Available: AzAcSnap 10 — Azure Application Consistent Snapshot tool updates
   • The AzAcSnap 10 tool is updated with new features to improve snapshot consistency and management for Azure applications.
7. Generally Available: Delete or Reset Azure Site Recovery replication appliance
   • Azure Site Recovery now allows users to delete or reset the replication appliance, providing better control and management of disaster recovery setups.
8. Retirement: App Service Environment v1/v2
   • App Service Environment versions 1 and 2 will be retired on August 31, 2024. Users are advised to transition to newer versions to avoid disruptions.