OS compatibility check for Azure MANA VMs (due May 28, 2026)

Question

Hi Team,

We received an Azure notification regarding upcoming deployment of MANA-enabled hardware for certain VM types.

I need more details and please let me know if there is any office hours.

Thanks,

Saikumar

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for reaching out regarding the notification on Azure MANA-enabled hardware.

MANA (Microsoft Azure Network Adapter) is a next-generation Azure networking enhancement that improves VM networking performance, latency, resiliency, and NIC firmware management. Starting August 1, 2026, certain existing VM families will gradually be hosted on MANA-enabled hardware depending on region and capacity availability.

In most cases, no immediate action is required. However, it is recommended to validate OS and driver readiness, especially for workloads that rely on Accelerated Networking, custom images, or Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs).

From an impact perspective:

• Supported OS environments will automatically benefit from MANA enhancements without any changes required. • Unsupported or older OS versions will continue to function, but may not fully leverage MANA capabilities, and updates are recommended. • NVA or DPDK-based workloads should be carefully validated with the respective vendor for compatibility. In such cases, the LegacyVMNVA tag can be used temporarily to avoid placement on MANA-enabled hardware until May 31, 2027.

At a high level, the key action is to ensure your OS, drivers, and any third-party network components are validated against MANA support requirements.

Reference: Announcing Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (MANA) support for Existing VM SKUs

Linux VMs with the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter

Windows VMs with the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter

MANA support for Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs)

MANA support for existing VM series

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any queries in comments.

Answer 2

Azure is expanding support for the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (MANA) to additional, existing VM series. When these VM sizes run on MANA-capable hardware, most workloads continue to work as before, but there are some OS and workload compatibility checks that should be completed before the May 28, 2026 timeline.

Key points and what to check:

1. OS compatibility for MANA

• Ensure each VM is running an operating system that supports MANA.
  • For Linux, review: Linux VMs with MANA and ensure a supported kernel is in use. MANA Ethernet drivers are included in Linux kernel 5.15 and later; kernel 6.2 and later add support for features such as InfiniBand/RDMA and DPDK. Earlier or forked kernels may require backported support.
  • For Windows, review: Windows VMs with MANA and ensure the required MANA drivers are installed.
• OS support details for specific distributions and images are listed in the Azure Accelerated Networking Overview.

2. VM series and resizing guidance

• Intel-based workloads are recommended to resize to Intel v6 or later VM series, which support MANA regardless of OS.
• If resizing is not possible (for example, Arm-based workloads or constraints on VM family), update the OS to a MANA-supported version instead.
• MANA-eligible VM series can run on both Mellanox (ConnectX-3, ConnectX-4 Lx, ConnectX-5) and MANA NICs, so existing mlx4 and mlx5 support should remain present.

3. Behavior if OS is not MANA-capable

• If a VM lands on MANA-capable hardware but the OS does not support MANA:
  • Networking automatically falls back to the NetVSC network adapter.
  • The MANA virtual function (VF) may be visible, but no interfaces are exposed by the MANA driver.
  • Performance is expected to be comparable to SR-IOV-based ConnectX-3/4 Lx/5 devices, but workloads with a high number of concurrent connections may see reduced performance.
• For maximum performance and resiliency, use an OS that supports MANA and, where possible, migrate to newer VM series designed for MANA.

4. How to check if a Linux VM is using MANA For Linux VMs:

• In Azure portal, confirm Accelerated Networking is enabled on at least one NIC:
  1. Go to the VM → Networking → select the NIC → check “Accelerated Networking” under Essentials.
• Inside the VM, verify the MANA NIC is present as a PCI device:
  • Run lspci and look for:
    • 7870:00:00.0 Ethernet controller: Microsoft Corporation Device 00ba
• Verify the MANA Ethernet driver is available in the kernel:
  • Run:
    • grep /mana*.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/modules.builtin || find /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel -name mana*.ko*
  • Expected output includes a path like:
    • kernel/drivers/net/ethernet/microsoft/mana/mana.ko
• If needed, update the Linux kernel (for example, to 5.15+ or newer) according to the distribution’s guidance.

5. Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs) and DPDK workloads

• NVAs running on existing VM series can be placed on MANA-capable hardware and are more sensitive to NIC/driver changes.
  • Ensure the NVA VM series and OS are supported per “MANA support for existing VM series”.
  • Confirm with the NVA vendor that the appliance explicitly supports MANA.
• DPDK-based workloads are impacted if they do not support MANA.
  • Update DPDK-based applications to meet the minimum MANA compatibility requirements described in “Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (MANA) and DPDK on Linux”.

6. Existing VMs and placement on MANA hardware

• Both existing and new VMs in supported series may run on MANA-capable hardware:
  • Existing VMs can land on MANA hardware after a stop–deallocate and start operation or during standard Azure maintenance.
  • New VMs created in supported series are also eligible to be deployed on MANA hardware.

7. AKS and VNet encryption

• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) instances are not impacted and will continue to perform as expected on MANA hardware.
• VNet encryption is not impacted and continues to function as expected on MANA hardware.

8. If issues are encountered

• If any connectivity, performance, or compatibility issues appear after VMs move to MANA-capable hardware:
  • Validate workload behavior after deployment or resizing.
  • If problems persist, open a support request through the Azure portal (Help + support) so a support engineer can assist with troubleshooting and next steps.

9. Office hours

• The provided material does not list specific “office hours” for MANA. For direct assistance, use Azure Support via the Azure portal as described above.

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References:

• MANA support for existing VM series
• MANA support for Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs)
• Linux VMs with the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter
• Microsoft Azure Network Adapter overview
• Windows VMs with the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter