Can't create v7 VM's via NAP on AKS

Question

I'm trying to create a node pool using NAP with E2ads_v7 VM type (also tried with D2ads_v7 and E4ads_v7 with same results), in west europe. - using ephimeral MVMe disk.
I can successfully create VM's of this type outside AKS.
in AKS however, karpenter is returining an error:

NodePool requirements filtered out all compatible available instance types

I've tried exactly the same actions with v6 VM's (otherwise identical) and that works.

Question therefore is - why isn't this working? are v7 VM's not supported yet in AKS? this is in west europe. I do have quota, and as above, creating the same VM outside AKS works, so I don't think its a capacity issue (I'm only trying to create a single VM).
Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Ben,

Thank you once again.

There isn't a dedicated, real-time status page that specifically tracks the rollout support for specific VM series (like the v7) within Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

However, you can use the following official resources to monitor for relevant announcements and the overall deployment status of AKS updates in your region:

https://releases.aks.azure.com/webpage/index.html

https://github.com/Azure/AKS/releases

My advice is to check the AKS GitHub release notes for any mention of v7-series VMs. If there’s no announcement yet, you can create a support ticket to get an official statement and timeline.

Cheers.

Answer 2

Hello Ben Ritchie,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

I understand that you cannot create v7 VM's via NAP on AKS.

The problem is that NAP cannot create v7 VMs because the NodePool constraints are too restrictive and/or the SKU is unavailable, and NAP does not guarantee provisioning of a specific SKU. To fix the issue, follow the below steps in order:

Step 1:

Ensure your NodePool allows broad SKU families, NOT a single SKU.

requirements:
  - key: "node.kubernetes.io/instance-type"
    operator: In
    values:
      - Standard_D*
      - Standard_E*

Because: https://blog.aks.azure.com

• NAP needs flexibility to choose available SKUs
• Over-restriction = failure

Step 2:

Do not use your yaml values to be strictily on Standard_Dv7. The correct approach is to allow multiple generations:

v5, v6, v7 families

Step 3: Run in bash command:

az vm list-skus --location <region> --size Standard_D --all -o table

To validate region and zone availability. Confirm that SKU available and Zone supported

Step 4:

Check for compatibility:

• Managed identity (NOT service principal) - https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/aks/node-autoprovision
• Supported networking (Azure CNI / Cilium) - https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/aks/node-autoprovision-networking
• No unsupported features enabled

Step 5: Run the below bash command

kubectl get nodeclaims

kubectl describe nodeclaim <name>

To inspect NodeClaims and look for:

• "insufficient capacity"
• "no instance types match constraints"

Step 6:

Avoid bad config or over-constraining of resources that can be similar to the below:

cpu: "64"
memory: "256Gi"
instance-type: only v7

Relax requirements and allow multiple SKUs. From AKS engineering:

• Use broad SKU families and avoid strict constraints to allow NAP to handle capacity dynamically.

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

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