Control updates with Maintenance Control and the Azure portal

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

Maintenance control lets you decide when to apply updates to your isolated VMs and Azure Dedicated Hosts. This topic covers the Azure portal options for Maintenance control. For more about benefits of using Maintenance control, its limitations, and other management options, see Managing platform updates with Maintenance Control.

Create a maintenance configuration

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

2. Search for Maintenance Configurations.

   

3. Click Add.

   

4. In the Basics tab, choose a subscription and resource group, provide a name for the configuration, choose a region, and select Host for the scope. Click Next.

   

5. In the Schedule tab, declare a scheduled window when Azure will apply the updates on your resources. Set a start date, maintenance window, and recurrence. Once you create a scheduled window you no longer have to apply the updates manually. Click Next.

   Important

   Maintenance window duration must be 2 hours or longer. Maintenance recurrence must be set to repeat at least once in 35-days.

   

6. In the Assignment tab, assign resources now or skip this step and assign resources later after maintenance configuration deployment. Click Next.

7. Add tags and values. Click Next.

   

8. Review the summary. Click Create.

9. After the deployment is complete, click Go to resource.

Assign the configuration

On the details page of the maintenance configuration, click Assignments and then click Assign resource.

Select the resources that you want the maintenance configuration assigned to and click Ok. The Type column shows whether the resource is an isolated VM or Azure Dedicated Host. The VM needs to be running to assign the configuration. An error occurs if you try to assign a configuration to a VM that is stopped.

Check configuration

You can verify that the configuration was applied correctly or check to see any maintenance configuration that is currently assigned using Maintenance Configurations. The Type column shows whether the configuration is assigned to an isolated VM or Azure Dedicated Host.

You can also check the configuration for a specific virtual machine on its properties page. Click Maintenance to see the configuration assigned to that virtual machine.

Check for pending updates

There are also two ways to check if updates are pending for a maintenance configuration. In Maintenance Configurations, on the details for the configuration, click Assignments and check Maintenance status.

You can also check a specific host using Virtual Machines or properties of the dedicated host.

Apply updates

You can apply pending updates on demand. On the VM or Azure Dedicated Host details, click Maintenance and click Apply maintenance now. Apply update calls can take upto 2 hours to complete.

Check the status of applying updates

You can check on the progress of the updates for a configuration in Maintenance Configurations or using Virtual Machines. On the VM details, click Maintenance. In the following example, the Maintenance state shows an update is Pending.

Delete a maintenance configuration

To delete a configuration, open the configuration details and click Delete.

Next steps

To learn more, see Maintenance and updates.