Control updates with Maintenance Configurations and Azure PowerShell

Article
2024-08-22

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

You can use the Maintenance Configurations feature to control when to apply platform updates to various Azure resources. This article covers the Azure PowerShell options for dedicated hosts and isolated virtual machines (VMs). For more information about the benefits of using the Maintenance Configurations feature, its limitations, and other management options, see Managing platform updates with Maintenance Configurations.

If you're looking for information about using Maintenance Configurations for scale sets, see Maintenance control for Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets.

Important

Specific scopes support certain machine types and schedules. Be sure to select the right scope for your VM.

Enable the Azure PowerShell module

Make sure that PowerShellGet is up to date:

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Repository PSGallery -Force

Install the Az.Maintenance Azure PowerShell module:

Install-Module -Name Az.Maintenance

Check that you're running the latest version of Az.Maintenance (version 1.2.0):

Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name Az.Maintenance

Ensure that you're running the appropriate version of Az.Maintenance:

Import-Module -Name Az.Maintenance -RequiredVersion 1.2.0

If you're installing locally, be sure to open your Azure PowerShell prompt as an administrator.

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

Create a maintenance configuration

The first step in creating a maintenance configuration is creating a resource group as a container for your configuration. This example creates a resource group named myMaintenanceRG 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. After you create a scheduled window, you no longer have to apply the updates manually.

You can express maintenance recurrence as daily, weekly, or monthly. Here are some examples:

Daily: A RecurEvery value of "Day" or "3Days".
Weekly: A RecurEvery value of "3Weeks" or "Week Saturday,Sunday".
Monthly: A RecurEvery value of "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. The duration value of the schedule for this scope should be at least two hours. To begin, define the parameters 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 define the parameters, you can 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. Be sure to create a configuration for the specific scope of the machines that you're targeting. Learn more about scopes.

OS image

This example creates a maintenance configuration named myConfig scoped to osimage, with a scheduled window of 8 hours every 5 days. The duration value of the schedule for this scope should be at least 5 hours. This scope allows a maximum 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 define the parameters, you can 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

The most recent addition to the Maintenance Configurations feature is the InGuestPatch scope. This example shows how to create a maintenance configuration for a guest scope by using Azure PowerShell. For more information 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 define the parameters, you can 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'll get an error. Configuration names must be unique to your resource group.

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

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

Assign the configuration

After you create your configuration, you might want to also assign machines to it by using Azure PowerShell. You can use the New-AzConfigurationAssignment cmdlet.

Isolated VM

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

The check for pending updates, use Get-AzMaintenanceUpdate. Use -subscription to specify the Azure subscription of the VM, if it's different from the one that you're logged in to.

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

{
   "maintenanceScope": "Host",
   "impactType": "Freeze",
   "status": "Pending",
   "impactDurationInSec": 9,
   "notBefore": "2020-02-21T16:47:44.8728029Z",
   "properties": {
      "resourceId": "/subscriptions/a0a0a0a0-bbbb-cccc-dddd-e1e1e1e1e1e1/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. Applying update calls can take up to 2 hours to complete.

This cmdlet works only for the host and OS image scopes. It doesn't work for the 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 returns a PSApplyUpdate object. You can use the Name attribute in the Get-AzApplyUpdate command to check the update status, as described later in this article.

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

To check the status of an update, use Get-AzApplyUpdate. The following commands 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 works only for the host and OS image scopes. It doesn't work for the guest scope.

Status         : Completed
ResourceId     : /subscriptions/b1b1b1b1-cccc-dddd-eeee-f2f2f2f2f2f2/resourcegroups/TestShantS/providers/Microsoft.Comp
ute/virtualMachines/DXT-test-04-iso
LastUpdateTime : 1/1/2020 12:00:00 AM
Id             : /subscriptions/b1b1b1b1-cccc-dddd-eeee-f2f2f2f2f2f2/resourcegroups/TestShantS/providers/Microsoft.Comp
ute/virtualMachines/DXT-test-04-iso/providers/Microsoft.Maintenance/applyUpdates/default
Name           : default
Type           : Microsoft.Maintenance/applyUpdates

LastUpdateTime is the time when the update finished, whether you initiated the update or the platform initiated it because you didn't use the self-maintenance window. If an update was never applied through Maintenance Configurations, LastUpdateTime shows the 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

To delete a maintenance configuration, use Remove-AzMaintenanceConfiguration:

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

Next steps

To learn more, see Maintenance for virtual machines in Azure.

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Control updates with Maintenance Configurations and Azure PowerShell

Enable the Azure 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

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