Azure Arc extension management on Azure Stack HCI

Applies to: Azure Stack HCI, versions 23H2 and 22H2

This article describes how to install, upgrade, and manage Azure Arc extensions on Azure Stack HCI server machines.

Customer-managed Azure Arc extensions on Azure Stack HCI

With Azure Stack HCI, you can install, uninstall and update Azure Arc extensions on your Azure Stack HCI systems. Azure Arc lets you run hybrid services like monitoring and Windows Admin Center in the Azure portal.

Here are the individual extensions you can install and manage.

Azure-managed extensions in Azure Stack HCI

Once you've successfully registered your new Azure Stack HCI cluster with Azure, Azure-managed extensions are automatically installed on your cluster. These extensions are essential for the functionality and quality of your system and can't be uninstalled. You can manage the behavior of these extensions in the Azure portal by navigating to the Extensions page and selecting the Settings menu.

If you have an existing Azure Stack HCI cluster that is registered to Azure without these extensions, a banner shows on the Overview or Extensions page in the Azure portal. You can use the information in the banner to guide you through installing these extensions.

Here are the Azure-managed extensions:

Install an extension

You can install extensions from the Capabilities tab for your Azure Stack HCI Arc-enabled servers as shown in the screenshot. You can use the capabilities tab to install most extensions.

Screenshot of the Capabilities tab and options in the Azure portal.

When you install an extension in the Azure portal, it's a cluster-aware operation. The extension is installed on all servers of the cluster. If you add more servers to your cluster, all the extensions installed on your cluster are automatically added to the new servers.

Check the extension status

You can check the status of an extension on each server from the Extensions page by viewing the status column of the grid.

Screenshot of the different extension statuses in the Azure portal.

How the extension upgrade works

When published by the extension publisher team, the extension upgrade process replaces the existing extension version with a newly supported one. By default, the automatic extension upgrade feature is enabled for all extensions deployed on Azure Stack HCI Arc-enabled clusters unless you explicitly opt-out of automatic upgrades.

Currently, automatic extension upgrades are only supported in the Windows Admin Center extension, but more extensions will be added in the future.

Note

By default, all extensions are set up to enable automatic upgrades, even if an extension doesn't support the automatic extension upgrade. However, this default setting has no effect until the extension publisher chooses to support automatic extension upgrade.

Enable automatic extension upgrade

For some extensions, you can enable automatic upgrades through extension management.

To enable an automatic upgrade, navigate to the Extensions page and perform these steps:

  1. Choose the extension you want to enable automatic upgrade on.

  2. Select Enable automatic upgrade from the top menu

    Screenshot of how to enable auto upgrade in the Azure portal.

  3. When prompted to confirm your intent, select OK.

    Screenshot of the notification to enable auto upgrade in the Azure portal.

Manual extension upgrade via the Azure portal

The manual extension upgrade works like the Automatic extension upgrade. On an Azure Stack HCI Arc-enabled cluster, when you manually upgrade an extension, Azure saves the version you've selected. Azure then attempts to upgrade the extension on all servers in the cluster to that version.

On some servers, if the extension upgrade fails the platform attempts to upgrade to the selected version during the next Azure Stack HCI cloud sync.

Use the manual workflow in these scenarios:

  • A new version of the extension is available and you want to upgrade it manually.

  • The extension's automatic upgrade option is disabled and there's a version mismatch across different servers of the Azure Stack HCI cluster.

To manually upgrade an extension, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Extensions page.

  2. Choose the extension you want to upgrade and select Settings from the top menu.

    Screenshot of how to manually upgrade an extension in the Azure portal.

  3. Choose the latest version and select Save.

Disable automatic extension upgrade

You can disable automatic upgrades for certain extensions in the Azure portal. To disable automatic upgrades, navigate to the Extensions page and perform these steps:

  1. Choose the extension you want to disable the automatic upgrade on.

  2. Select Disable automatic upgrade from the top menu.

    Screenshot of how to disable auto upgrade in the Azure portal.

  3. When prompted to confirm your intent, select OK.

    Screenshot of notification when you disable auto upgrade in the Azure portal.

Check the extension upgrade history

You can view the Activity Log tab on individual Azure Arc-enabled server resources, resource groups, and subscriptions to check the history of automatic extension upgrades for individual cluster servers. For more information, see Check automatic extension upgrade history.

Availability-first updates

For a group of Azure Stack HCI Arc-enabled clusters undergoing an upgrade, the Azure platform used the Automatic extension upgrade model to orchestrate upgrades.

Timing of automatic extension upgrades

When a new version of a supported extension is published, it becomes available for installation and manual upgrade on Azure Arc-enabled servers. Upgrades are issued in batches across Azure regions and subscriptions, so you might see an extension upgrade occur on some servers before others. For more information, see Timing of automatic extension upgrades.

To upgrade an extension immediately, see Manual extension upgrade via the Azure portal.

Automatic rollback and retries

If an extension upgrade fails, Azure performs the actions associated with Automatic rollback and retries in an attempt to repair the extension.

If you continue to have trouble with an extension upgrade, you can disable automatic extension upgrade. When you disable the automatic upgrade, it prevents system retries while you troubleshoot the issue. You can enable automatic extension upgrade again when you're ready.

Upgrades with multiple extensions

If multiple extension upgrades are available for a machine, they might be batched together. However, each extension upgrade is applied individually on the machine. For more information, see Extension upgrades with multiple extensions.

Uninstall an extension

If desired, you can uninstall some extensions from your Azure Stack HCI clusters in the Azure portal. To uninstall an extension, use these steps:

  1. Go to the Extensions page.

  2. Choose the extension you want to uninstall. The uninstall button isn't available for Azure-managed extensions.

    Screenshot of how to uninstall an extension in the Azure portal.

  3. Select Uninstall from the top menu.

  4. Confirm the intent and select Yes.

    Screenshot of the notification to uninstall an extension in the Azure portal.

Troubleshooting extension errors

Extension Status: Failed

Screenshot of how to troubleshoot an extension in the Azure portal.

Recommendation: For an extension with a failed status, select the Failed (View details) link. View all the information about the failure and apply the troubleshooting tips.

Screenshot of tips to troubleshoot a failed extension.

Next step

Learn about Virtual machine extension management with Azure Arc-enabled servers.