Merge pull request #2741 from MicrosoftDocs/main

Auto Publish – main to live - 2025-12-08 23:00 UTC

Author: learn-build-service-prod[bot]

articles/virtual-machines/TOC.yml

@@ -2188,7 +2188,18 @@
     displayName: Automatic OS image upgrade, image, upgrade, OS
     href: /azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-automatic-upgrade?toc=/azure/virtual-machines/toc.json
   - name: Windows Server in-place upgrade
-    href: windows-in-place-upgrade.md
+    items:
+    - name: Overview
+      href: windows-in-place-upgrade.md
+    - name: OS Upgrade assessment tool
+      href: /troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-osupgradeassessment-tool?toc=/azure/virtual-machines/toc.json
+  - name: Windows Client in-place upgrade
+    items:
+    - name: Overview
+      href: /troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/in-place-system-upgrade?toc=/azure/virtual-machines/toc.json
+    - name: OS Upgrade assessment tool
+      href: /troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-osupgradeassessment-tool?toc=/azure/virtual-machines/toc.json
+
   - name: Automatic VM guest patching
     items:
     - name: Overview

articles/virtual-machines/azure-compute-gallery.md

@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ With Compute Gallery, you can deploy up to 1,000 VM instances in a scale set. Yo
 
 Although we understand that no two resources or regions are the same, here are general guidelines on how to use replicas in a region:
 
-- For every 50 VMs that you create concurrently, we recommend that you keep one replica. For example, if you're creating 500 VMs concurrently by using the same image in a region, we suggest you keep at least 10 replicas of your image.
+- For every 20 VMs that you create concurrently, we recommend that you keep one replica. For example, if you're creating 1,000 VMs concurrently by using the same image in a region, we suggest you keep at least 50 replicas of your image.
 - For each scale set that you create concurrently, we recommend that you keep one replica.
 
 We always recommend that you overprovision the number of replicas due to factors like resource size, content, and OS type.

articles/virtual-machines/extensions/agent-windows.md

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ The Azure Windows VM Agent supports the x64 and ARM64 architecture for these Win
 | Windows Server 2025 Core | Supported | Supported |
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> - The Azure Windows VM Agent needs at least Windows Server 2008 SP2 (64-bit) to run, with the .NET Framework 4.0. See [Minimum version support for virtual machine agents in Azure](https://support.microsoft.com/help/4049215/extensions-and-virtual-machine-agent-minimum-version-support).
+> - The Azure Windows VM Agent needs at least Windows Server 2016 (64-bit) to run, with the .NET Framework 4.0. See [Minimum version support for virtual machine agents in Azure](https://support.microsoft.com/help/4049215/extensions-and-virtual-machine-agent-minimum-version-support).
 >
 > - Ensure that your VM has access to IP address 168.63.129.16. For more information, see [What is IP address 168.63.129.16?](/azure/virtual-network/what-is-ip-address-168-63-129-16).
 >

articles/virtual-machines/includes/virtual-machines-runcmd-wu-tools.md

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+---
+author: scotro
+ms.service: azure-virtual-machines
+ms.topic: include
+ms.date: 11/10/2025
+ms.author: scotro
+# Customer intent: "With my Azure VM in Azure, I need to know the tooling available to diagnose Windows Update errors. I also want to have a tool to reset the servicing stack and assess the OS Upgrade matrix for this VM"
+---
+>[!Important]
+>**Virtual Machine (VM)** running in Azure and experiencing Windows Update issues?
+>Trying to diagnose and resolve Windows Update or Windows OS Upgrade issues for your Azure Virtual Machine? Try one of the following tools:
+>
+>* [Azure VM Windows Update Error Detection Tool](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-ipu-tool) to diagnose specific Windows Update errors
+>* [Azure VM Windows Servicing Stack Reset Tool](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-wureset-tool) to reset the Windows Servicing stack.
+>* [Azure Virtual Machine (VM) Windows OS Upgrade Assessment Tool](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-osupgradeassessment-tool) to validate the OS upgrade path and any known issues
+>
+>*If you're experiencing Windows Update or Windows OS Upgrade issues with virtual machines, before contacting support, run these tools.*
+
+
+

articles/virtual-machines/includes/vmassist-include.md

@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+---
+author: scotro
+ms.service: azure-virtual-machines
+ms.topic: include
+ms.date: 11/10/2025
+ms.author: scotro
+# Customer intent: "We recommend that you run [VM assist for Windows] or [VM assist for Linux]. These script-based diagnostic tools help you to identify common issues that affect the Azure VM Guest Agent and overall VM health."
+---
 > [!NOTE]
 > Try VM assist for faster diagnostics.
 > We recommend that you run [VM assist for Windows](https://aka.ms/vmassistwindows) or [VM assist for Linux](https://aka.ms/vmassistlinux). These script-based diagnostic tools help you to identify common issues that affect the Azure VM Guest Agent and overall VM health.
+>
+>If you're experiencing performance problems with virtual machines, before contacting support, run these tools.

articles/virtual-machines/windows-in-place-upgrade.md

@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ ms.author: cynthn
 
 An in-place upgrade allows you to go from an older operating system to a newer one while keeping your settings, server roles, and data intact. This article teaches you how to move your Azure VMs to a later version of Windows Server using an in-place upgrade. Currently, upgrading to Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, and Windows Server 2025 are supported.
 
+> [!CAUTION]
+> Following the process in this article causes a disconnection between the data plane and the [control plane](/azure/architecture/guide/multitenant/considerations/control-planes#responsibilities-of-a-control-plane) of the virtual machine (VM). Azure capabilities such as [Auto guest patching](/azure/virtual-machines/automatic-vm-guest-patching#how-does-automatic-vm-guest-patching-work), [Auto OS image upgrades](/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-automatic-upgrade), [Hotpatching](/windows-server/get-started/hotpatch?toc=%2Fazure%2Fvirtual-machines%2Ftoc.json#supported-updates), and [Azure Update Manager](/azure/update-manager/overview) won't be available. This means that the source image information in the VM properties, including the publisher, offer, and plan, remains unchanged. The image used to deploy the VM remains the same, and only the OS is upgraded. To utilize these features, create a new VM using your preferred operating system instead of performing an in-place upgrade. 
+
+[!INCLUDE [Azure VM Windows WU & OS Upgrade Diagnostic Tools](./includes/virtual-machines-runcmd-wu-tools.md)]
+
+## Prerequisites
 Before you begin an in-place upgrade:
 
 - Review the upgrade requirements for the target operating system:
@@ -28,13 +34,12 @@ Before you begin an in-place upgrade:
 
    - Upgrade options for Windows Server 2025 from Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2012 R2 
 
+- Run the [Azure Virtual Machine (VM) Windows OS Upgrade Assessment Tool](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-vm-osupgradeassessment-tool) to validate the OS upgrade path and any known issues.
+
 - Verify the operating system disk has enough [free space to perform the in-place upgrade](/windows-server/get-started/hardware-requirements#storage-controller-and-disk-space-requirements). If more space is needed [follow these steps](./windows/expand-os-disk.md) to expand the operating system disk attached to the VM.  
 
 - Disable antivirus and anti-spyware software and firewalls. These types of software can conflict with the upgrade process. Re-enable antivirus and anti-spyware software and firewalls after the upgrade is completed. 
 
-> [!CAUTION]
-> Following the process in this article causes a disconnection between the data plane and the [control plane](/azure/architecture/guide/multitenant/considerations/control-planes#responsibilities-of-a-control-plane) of the virtual machine (VM). Azure capabilities such as [Auto guest patching](/azure/virtual-machines/automatic-vm-guest-patching#how-does-automatic-vm-guest-patching-work), [Auto OS image upgrades](/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-automatic-upgrade), [Hotpatching](/windows-server/get-started/hotpatch?toc=%2Fazure%2Fvirtual-machines%2Ftoc.json#supported-updates), and [Azure Update Manager](/azure/update-manager/overview) won't be available. This means that the source image information in the VM properties, including the publisher, offer, and plan, remains unchanged. The image used to deploy the VM remains the same, and only the OS is upgraded. To utilize these features, create a new VM using your preferred operating system instead of performing an in-place upgrade. 
-
 ## Upgrade VM to volume license (KMS server activation)
 
 The upgrade media provided by Azure requires the VM to be configured for Windows Server volume licensing. This is the default behavior for any Windows Server VM that was installed from a generalized image in Azure. If the VM was imported into Azure, then it might need to be converted to volume licensing to use the upgrade media provided by Azure. To confirm the VM is configured for volume license activation follow these steps to [configure the appropriate KMS client setup key](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/troubleshoot-activation-problems#step-1-configure-the-appropriate-kms-client-setup-key). If the activation configuration was changed, then follow these steps to [verify connectivity to Azure KMS service](/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/troubleshoot-activation-problems#step-2-verify-the-connectivity-between-the-vm-and-azure-kms-service).