Control updates with Maintenance Configurations and Azure PowerShell

Article
01/13/2023
7 minutes to read

Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs ✔️ Windows VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets ✔️ Uniform scale sets

Creating a Maintenance Configurations lets you decide when to apply platform updates to various Azure resources. This topic covers the Azure PowerShell options for Dedicated Hosts and Isolated VMs. For more about benefits of using Maintenance Configurations, its limitations, and other management options, see Managing platform updates with Maintenance Configurations.

If you are looking for information about Maintenance Configurations for scale sets, see Maintenance Control for Virtual Machine Scale Sets.

Important

There are different scopes which support certain machine types and schedules, so please ensure you are selecting the right scope for your virtual machine.

Enable the PowerShell module

Make sure PowerShellGet is up to date.

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Repository PSGallery -Force

Install the Az.Maintenance PowerShell module.

Install-Module -Name Az.Maintenance

Check that you are running the latest version of Az.Maintenance PowerShell module (version 1.2.0)

Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name Az.Maintenance

Ensure that you are running the appropriate version of Az.Maintenance using

Import-Module -Name Az.Maintenance -RequiredVersion 1.2.0

If you are installing locally, make sure you open your PowerShell prompt as an administrator.

You may also be asked to confirm that you want to install from an untrusted repository. Type Y or select Yes to All to install the module.

Create a maintenance configuration

The first step to creating a maintenance configuration is creating a resource group as a container for your configuration. In this example, a resource group named myMaintenanceRG is created in eastus. If you already have a resource group that you want to use, you can skip this part and replace the resource group name with your own in the rest of the examples.

New-AzResourceGroup `
   -Location eastus `
   -Name myMaintenanceRG

You can declare a scheduled window when Azure will recurrently apply the updates on your resources. Once you create a scheduled window you no longer have to apply the updates manually. Maintenance recurrence can be expressed as daily, weekly or monthly. Some examples are:

daily- RecurEvery "Day" or "3Days"
weekly- RecurEvery "3Weeks" or "Week Saturday,Sunday"
monthly- RecurEvery "Month day23,day24" or "Month Last Sunday" or "Month Fourth Monday"

Host

This example creates a maintenance configuration named myConfig scoped to host with a scheduled window of 5 hours on the fourth Monday of every month. It is important to note that the duration of the schedule for this scope should be at least two hours long. To begin, you will need to define all the parameters needed for New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration

$RGName = "myMaintenanceRG"
$configName = "myConfig"
$scope = "Host"
$location = "eastus"
$timeZone = "Pacific Standard Time" 
$duration = "05:00"
$startDateTime = "2022-11-01 00:00"
$recurEvery = "Month Fourth Monday"

After you have defined the parameters, you can now use the New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration cmdlet to create your configuration.

New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration
   -ResourceGroup $RGName `
   -Name $configName `
   -MaintenanceScope $scope `
   -Location $location `
   -StartDateTime $startDateTime `
   -TimeZone $timeZone `
   -Duration $duration `
   -RecurEvery $recurEvery

Using $scope = "Host" ensures that the maintenance configuration is used for controlling updates on host machines. You will need to ensure that you are creating a configuration for the specific scope of machines you are targeting. To read more about scopes check out maintenance configuration scopes.

OS Image

In this example, we will create a maintenance configuration named myConfig scoped to osimage with a scheduled window of 8 hours every 5 days. It is important to note that the duration of the schedule for this scope should be at least 5 hours long. Another key difference to note is that this scope allows a max of 7 days for schedule recurrence.

$RGName = "myMaintenanceRG"
$configName = "myConfig"
$scope = "osimage"
$location = "eastus"
$timeZone = "Pacific Standard Time" 
$duration = "08:00"
$startDateTime = "2022-11-01 00:00"
$recurEvery = "5days"

After you have defined the parameters, you can now use the New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration cmdlet to create your configuration.

New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration
   -ResourceGroup $RGName `
   -Name $configName `
   -MaintenanceScope $scope `
   -Location $location `
   -StartDateTime $startDateTime `
   -TimeZone $timeZone `
   -Duration $duration `
   -RecurEvery $recurEvery

Guest

Our most recent addition to the maintenance configuration offering is the InGuestPatch scope. This example will show how to create a maintenance configuration for guest scope using PowerShell. To learn more about this scope see Guest.

$RGName = "myMaintenanceRG"
$configName = "myConfig"
$scope = "InGuestPatch"
$location = "eastus"
$timeZone = "Pacific Standard Time" 
$duration = "04:00"
$startDateTime = "2022-11-01 00:00"
$recurEvery = "Week Saturday, Sunday"
$WindowsParameterClassificationToInclude = "FeaturePack","ServicePack";
$WindowParameterKbNumberToInclude = "KB123456","KB123466";
$WindowParameterKbNumberToExclude = "KB123456","KB123466";
$RebootOption = "IfRequired";
$LinuxParameterClassificationToInclude = "Other";
$LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToInclude = "apt","httpd";
$LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToExclude = "ppt","userpk";

After you have defined the parameters, you can now use the New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration cmdlet to create your configuration.

New-AzMaintenanceConfiguration
   -ResourceGroup $RGName `
   -Name $configName `
   -MaintenanceScope $scope `
   -Location $location `
   -StartDateTime $startDateTime `
   -TimeZone $timeZone `
   -Duration $duration `
   -RecurEvery $recurEvery `
   -WindowParameterClassificationToInclude $WindowsParameterClassificationToInclude `
   -WindowParameterKbNumberToInclude $WindowParameterKbNumberToInclude `
   -WindowParameterKbNumberToExclude $WindowParameterKbNumberToExclude `
   -InstallPatchRebootSetting $RebootOption `
   -LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToInclude $LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToInclude `
   -LinuxParameterClassificationToInclude $LinuxParameterClassificationToInclude `
   -LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToExclude $LinuxParameterPackageNameMaskToExclude `
   -ExtensionProperty @{"InGuestPatchMode"="User"}

If you try to create a configuration with the same name, but in a different location, you will get an error. Configuration names must be unique to your resource group.

You can check if you have successfully created the maintenance configurations by using Get-AzMaintenanceConfiguration.

Get-AzMaintenanceConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name,Id

Assign the configuration

After you have created your configuration, you might want to also assign machines to it using PowerShell. To achieve this we will use New-AzConfigurationAssignment.

Isolated VM

Assign the configuration to a VM using the ID of the configuration. Specify -ResourceType VirtualMachines and supply the name of the VM for -ResourceName, and the resource group of the VM for -ResourceGroupName.

New-AzConfigurationAssignment `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myVM" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachines" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ConfigurationAssignmentName "configName" `
   -MaintenanceConfigurationId "configID"

Dedicated host

To apply a configuration to a dedicated host, you also need to include -ResourceType hosts, -ResourceParentName with the name of the host group, and -ResourceParentType hostGroups.

New-AzConfigurationAssignment `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myHost" `
   -ResourceType "hosts" `
   -ResourceParentName myHostGroup `
   -ResourceParentType hostGroups `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ConfigurationAssignmentName "configName" `
   -MaintenanceConfigurationId "configID"

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

New-AzConfigurationAssignment `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myVMSS" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachineScaleSets" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ConfigurationAssignmentName "configName" `
   -MaintenanceConfigurationId "configID"

Guest

New-AzConfigurationAssignment `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myGuest" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachines" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ConfigurationAssignmentName "configName" `
   -MaintenanceConfigurationId "configID"

Check for pending updates

Use Get-AzMaintenanceUpdate to see if there are pending updates. Use -subscription to specify the Azure subscription of the VM if it is different from the one that you are logged into.

If there are no updates to show, this command will return nothing. Otherwise, it will return a PSApplyUpdate object:

{
   "maintenanceScope": "Host",
   "impactType": "Freeze",
   "status": "Pending",
   "impactDurationInSec": 9,
   "notBefore": "2020-02-21T16:47:44.8728029Z",
   "properties": {
      "resourceId": "/subscriptions/39c6cced-4d6c-4dd5-af86-57499cd3f846/resourcegroups/Ignite2019/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/MCDemo3"
}

Isolated VM

Check for pending updates for an isolated VM. In this example, the output is formatted as a table for readability.

Get-AzMaintenanceUpdate `
  -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
  -ResourceName "myVM" `
  -ResourceType "VirtualMachines" `
  -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" | Format-Table

Dedicated host

Check for pending updates for a dedicated host. In this example, the output is formatted as a table for readability.

Get-AzMaintenanceUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -ResourceName "myHost" `
   -ResourceType "hosts" `
   -ResourceParentName "myHostGroup" `
   -ResourceParentType "hostGroups" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" | Format-Table

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Get-AzMaintenanceUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myVMSS" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachineScaleSets" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" | Format-Table

Apply updates

Use New-AzApplyUpdate to apply pending updates. Apply update calls can take up to 2 hours to complete. This cmdlet will only work for Host and OSImage scopes. It will NOT work for Guest scope.

Isolated VM

Create a request to apply updates to an isolated VM.

New-AzApplyUpdate `
  -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
  -ResourceName "myVM" `
  -ResourceType "VirtualMachines" `
  -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute"

On success, this command will return a PSApplyUpdate object. You can use the Name attribute in the Get-AzApplyUpdate command to check the update status. See Check update status.

Dedicated host

Apply updates to a dedicated host.

New-AzApplyUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -ResourceName "myHost" `
   -ResourceType "hosts" `
   -ResourceParentName "myHostGroup" `
   -ResourceParentType "hostGroups" `
   -ProviderName Microsoft.Compute

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

New-AzApplyUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myVMSS" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachineScaleSets" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute"

Check update status

Use Get-AzApplyUpdate to check on the status of an update. The commands shown below show the status of the latest update by using default for the -ApplyUpdateName parameter. You can substitute the name of the update (returned by the New-AzApplyUpdate command) to get the status of a specific update. This cmdlet will only work for Host and OSImage scopes. It will NOT work for Guest scope.

Status         : Completed
ResourceId     : /subscriptions/12ae7457-4a34-465c-94c1-17c058c2bd25/resourcegroups/TestShantS/providers/Microsoft.Comp
ute/virtualMachines/DXT-test-04-iso
LastUpdateTime : 1/1/2020 12:00:00 AM
Id             : /subscriptions/12ae7457-4a34-465c-94c1-17c058c2bd25/resourcegroups/TestShantS/providers/Microsoft.Comp
ute/virtualMachines/DXT-test-04-iso/providers/Microsoft.Maintenance/applyUpdates/default
Name           : default
Type           : Microsoft.Maintenance/applyUpdates

LastUpdateTime will be the time when the update got complete, either initiated by you or by the platform in case self-maintenance window was not used. If there has never been an update applied through maintenance configurations it will show default value.

Isolated VM

Check for updates to a specific virtual machine.

Get-AzApplyUpdate `
  -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
  -ResourceName "myVM" `
  -ResourceType "VirtualMachines" `
  -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
  -ApplyUpdateName "applyUpdateName"

Dedicated host

Check for updates to a dedicated host.

Get-AzApplyUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -ResourceName "myHost" `
   -ResourceType "hosts" `
   -ResourceParentName "myHostGroup" `
   -ResourceParentType "hostGroups" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ApplyUpdateName "applyUpdateName"

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

New-AzApplyUpdate `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Location "eastus" `
   -ResourceName "myVMSS" `
   -ResourceType "VirtualMachineScaleSets" `
   -ProviderName "Microsoft.Compute" `
   -ApplyUpdateName "applyUpdateName"

Delete a maintenance configuration

Use Remove-AzMaintenanceConfiguration to delete a maintenance configuration.

Remove-AzMaintenanceConfiguration `
   -ResourceGroupName "myResourceGroup" `
   -Name "configName"

Next steps

To learn more, see Maintenance and updates.

Control updates with Maintenance Configurations and Azure PowerShell

Enable the PowerShell module

Create a maintenance configuration

Host

OS Image

Guest

Assign the configuration

Isolated VM

Dedicated host

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Guest

Check for pending updates

Isolated VM

Dedicated host

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Apply updates

Isolated VM

Dedicated host

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Check update status

Isolated VM

Dedicated host

Virtual Machine Scale Sets

Delete a maintenance configuration

Next steps

Feedback

Additional resources

Additional resources