FAQ for Foundry Tools disconnected containers

General questions

Which services are available as disconnected containers?

Azure AI containers give developers access to the same intelligent APIs that are available in Azure, but with the benefits of containerization. Disconnected containers are offered through commitment tier pricing, each offering a discounted rate compared to the Standard pricing model. With commitment tier pricing, you can commit to using the following Foundry Tools features for a fixed fee, enabling you to have a predictable total cost based on the needs of your workload.

For more information about commitment tier pricing, reach out to your Microsoft account team or your Microsoft contact. You can also email azureaicontainergating@service.microsoft.com. For information about the available disconnected containers, see Use Docker containers in disconnected environments.

Will containers be available for other Foundry Tools offerings, and what's the next set of containers I should expect?

Microsoft plans to make more Foundry Tools offerings available as containers. Contact your local Microsoft account manager to get updates on new container releases and other Foundry Tools announcements.

How do I get access to disconnected containers?

Fill out and submit the request form to request access to the container. Access is limited to customers that meet the following requirements:

• Your organization must have an enterprise agreement or an equivalent agreement, and it should be identified as a strategic customer or partner with Microsoft.
• Valid business scenario or use case. Disconnected containers are expected to run fully offline. Your use cases must meet one of the following or similar requirements:
  • Environment or devices with zero connectivity to the internet.
  • Remote location that occasionally has internet access.
  • Organization under strict regulation that prohibits sending any kind of data back to the cloud.
• Application completed as instructed. Pay close attention to the guidance provided throughout the application to ensure that you provide all the necessary information required for approval.

What if my use case can't satisfy the requirements listed above?

If your use case can't satisfy the preceding requirements but you're interested in running containers on-premises, you might be able to use connected containers.

What are some reasons my application might be denied?

Possible causes for a denied application are as follows:

• Not being an existing Microsoft partner or enterprise agreement customer.
• Invalid Azure subscription ID. Your ID must belong to the applicant organization, and you can't apply on behalf of other organizations.
• The application was submitted with a personal email address (for example, @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, or @yahoo.com).
• Invalid justification or business scenario provided.
• Other missing or inaccurate data.

How long does it take to approve my application to access disconnected containers?

After you submit the form, the Foundry Tools team reviews it and emails you a decision within 10 business days.

After your application is approved, the Foundry Tools gating team communicates details for purchasing the commitment tier pricing, along with instructions to download and run the containers.

If you have any questions about the application, gating process, or other information needed, email azureaicontainergating@service.microsoft.com.

How do I download the disconnected containers?

These containers are hosted on the Microsoft Container Registry and available for download on Microsoft Artifact Registry and Microsoft Container Registry (MCR). You can't run the container if your Azure subscription isn't approved after you complete the request form. After you're approved, follow the steps in Use Docker containers in disconnected environments.

What is the service-level agreement (SLA) for Azure AI containers?

Foundry Tools disconnected containers don't have an SLA, because you control the configuration of the resources used. You're free to deploy containers on-premises and define the host environments.

Are these containers available in sovereign clouds?

The sovereign cloud consists of the Azure Government, Azure Germany, and Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet clouds. Currently, you can create a disconnected container resource from the public cloud.

Versioning

How are containers updated to the latest version?

You can choose when to update the containers that you deploy. Containers are marked with standard Docker tags such as latest to indicate the most recent version. Pull the latest versions of containers as they're released. For details about how to get notified when an image is updated, see Azure Container Registry webhooks.

What versions are supported?

The current and last major version of the container are supported. Stay current to get the latest technology and to remain compliant.

How are updates versioned?

Major version changes indicate that there's a breaking change to the API signature. This generally coincides with major version changes to the corresponding Foundry Tools cloud offering. Minor version changes indicate bug fixes, model updates, or new features that don't make a breaking change to the API signature.

Technical questions

How can I diagnose potential errors in my deployment environment?

If you're having trouble running a Foundry Tools container, you can try using the Microsoft diagnostics container. Use this container to diagnose common errors in your deployment environment that might prevent Azure AI containers from functioning as expected.

To get the container, use the following docker pull command:

docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/azure-cognitive-services/diagnostic

Then run the container. Replace {ENDPOINT_URI} with your endpoint, and replace {API_KEY} with your key to your resource:

docker run --rm mcr.microsoft.com/azure-cognitive-services/diagnostic \
eula=accept \
Billing={ENDPOINT_URI} \
ApiKey={API_KEY}

The container will test for network connectivity to the billing endpoint.

Are these containers compatible with OpenShift?

These containers aren't tested with OpenShift, but generally, Azure AI containers should run on any platform that supports Docker images. If you use OpenShift, run the containers as the root user.

How do I provide product feedback and feature recommendations?

Voice your concerns publicly, and up-vote others who have done the same where potential issues overlap. You can use the feedback tool for both product feedback and feature recommendations.

What status messages and errors do Azure AI containers return?

Here are the status messages and errors:

Status	Description
Valid	Your API key is valid. No action is needed.
Invalid	Your API key is invalid. You must provide a valid API key to configure the container for use in disconnected environments. Find your API key and service region in the Azure portal, in the Keys and Endpoint section for your Foundry Tools resource.
Mismatch	You've provided an API key or endpoint for a different kind of Foundry Tools resource. Find your API key and service region in the Azure portal, in the Keys and Endpoint section for your Foundry Tools resource.
CouldNotConnect	The container couldn't connect to the endpoint.
OutOfQuota	The API key has exceeded the quota. You can either upgrade your pricing tier or wait for additional quota to become available. Find your tier in the Azure portal, in the Pricing Tier section of your Foundry Tools resource.
ContainerUseUnauthorized	The provided API key isn't authorized for use with this container. You're likely using a gated container, so make sure your Azure subscription ID is approved by submitting an online request.
Unknown	The server is currently unable to process requests.

How do I get support?

Customer support channels are the same as for the Foundry Tools cloud-based APIs. All Azure AI containers include logging features that help Microsoft and the community support customers. Here are options for more support:

• Find contact information in your Azure support plan.
• Try these areas of Stack Overflow, a question-and-answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers:
  • Foundry Tools
  • Microsoft Cognitive

How does billing work?

You're charged based on the commitment tier that you purchase. Choose an annual commitment plan based on the needs of your workload. You can customize the Commitment tier disconnected containers DC0 pricing tier by selecting one of several commitment tier options.

Each commitment tier offers a discounted rate compared to the Standard pricing model. Commitment plans are charged annually, starting from the day the resource was created. You can add more units at any time in the year, charged pro-rated based on the number of days remaining in the billing year. For more information, see the following pricing pages:

Tip

To find the pricing information for disconnected containers on these pricing pages, scroll down to the Commitment Tiers section.

• Speech Services for:
  • Speech to text
  • Custom speech to text
  • Neural text to speech
• Text Translation (Standard)
• Azure Language in Foundry Tools pricing for:
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Key Phrase Extraction
  • Language Detection
• Azure Vision in Foundry Tools - Read
• Document Intelligence - Custom/Invoice

How do I monitor the container's usage?

Docker containers running in a disconnected environment write usage records to a volume, where they're collected over time. These containers also provide a REST endpoint to generate a report about usage. For more information, see Use containers in disconnected environments.

What is the current support warranty for containers?

Microsoft's standard warranty for enterprise software applies when a container image is formally announced as generally available (GA). There's no warranty for container images in preview.

What hardware is required to run these containers?

Azure AI containers are x64-based containers that can run any compatible Linux node, virtual machine (VM), and edge device that supports x64 Linux Docker containers. They all run on CPU processors. You can find the minimum and recommended configurations for each container offering on these pages:

• Speech Service for:
  • Speech to text
  • Custom speech to text
  • Neural text to speech
• Text Translation (Standard)
• Azure Language in Foundry Tools documentation for:
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Key Phrase Extraction
  • Language Detection
  • Named Entity Recognition
• Azure Vision in Foundry Tools - Read
• Document Intelligence - Custom/Invoice

Are these containers currently supported on Windows?

Azure AI containers are Linux containers, but there's some support for Linux containers on Windows. For more information about Linux containers on Windows, see the Docker documentation.

What compliance certifications do containers have?

Azure AI containers don't have any compliance certifications.

Azure AI containers give developers access to the same intelligent APIs that are available in Azure, but with the benefits of containerization. Disconnected containers are offered through commitment tier pricing, each offering a discounted rate compared to the Standard pricing model. With commitment tier pricing, you can commit to using the following Foundry Tools features for a fixed fee, enabling you to have a predictable total cost based on the needs of your workload.

For more information about commitment tier pricing, reach out to your Microsoft account team or your Microsoft contact. You can also email azureaicontainergating@service.microsoft.com. For information about the available disconnected containers, see Use Docker containers in disconnected environments.

Microsoft plans to make more Foundry Tools offerings available as containers. Contact your local Microsoft account manager to get updates on new container releases and other Foundry Tools announcements.

Fill out and submit the request form to request access to the container. Access is limited to customers that meet the following requirements:

• Your organization must have an enterprise agreement or an equivalent agreement, and it should be identified as a strategic customer or partner with Microsoft.
• Valid business scenario or use case. Disconnected containers are expected to run fully offline. Your use cases must meet one of the following or similar requirements:
  • Environment or devices with zero connectivity to the internet.
  • Remote location that occasionally has internet access.
  • Organization under strict regulation that prohibits sending any kind of data back to the cloud.
• Application completed as instructed. Pay close attention to the guidance provided throughout the application to ensure that you provide all the necessary information required for approval.

If your use case can't satisfy the preceding requirements but you're interested in running containers on-premises, you might be able to use connected containers.

Possible causes for a denied application are as follows:

• Not being an existing Microsoft partner or enterprise agreement customer.
• Invalid Azure subscription ID. Your ID must belong to the applicant organization, and you can't apply on behalf of other organizations.
• The application was submitted with a personal email address (for example, @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, or @yahoo.com).
• Invalid justification or business scenario provided.
• Other missing or inaccurate data.

After you submit the form, the Foundry Tools team reviews it and emails you a decision within 10 business days.

After your application is approved, the Foundry Tools gating team communicates details for purchasing the commitment tier pricing, along with instructions to download and run the containers.

If you have any questions about the application, gating process, or other information needed, email azureaicontainergating@service.microsoft.com.

These containers are hosted on the Microsoft Container Registry and available for download on Microsoft Artifact Registry and Microsoft Container Registry (MCR). You can't run the container if your Azure subscription isn't approved after you complete the request form. After you're approved, follow the steps in Use Docker containers in disconnected environments.

Foundry Tools disconnected containers don't have an SLA, because you control the configuration of the resources used. You're free to deploy containers on-premises and define the host environments.

The sovereign cloud consists of the Azure Government, Azure Germany, and Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet clouds. Currently, you can create a disconnected container resource from the public cloud.

You can choose when to update the containers that you deploy. Containers are marked with standard Docker tags such as latest to indicate the most recent version. Pull the latest versions of containers as they're released. For details about how to get notified when an image is updated, see Azure Container Registry webhooks.

The current and last major version of the container are supported. Stay current to get the latest technology and to remain compliant.

Major version changes indicate that there's a breaking change to the API signature. This generally coincides with major version changes to the corresponding Foundry Tools cloud offering. Minor version changes indicate bug fixes, model updates, or new features that don't make a breaking change to the API signature.

If you're having trouble running a Foundry Tools container, you can try using the Microsoft diagnostics container. Use this container to diagnose common errors in your deployment environment that might prevent Azure AI containers from functioning as expected.

To get the container, use the following docker pull command:

docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/azure-cognitive-services/diagnostic

Then run the container. Replace {ENDPOINT_URI} with your endpoint, and replace {API_KEY} with your key to your resource:

docker run --rm mcr.microsoft.com/azure-cognitive-services/diagnostic \
eula=accept \
Billing={ENDPOINT_URI} \
ApiKey={API_KEY}

The container will test for network connectivity to the billing endpoint.

These containers aren't tested with OpenShift, but generally, Azure AI containers should run on any platform that supports Docker images. If you use OpenShift, run the containers as the root user.

Voice your concerns publicly, and up-vote others who have done the same where potential issues overlap. You can use the feedback tool for both product feedback and feature recommendations.

Here are the status messages and errors:

Status	Description
Valid	Your API key is valid. No action is needed.
Invalid	Your API key is invalid. You must provide a valid API key to configure the container for use in disconnected environments. Find your API key and service region in the Azure portal, in the Keys and Endpoint section for your Foundry Tools resource.
Mismatch	You've provided an API key or endpoint for a different kind of Foundry Tools resource. Find your API key and service region in the Azure portal, in the Keys and Endpoint section for your Foundry Tools resource.
CouldNotConnect	The container couldn't connect to the endpoint.
OutOfQuota	The API key has exceeded the quota. You can either upgrade your pricing tier or wait for additional quota to become available. Find your tier in the Azure portal, in the Pricing Tier section of your Foundry Tools resource.
ContainerUseUnauthorized	The provided API key isn't authorized for use with this container. You're likely using a gated container, so make sure your Azure subscription ID is approved by submitting an online request.
Unknown	The server is currently unable to process requests.

Customer support channels are the same as for the Foundry Tools cloud-based APIs. All Azure AI containers include logging features that help Microsoft and the community support customers. Here are options for more support:

• Find contact information in your Azure support plan.
• Try these areas of Stack Overflow, a question-and-answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers:
  • Foundry Tools
  • Microsoft Cognitive

You're charged based on the commitment tier that you purchase. Choose an annual commitment plan based on the needs of your workload. You can customize the Commitment tier disconnected containers DC0 pricing tier by selecting one of several commitment tier options.

Each commitment tier offers a discounted rate compared to the Standard pricing model. Commitment plans are charged annually, starting from the day the resource was created. You can add more units at any time in the year, charged pro-rated based on the number of days remaining in the billing year. For more information, see the following pricing pages:

Tip

To find the pricing information for disconnected containers on these pricing pages, scroll down to the Commitment Tiers section.

• Speech Services for:
  • Speech to text
  • Custom speech to text
  • Neural text to speech
• Text Translation (Standard)
• Azure Language in Foundry Tools pricing for:
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Key Phrase Extraction
  • Language Detection
• Azure Vision in Foundry Tools - Read
• Document Intelligence - Custom/Invoice

Docker containers running in a disconnected environment write usage records to a volume, where they're collected over time. These containers also provide a REST endpoint to generate a report about usage. For more information, see Use containers in disconnected environments.

Microsoft's standard warranty for enterprise software applies when a container image is formally announced as generally available (GA). There's no warranty for container images in preview.

Azure AI containers are x64-based containers that can run any compatible Linux node, virtual machine (VM), and edge device that supports x64 Linux Docker containers. They all run on CPU processors. You can find the minimum and recommended configurations for each container offering on these pages:

• Speech Service for:
  • Speech to text
  • Custom speech to text
  • Neural text to speech
• Text Translation (Standard)
• Azure Language in Foundry Tools documentation for:
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Key Phrase Extraction
  • Language Detection
  • Named Entity Recognition
• Azure Vision in Foundry Tools - Read
• Document Intelligence - Custom/Invoice

Azure AI containers are Linux containers, but there's some support for Linux containers on Windows. For more information about Linux containers on Windows, see the Docker documentation.

Azure AI containers don't have any compliance certifications.