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What's new with SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines?

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Applies to: SQL Server on Azure VM

When you deploy an Azure virtual machine (VM) with SQL Server installed on it, either manually, or through a built-in image, you can use Azure features to improve your experience. This article summarizes the documentation changes associated with new features and improvements in the recent releases of SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines (VMs). To learn more about SQL Server on Azure VMs, see the overview.

For updates made in previous years, see the What's new archive.

Note

Microsoft Entra ID was previously known as Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).

Preview

The following table lists the features of SQL Server on Azure VMs that are currently in preview.

Note

Features currently in preview are available under supplemental terms of use, review for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability. SQL Server on Azure VMs provide previews to give you a chance to evaluate and share feedback with the product group on features before they become generally available (GA).

Feature Details
Premium SSD v2 in the Azure portal Provision your SQL Server on Azure VM with Premium SSD v2 disks in the Azure portal for improved throughput and performance.

General availability (GA)

The following table lists features of SQL Server on Azure VMs that have been made generally available (GA) within the last 12 months:

Changes Month Details
Azure Update Manager April 2024 Automatically patch multiple SQL Server VMs at scale with the Azure Update Manager integrated in to the SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal, including Cumulative Updates.
Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions March 2024 Azure Functions supports function triggers for SQL Server on Azure VMs.
Azure Elastic SAN February 2024 Place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost.
SQL VM health notifications September 2023 The Overview page of the SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal now displays information about the health of the SQL IaaS Agent extension, as well as error conditions when the state is unhealthy or failed. Review Troubleshoot the extension to learn more.
Configure AG from Azure portal August 2023 Deploy an Always On availability group to multiple subnets by using the Azure portal.
Azure SQL bindings for Azure Functions May 2023 Azure Functions supports input bindings, and output bindings for the Azure SQL and SQL Server products.
Auto upgrade SQL IaaS Agent extension April 2023 It's now possible to enable the automatic upgrade of your SQL IaaS Agent extension to ensure you're automatically receiving the latest updates to the extension every month
Microsoft Entra authentication April 2023 Configure Microsoft Entra authentication for your SQL Server on Azure VMs.

Documentation changes

Learn about significant changes to the SQL Server on Azure VMs documentation. For previous years, see the What's new archive.

April 2024

Changes Details
Azure Update Manager GA Automatically patch multiple SQL Server VMs at scale with the Azure Update Manager integrated in to the SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal, including Cumulative Updates, which isn't currently possible with the existing Automated Patching feature. This feature is now generally available. To learn more, review Azure Update Manager for SQL Server on Azure VMs.

March 2024

Changes Details
Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions GA Azure Functions supports function triggers for SQL Server on Azure VMs. This feature is now generally available. Review SQL triggers for Azure Functions to learn more.
Deploy SQL VM with Premium SSD v2 in Azure portal preview For improved throughput and performance, provision your SQL Server on Azure VMs with Premium SSD v2 disks by using the Azure portal. Deploying your SQL Server VMs with Premium SSD v2 in the Azure portal is currently in preview. To learn more, review Deploy SQL Server on Azure VMs with Premium SSD v2.

February 2024

Changes Details
Azure Elastic SAN GA You can now place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost. The Azure Elastic SAN is now generally available (GA). Review Azure Elastic SAN to learn more.
Configure log shipping Learn to configure log shipping between two SQL Server on Azure VMs. Review Configure log shipping to learn more.

October 2023

Changes Details
Azure Elastic SAN preview You can now place your SQL Server workloads on an Azure Elastic SAN for improved performance, throughput, and cost. The Azure Elastic SAN is currently in preview. Review Azure Elastic SAN to learn more.

September 2023

Changes Details
SQL VM health notifications The Overview page of the SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal now displays information about the health of the SQL IaaS Agent extension, as well as error conditions when the state is unhealthy or failed. Review Troubleshoot the extension to learn more.
Microsoft Entra ID rebrand Azure Active Directory has been rebranded to Microsoft Entra ID.

Archive

For updates made in previous years, see the What's new archive.

Contribute to content

To contribute to the Azure SQL documentation, see the Docs contributor guide.

Additional resources

Windows VMs:

Linux VMs: