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Azure Stack Hub release notes

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This article describes the contents of Azure Stack Hub update packages. The update includes improvements and fixes for the latest release of Azure Stack Hub.

To access release notes for a different version, use the version selector dropdown above the table of contents on the left.

Important

This update package is only for Azure Stack Hub integrated systems. Do not apply this update package to the Azure Stack Development Kit (ASDK).

Important

If your Azure Stack Hub instance is behind by more than two updates, it's considered out of compliance. You must update to at least the minimum supported version to receive support.

Important

If your Azure Stack Hub instance does not have an active support contract with the hardware partner, it's considered out of compliance. You must have an active support contract for the hardware to receive support.

Update planning

Before applying the update, make sure to review the following information:

For help with troubleshooting updates and the update process, see Troubleshoot patch and update issues for Azure Stack Hub.

Download the update

You can download the Azure Stack Hub update package using the Azure Stack Hub update downloader tool.

2206 build reference

The Azure Stack Hub 2206 update build number is 1.2206.1.24.

Update type

The Azure Stack Hub 2206 update build type is Full.

The 2206 update has the following expected runtimes based on our internal testing:

  • 4 nodes: 8-28 hours
  • 8 nodes: 11-30 hours
  • 12 nodes: 14-34 hours
  • 16 nodes: 17-40 hours

Exact update durations typically depend on the capacity used on your system by tenant workloads, your system network connectivity (if connected to the internet), and your system hardware specifications. Durations that are shorter or longer than the expected value are not uncommon and do not require action by Azure Stack Hub operators unless the update fails. This runtime approximation is specific to the 2206 update and should not be compared to other Azure Stack Hub updates.

For more information about update build types, see Manage updates in Azure Stack Hub.

What's new

Changes

  • SQL RP V2 and MySQL RP V2 are only available to subscriptions that have been granted access. If you are still using SQL RP V1 and MySQL RP V1, it is strongly recommended that you open a support case to go through the upgrade process before you upgrading to ASH 2206.
  • This release provides support for Azure Stack Hub root certificate rotation. Previously, secret rotation did not rotate the root. You will be able to rotate the root certificate after installing the update. To do so, perform internal secret rotation on or before the next time you are notified via expiration alerts. Failure to rotate the root certificate and/or perform internal secret rotation might result in your stamp becoming unrecoverable.

Fixes

  • Fix to improve SLB throughput.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented access to the storage subsystem when scale unit nodes are rebooted.

Security updates

For information about security updates in this update of Azure Stack Hub, see Azure Stack Hub security updates.

Hotfixes

Azure Stack Hub releases hotfixes regularly. Starting with the 2005 release, when you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2008.x to 1.2102.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

Note

Azure Stack Hub hotfix releases are cumulative; you only need to install the latest hotfix to get all fixes included in any previous hotfix releases for that version.

For more information, see our servicing policy.

Azure Stack Hub hotfixes are only applicable to Azure Stack Hub integrated systems; do not attempt to install hotfixes on the ASDK.

Hotfix prerequisites: before applying the 2206 update

The 2206 release of Azure Stack Hub must be applied on the 2108 release with the following hotfixes:

After successfully applying the 2206 update

When you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2102.x to 1.2108.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

After the installation of 2206, if any hotfixes for 2206 are subsequently released, you should install them:

2108 build reference

The latest Azure Stack Hub 2108 update build number is 1.2108.2.65. For updated build and hotfix information, see the Hotfixes section.

Update type

The Azure Stack Hub 2108 update build type is Full.

The 2108 update has the following expected runtimes based on our internal testing:

  • 4 nodes: 8-28 hours
  • 8 nodes: 11-30 hours
  • 12 nodes: 14-34 hours
  • 16 nodes: 17-40 hours

Exact update durations typically depend on the capacity used on your system by tenant workloads, your system network connectivity (if connected to the internet), and your system hardware specifications. Durations that are shorter or longer than the expected value are not uncommon and do not require action by Azure Stack Hub operators unless the update fails. This runtime approximation is specific to the 2108 update and should not be compared to other Azure Stack Hub updates.

For more information about update build types, see Manage updates in Azure Stack Hub.

What's new

  • Azure Stack Hub operators can now configure GPU quotas for VMs.
  • Emergency VM Access is now available in Azure Stack Hub without contacting Microsoft Support.
  • Windows Server 2022 is now supported as a guest operating system. Windows Server 2022 VMs must be manually activated using Automatic Virtual Machine Activation in Windows Server on Azure Stack Hub running version 2108 or later. It cannot be activated on previous versions.
  • Starting with this version, if proactive log collection is disabled, logs are captured and stored locally for proactive failure events. The local logs can only be accessed by Microsoft in the context of a support case. New alerts have been added to the proactive log collection Alert library.
  • Two new services, Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Container Registry, are available in public preview with this release.
  • AzureStack module 2.2.0 is released to align with Azure Stack Hub version 2108. The version update includes changes in compute administrator module and new modules Azs.ContainerRegistry.Admin and Azs.ContainerService.Admin. For more information, see the change log.
  • With this release, telemetry data is uploaded to an Azure Storage account that's managed and controlled by Microsoft. Azure Stack Hub telemetry service connects to https://*.blob.core.windows.net/ and https://azsdiagprdwestusfrontend.westus.cloudapp.azure.com/ for a successful telemetry data upload to Microsoft. Port 443 (HTTPS) must be opened. For more information, see Azure Stack Hub telemetry.
  • This release includes a public preview of remote support, which enables a Microsoft support professional to solve your support case faster by permitting access to your device remotely and performing limited troubleshooting and repair. You can enable this feature by granting consent, while controlling the access level and duration of access. Support can only access your device after a support request has been submitted. For more information, see Remote support for Azure Stack Hub.

Improvements

  • When the external SMB share is almost full, the alert description has been adjusted to align with progressive backup.
  • To prevent upload failures, the number of parallel infrastructure backup repository uploads to the external SMB share is now limited.
  • Replaced Node-Inaccessible-for-vm-placement alert with alerts to distinguish between host-unresponsive scenarios and hostagent-service-on-node-unresponsive scenarios.
  • App Service now has the ability to discover the default NAT IP for outbound connections.

Changes

  • Before starting the 2108 update, you must stop (deallocate) all virtual machines that use a GPU, to ensure the update can complete successfully. This applies to AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, as the underlying implementation changes to no pooled resources.
  • SQL RP and MySQL RP are only available to subscriptions that have been granted access. If you want to start using these resource providers, or need to upgrade from a previous version, open a support case, and Microsoft support engineers can help you with the deployment or upgrade process.
  • Set-AzSLegalNotice now triggers the appearance of a new screen that contains the caption and the text that were set when running the command. This screen appears every time a new instance of the portal is created.

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue in which one repository failure when uploading to the external SMB share caused the entire infrastructure backup to fail.
  • Fixed an issue that caused N series VMs with multiple GPUs to fail creation.
  • Fixed an issue in which uninstalling a VM extension nulls out protected settings for existing VM extensions.
  • Fixed an issue that caused internal load balancers to use external IPs.
  • Fixed an issue downloading serial logs from the portal.

Security updates

For information about security updates in this update of Azure Stack Hub, see Azure Stack Hub security updates.

Hotfixes

Azure Stack Hub releases hotfixes regularly. Starting with the 2005 release, when you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2005.x to 1.2008.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

Note

Azure Stack Hub hotfix releases are cumulative; you only need to install the latest hotfix to get all fixes included in any previous hotfix releases for that version.

For more information about hotfixes, see our servicing policy.

Azure Stack Hub hotfixes are only applicable to Azure Stack Hub integrated systems; do not attempt to install hotfixes on the ASDK.

Hotfix prerequisites: before applying the 2108 update

The 2108 release of Azure Stack Hub must be applied on the 2102 release with the following hotfixes:

After successfully applying the 2108 update

When you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2102.x to 1.2108.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

After the installation of 2108, if any hotfixes for 2108 are subsequently released, you should install them:

2102 build reference

The latest Azure Stack Hub 2102 update build number is 1.2102.30.97. For updated build and hotfix information, see the Hotfixes section.

Update type

The Azure Stack Hub 2102 update build type is Full.

The 2102 update has the following expected runtimes based on our internal testing:

  • 4 nodes: 8-20 hours
  • 8 nodes: 11-26 hours
  • 12 nodes: 14-32 hours
  • 16 nodes: 17-38 hours

Exact update durations typically depend on the capacity used on your system by tenant workloads, your system network connectivity (if connected to the internet), and your system hardware specifications. Durations that are shorter or longer than the expected value are not uncommon and do not require action by Azure Stack Hub operators unless the update fails. This runtime approximation is specific to the 2102 update and should not be compared to other Azure Stack Hub updates.

For more information about update build types, see Manage updates in Azure Stack Hub.

What's new

  • This release includes a public preview of remote support, which enables a Microsoft support professional to solve your support case faster by permitting access to your device remotely and performing limited troubleshooting and repair. You can enable this feature by granting consent, while controlling the access level and duration of access. Support can only access your device after a support request has been submitted. For more information, see Remote support for Azure Stack Hub.

  • The Azure Stack Hub infrastructure backup service now supports progressive backup. This feature helps reduce storage requirements on the external backup location, and changes the way files are organized on the external backup store. It is recommended that you do not manipulate files under the backup root directory.

  • Azure Stack Hub managed disks now support Azure Disk APIs version 2019-07-01, with a subset of the available features.

  • Azure Stack Hub Storage now supports Azure Storage services management APIs version 2019-06-01, with a subset of total available features.

  • The Azure Stack Hub administrator portal now shows GPU-related information, including capacity data. This requires a GPU to be installed in the system.

  • Users can now deploy all supported VM sizes, using Nvidia T4 via the Azure Stack Hub user portal.

  • Azure Stack Hub operators can now configure multi-tenancy in Azure Stack Hub via the administrator portal. For more information, see Configure multi-tenancy.

  • Azure Stack Hub operators can now configure a legal notice using the privileged endpoint. For more information, see Configure Azure Stack Hub security controls.

  • During the update process, Granular Bitmap Repair (GBR), an optimization in the storage repair process, is introduced to repair out-of-sync data. Compared to the previous process, smaller segments are repaired, which leads to less repair time and a shorter overall update duration. GBR is enabled by default for all new deployments of 2102. For an update to 2102 from an earlier version (2008), GBR is enabled during the update. GBR requires that all physical disks are in a healthy state, so an extra validation was added in the UpdateReadiness check. Patch & update will fail at an early stage if the validation fails. At that point, a cloud admin must take action to resolve the disk problem before resuming the update. To follow up with the OEM, check the OEM contact information.

  • Azure Stack Hub now supports new Dv3, Ev3, and SQL-specific D-series VM sizes.

  • Azure Stack Hub now supports adding GPUs to any existing system. To add a GPU, execute stop-azurestack, run through the process of stop-azurestack, add GPUs, and then run start-azurestack until completion. If the system already had GPUs, then any previously created GPU VMs must be stop-deallocated and then re-started.

  • Reduced OEM update time using the live update process.

  • The AKS engine on Azure Stack Hub added the following new features. For details, see the release notes under the AKS engine documentation:

    • General availability of Ubuntu 18.04.
    • Support for Kubernetes 1.17.17 and 1.18.15.
    • Certificate rotation command public preview.
    • CSI Driver Azure Disks public preview.
    • CSI Driver NFS public preview.
    • CSI Driver for Azure Blobs private preview.
    • T4 Nvidia GPU support private preview.
    • Azure Active Directory integration private preview.

Improvements

  • Increased the Network Controller log retention period, so the logs will be available for longer to help engineers in effective troubleshooting, even after an issue has been resolved.
  • Improvements to preserve the Network Controller, Gateway VM, Load Balancer, and Host Agent logs during an update.
  • Improved the deletion logic for networking resources that are blocked by a failed provisioning state.
  • Reduced the XRP memory to 14 GB per VM and WAS memory to 10 GB per VM. By avoiding the increase in total VM memory footprint, more tenant VMs are deployable.
  • The log collection HTML report, which gives a snapshot of the files on the stamp and diagnostic share, now has a summarized view of the collected files, roles, resource providers, and event information to better help understand the success and failure rate of the log collection process.
  • Added PowerShell cmdlets Set-AzSLegalNotice and Get-AzSLegalNotice to the privileged endpoint (PEP) to retrieve and update the content of the login banner text after deployment.
  • Removed Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) and the CA VM entirely from Azure Stack Hub. This reduces the infrastructure footprint and saves up to 2 hours of update time.

Changes

  • The Fabric Resource Provider APIs now expose information about GPUs if available in the scale unit.
  • Azure Stack Hub operators can now change the GPU partitioning ratio via PowerShell (AMD only). This requires all virtual machines to be deallocated.
  • This build includes a new version of Azure Resource Manager.
  • The Azure Stack Hub user portal now uses the full screen experience for load balancers, Network Security Groups, DNS zones, and disk and VM creation.
  • In the 2102 release, the Windows Admin Center (WAC) is enabled on demand from an unlocked PEP session. By default, WAC is not enabled. To enable it, specify the -EnableWac flag; for example, unlock-supportsession -EnableWac.
  • Proactive log collection now uses an improved algorithm, which captures logs during error conditions that aren't visible to an operator. This algorithm ensures that the correct diagnostic info is collected at the right time, without requiring any operator interaction. In some cases, Microsoft support can begin troubleshooting and resolving problems sooner. Initial algorithm improvements focus on patch and update operations. Enabling proactive log collections is recommended, as more operations are optimized and the benefits increase.
  • There is a temporary increase of 10 GB of memory used by the Azure Stack Hub infrastructure.

Fixes

  • Fixed an issue in which internal DNS zones became out of sync during update, and caused the update to fail. This fix has been backported to 2008 and 2005 via hotfixes.
  • Fixed an issue in which disk space was exhausted by logs on physical hosts, Network Controllers, Gateways and load balancers. This fix has been backported to 2008.
  • Fixed an issue in which deletion of resource groups or virtual networks failed due to an orphaned resource in the Network Controller layer.
  • Removed the ND6s_dev size from the VM size picker, as it is an unsupported VM size.
  • Fixed an issue in which performing Stop-Deallocate on a VM results in an MTU configuration on the VM to be removed. This behavior was inconsistent with Azure.

Security updates

For information about security updates in this update of Azure Stack Hub, see Azure Stack Hub security updates.

Hotfixes

Azure Stack Hub releases hotfixes regularly. Starting with the 2005 release, when you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2005.x to 1.2008.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

For more information, see our servicing policy.

Azure Stack Hub hotfixes are only applicable to Azure Stack Hub integrated systems; do not attempt to install hotfixes on the ASDK.

Note

Azure Stack Hub hotfix releases are cumulative; you only need to install the latest hotfix to get all fixes included in any previous hotfix releases for that version.

Hotfix prerequisites: before applying the 2102 update

The 2102 release of Azure Stack Hub must be applied on the 2008 release with the following hotfixes:

After successfully applying the 2102 update

When you update to a new major version (for example, 1.2008.x to 1.2102.x), the latest hotfixes (if any) in the new major version are installed automatically. From that point forward, if a hotfix is released for your build, you should install it.

After the installation of 2102, if any hotfixes for 2102 are subsequently released, you should install them:

2008 archived release notes

2005 archived release notes

2002 archived release notes

1910 archived release notes

1908 archived release notes

1907 archived release notes

1906 archived release notes

1905 archived release notes

1904 archived release notes

1903 archived release notes

1902 archived release notes

1901 archived release notes

1811 archived release notes

1809 archived release notes

1808 archived release notes

1807 archived release notes

1805 archived release notes

1804 archived release notes

1803 archived release notes

1802 archived release notes

You can access older versions of Azure Stack Hub release notes in the table of contents on the left side, under Resources > Release notes archive. Select the desired archived version from the version selector dropdown in the upper left. These archived articles are provided for reference purposes only and do not imply support for these versions. For information about Azure Stack Hub support, see Azure Stack Hub servicing policy. For further assistance, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services.