ESU for WS 2012 R2 with Azure Arc

Question

Hello everyone,

I have the following questions that could not be answered from official Microsoft documents:

• Can I use licenses from an Open Value contract (e.g. Windows Server 2022 + Software Assurance) under Azure for virtual machine licensing?
• Can I use the Extended Security Updates via Azure Arc for my virtual machines (Windows Server 2012 R2 ) running onPrem if I have purchased Windows Server 2022 + Software Assurance in an Open Value contract? I plan to use the downgrade right from Windows Server 2022 to 2012 R2. Then I would like to activate ESUs via Azure Arc through the included Software Assurance. Unfortunately, the Microsoft documents do not say (or I cannot find it) whether licenses from an Open Value contract are eligible for Azure and for the ESUs

Quote:

"In order to purchase ESUs, you must have Software Assurance through Volume Licensing Programs such as an Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS), Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES), or Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE). Alternatively, if your Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 machines are licensed through SPLA or with a Server Subscription, Software Assurance is not required to purchase ESUs."

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/servers/prepare-extended-security-updates?tabs=azure-cloud and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/servers/license-extended-security-updates

--> Open Value is a Volume Licensing Program but not EA, EAS, EES or SCE...

Note: Unfortunately, we cannot yet upgrade our systems to Windows Server 2016, 2019 or 2022 because we are still using an old application that only runs on Windows Server 2012 and must remain onPrem.

Thanks in advance.

Liam

Answer 1

Hey Liam,

Microsoft's documentation on ESU's through Azure Arc is a little confusing as they write examples of software licensing programs that provide Software Assurance, primarily targeting Enterprise scenarios. Microsoft's docs follow this trend as Enterprise are their biggest customers. Open Value is an eligible licensing program which offers Software Assurance, and you can use it for Azure Arc ESU compliance.

The program guide for Software Assurance states Open Value does provide what you need and purchasing a Windows Server 2022 subscription should cover existing Windows Server 2012 instances, as long as you purchase the correct number of cores.

https://download.microsoft.com/download/5/c/7/5c727885-ec15-4920-818b-4d140ec6c38a/Software-Assurance-Program-Guide.pdf

Note that Software Assurance is strictly for compliance reasons and not technical reasons to enable ESUs for Azure Arc. You can always purchase them in Azure ahead of time, work with your licensing manager to ensure your targeted number of servers are covered with Software Assurance, and then assign the ESU licenses to the machines once they are enrolled.

If you want to follow the issue I opened with Microsoft to address this in the documentation, here's the link. https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/azure-docs/issues/117876