"Changing property 'imageReference' isn't allowed" error message while upgrading or scaling an AKS cluster

Summary

This article discusses how to resolve the "Changing property 'imageReference' isn't allowed" error that occurs when upgrading or scaling a Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster.

Symptoms

When you try to upgrade or scale a Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster, you might receive the "Changing property 'imageReference' isn't allowed" error message.

Cause

Unexpected results might occur if you modify or delete tags and other properties of resources within the MC_* resource group. Also, altering the resources within the MC_* group in the AKS cluster breaks the service-level objective (SLO).

Solution

Add another node pool, and then delete the affected node pool.