System updates

Jagadeesh J 50

How to upgrade multiple Azure VM's without update management ? Is it possible with kernel upgrade or any other manual to follow? Suggestions please

Jagadeesh J 50 Reputation points

2023-03-15T11:49:51.33+00:00

Do we've any proper docs for that ? If yes, kindly share it to me. I've mixture of server upto 120 Vm's like windows data centers and centos and ubuntu.

Kindly share if any other ways also and confirm me one thing about the running applications, there will be any impact with versions ?
Jagadeesh J 50 Reputation points

2023-03-16T09:02:27.24+00:00

Hi thanks for sharing the links, unfortunately these are showing 404. Maybe azure removed these pages ?

FYI

Shivam Gupta 0

Upgrading multiple Azure VMs without using Update Management can be done manually, but it can be a time-consuming process. One option is to perform a kernel upgrade on each VM, but this may not address all necessary updates.

1. Connect to the VM via SSH or RDP.
2. Check the current kernel version using the command "uname -r".
3. Update the package list using the command "sudo apt-get update".
4. Install the latest kernel package using the command "sudo apt-get install linux-image-$(uname -r)".
5. Reboot the VM to apply the kernel upgrade using the command "sudo reboot".

You can repeat these steps for each VM that needs a kernel upgrade. However, keep in mind that this may not be sufficient to address all necessary updates. It's generally recommended to use Azure's Update Management feature to centrally manage updates across multiple VMs.

Shivam Gupta 0

Yes, there are several Microsoft documentation pages available that provide guidance on upgrading Azure VMs manually. Here are some relevant links:
	•	Upgrading the Linux kernel on Azure VMs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/kernel-upgrade
	•	Upgrading Windows Server on Azure VMs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/upgrade-server
	•	Upgrading Ubuntu Server on Azure VMs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/update-ubuntu
	•	Upgrading CentOS on Azure VMs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/update-centos

These guides provide step-by-step instructions for performing upgrades, as well as some additional considerations to keep in mind. However, keep in mind that manually upgrading VMs can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially when dealing with a large number of VMs.
In terms of application impact, it's possible that upgrading the kernel or other software components could have an effect on running applications. It's important to thoroughly test any changes in a non-production environment before rolling them out to production systems. Additionally, it's a good idea to have a rollback plan in place in case of issues during or after the upgrade process.

deherman-MSFT 35,636 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-03-27T21:11:21.3533333+00:00

@Jagadeesh J

Hello,

I hope this has been helpful! We appreciate hearing from you and would love to help others who may have the same question. Accepting answers helps increase visibility of this question for other members of the Microsoft Q&A community. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!
deherman-MSFT 35,636 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-03-29T16:18:26.51+00:00

@Jagadeesh J

Did you still need help? Let me know if you have any other questions.

Accepted answer

deherman-MSFT 35,636 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-03-16T17:01:05.4333333+00:00

@Jagadeesh J

Yes, there is a way to update your VMs in Azure without using Update Management, but it can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. If any of your VMs are in a scale set you can use Automatic OS image upgrade, which helps ease update management by safely and automatically upgrading the OS disk for all instances in a scale set.

Another option is to use Automatic VM guest patching, which helps ease update management by safely and automatically patching virtual machines to maintain security compliance. However, this option only applies patches classified as Critical or Security and may not cover all update scenarios.

You could also consider Automatic Extension Upgrade, which helps ease update management by safely and automatically upgrading the extensions for your VMs or scale sets. However, this option only works for extensions and may not address all software components.

Another option would be to update each VM individually. You might simplify this process by using Run Command which is an option for both Windows and Linux. This would allow you to execute scripts on the VMs which could include your update and reboot commands.

However, keep in mind that manually upgrading VMs can be challenging and risky, especially when dealing with a large number of VMs. It’s important to thoroughly test any changes in a non-production environment before rolling them out to production systems. Additionally, it’s a good idea to have a rollback plan in place in case of issues during or after the upgrade process.

It’s generally recommended to use Azure’s Update Management feature to centrally manage updates across multiple VMs. This way, you can benefit from features such as update compliance assessment, scope configuration, scheduled events notifications, and platform maintenance awareness.

Please don’t forget to "Accept the answer" and “up-vote” wherever the information provided helps you, this can be beneficial to other community members.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Jagadeesh J 50 Reputation points

2023-03-17T09:20:54.6966667+00:00

@deherman-MSFT Thank you for your detailed explanation and suggestions. kindly let me know the commands/docs for the manual upgrade.

deherman-MSFT 35,636 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-03-17T18:11:38.5866667+00:00

Each OS and version will be different. For Windows checkout this blog which walks through the PS commands. You could use Run Command to execute these without logging in to the servers.
Ubuntu commands would be something like "apt-get update" "apt-get upgrade". CentOS, "yum update". Again I highly recommend working with one of the existing solutions which takes out all the guesswork and has built in features like error handling and retries.
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