An Azure VM gives you the flexibility of virtualization without having to buy and maintain the physical hardware that runs it. However, you still need to maintain the VM by performing tasks, such as configuring, patching, and installing the software that runs on it.

In-place upgrade not supported on Azure Virtual Machines

You might encounter this issue based on the following: You have a virtual machine (VM) that is running Microsoft Windows in a Microsoft Azure environment and you run an in-place upgrade of the VM to a newer version of the operating system. In this scenario, the upgrade may fail or become blocked and require direct console access to unblock it. This issue occurs because Microsoft does not support an upgrade of the operating system of an Azure VM.

There are two possible methods to workaround this issue – which are; create an Azure VM that’s running a supported version of an operating system, and then migrate the workload (Method 1, preferred), or download and upgrade the VHD of the VM (Method 2):

  1. Deploy a newer system and migrate the workload2. Download and upgrade the VHD. This method involves 3 steps, which includes;

Download the VHD of the VMDo an in-place upgradeUpload the VHD to Azure

Now, let’s take a brief description of these methods.

1] Deploy a newer system and migrate the workload

Microsoft does not support an upgrade of the operating system of an Azure VM. Instead, you can create an Azure VM that is running the supported version of the required operating system, and then migrate the workload.

2] Download and upgrade the VHD

i) Download the VHD of the VM The Azure portal is a web-based, unified console that provides an alternative to command-line tools. With the Azure portal, you can manage your Azure subscription using a graphical user interface. You can build, manage, and monitor everything from simple web apps to complex cloud deployments.

In Azure Portal, open the Storage account.Click the Storage account that contains the VHD file.Select the container for the VHD file.Click the VHD file, and then click the Download button.

ii) Do an in-place upgrade

Follow the steps in this Microsoft document to upload the VHD to Azure and to deploy the VM. And that’s all, folks!