Request Guidance on Azure Windows Server 2022 Marketplace Image Deprecation for Affected VM

Question

Request Guidance on Azure Windows Server 2022 Marketplace Image Deprecation for Affected VM

Ashan Dissanayake 46

Dear Team,

We received Microsoft’s advisory about the deprecation of certain Windows Server 2022 Marketplace images in Azure and would appreciate clear guidance on the required actions for our affected VM.

Summary of the Advisory

Microsoft has announced that:

Windows Server 2022 Azure Marketplace images with .NET 6 preinstalled will be deprecated on 9 June 2026
.NET 6 has reached its end of support, and these images will no longer be maintained or supported
Customers must migrate to the new Windows Server 2022 Marketplace images (new offer: windowsserver2022) to avoid potential service disruption or compliance risks

**Summary of the Affected Workload
**We have a third AD DS server hosted in Azure, which also runs the Entra ID Connect service. The server is currently operating without any issues.

Requirement to be Addressed

Please confirm whether we need to migrate the affected VM using a supported ISO file and, if so, provide the required steps.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello @Ashan Dissanayake

Thank you for your query regarding the .NET 6 deprecation.

As .NET 6 has reached End of Support, the associated Windows Server images (including those used in VM/VMSS scenarios) are being deprecated. While your existing VMs/VMSS instances will continue running without immediate impact, they will no longer receive security updates, which may introduce security and compliance risks over time.

Additionally, future operations such as new deployments, reimage, or VMSS scale-out may be affected as these images are phased out.

Recommended action: We suggest migrating to supported images (for example, updated Windows Server images with supported .NET versions like .NET 8). For VMSS, this would involve updating the image reference and performing a rolling upgrade to minimize disruption.

After June 9_th_ 2026:

No new version of the images that include OS and .NET 6 security patches will be provided.

After Feb 9_th_ 2027:

New deployments, scale-out operations, and reimage operations will no longer be supported using these images.

Manish Deshpande 7,515 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-30T13:37:22.3466667+00:00

Hello @Ashan Dissanayake

I wanted to check if my last response made sense. I’d be glad to assist further or explain anything in more detail and please accept as Yes and upvote if the answer is helpful so that it can help others in the community.

Answer 2

For the AD DS/Entra ID Connect VM itself, the advisory is about the Azure Marketplace image it was originally created from, not about the running OS instance being forcibly decommissioned. The key impact is:

Windows Server 2022 images that include .NET 6 will be deprecated and no longer maintained.
Future Windows Server 2022 Marketplace images will not include any .NET runtime by default; .NET 6 is out of support and .NET 8+ must be deployed/managed separately.

From the provided information, the required actions are:

Plan to move off the deprecated image family
- New Windows Server 2022 images use the windowsserver2022 offer and do not ship with .NET 6.
- The deprecation does not mean the existing VM will suddenly stop working, but it does mean the image family is no longer maintained and is not a supported baseline going forward.
Ensure the workload is on a supported .NET version
- .NET 6 is past end of support; Microsoft will not provide updates or technical support for .NET 6 itself.
- Guidance in the Windows Server image notes is to upgrade workloads to .NET 8 and manage the runtime deployment explicitly:
  - Use tools such as the .NET Upgrade Assistant to move applications from .NET 6 to .NET 8.
  - Use CI/CD (for example, Azure Pipelines) to build, test, and deploy .NET apps and runtimes to the VM: Build, test, and deploy .NET Core apps - Azure Pipelines.
- For Entra ID Connect, follow its own support matrix; if it depends on .NET, ensure the installed version is supported by that product.
Whether a full VM migration using ISO is required
- The documentation states that future Marketplace media for Windows Server 2022 will not include .NET, and that .NET 6 is removed from those images. It does not mandate that existing VMs must be rebuilt from ISO.
- A supported approach is:
  - Keep the existing VM OS (Windows Server 2022) patched.
  - Migrate application runtimes to supported .NET versions and manage them explicitly.
- A full migration/rebuild to a new windowsserver2022 image (via new VM + workload migration) is recommended as a best practice if a clean, fully supported baseline image is required for compliance or internal standards, but it is not described as a hard requirement in the image notes.
If choosing to rebuild/migrate the VM (recommended pattern)
- Deploy a new Azure VM from the windowsserver2022 offer in the Marketplace.
- Join it to the existing AD DS domain as an additional domain controller.
- Install and configure Entra ID Connect on the new server according to its product guidance.
- Verify AD replication, Entra ID Connect sync health, and cut over from the old server.
- Demote and decommission the old AD DS/Entra ID Connect VM once validation is complete.
- This approach avoids in-place OS rebuilds from ISO and gives a clean, supported image baseline.
Backups and rollback
- Before any migration or major upgrade, ensure VM-level backup and application-level backup are in place so the AD DS and Entra ID Connect configuration can be restored if needed.

In summary, the advisory requires moving away from relying on the deprecated Windows Server 2022 + .NET 6 Marketplace image and from using .NET 6. A full VM rebuild from a supported windowsserver2022 image is recommended but not strictly mandated; the minimum requirement is to keep Windows Server 2022 supported and to upgrade workloads to a supported .NET version (such as .NET 8) and manage that runtime explicitly.

References: