Deploy and scale containers on managed Kubernetes.
Compute•Official page ↗
Generally Available: Managed StandardV2 NAT Gateway for AKS
AKS will now provision and manage a StandardV2 NAT Gateway for clusters using an AKS-managed virtual network.
Generally Available: Anyscale on Azure
Anyscale on Azure is now Generally Available. Anyscale on Azure is a managed platform for running distributed Python workloads on Ray. It deploys directly onto your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster and integrates with the Azure services your team already uses.
Retirement: Pod name dimension in AKS pod platform metrics
Beginning September 30, 2027, support for the pod name dimension on the following Azure Monitor platform metrics is retiring, and these metrics are transitioning to aggregate pod counters: Number of pods by phase (kube_pod_status_phase)
Public Preview: AKS on bare metal now on Ubuntu
Running Kubernetes on-premises often means adding a virtualization layer, adapting to unfamiliar infrastructure, or giving up control over the hardware and software your applications depend on.
Public Preview: Ubuntu 26.04 support in AKS
Teams running Ubuntu node pools on AKS need to stay current with Ubuntu LTS releases, but each OS transition can introduce package footprint, security, and compatibility concerns.
Public Preview: Flex Nodes for AKS
Flex Nodes for AKS is a deployment option for application and platform teams to use hybrid and edge infrastructure as connected worker nodes to an AKS control plane in Azure.
Retirement: Azure Linux with OS Guard in Azure Kubernetes Service
Support for Azure Linux with OS Guard in Azure Kubernetes Service will end on December 10, 2026. Azure Container Linux is the replacement for Azure Linux with OS Guard (preview).
Generally Available: Windows Server 2025 on AKS
Organizations running Windows-based workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) face increasing pressure to modernize as support timelines for older Windows Server versions approach retirement.
Generally Available: Artifact Streaming on AKS
You can now accelerate your containerized workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) using Azure Container Registry (ACR) with Artifact streaming. Artifact streaming will allow you to scale your workloads without having to fully wait for images to be pulled into the clusters.
Generally Available: Confidential VMs for Azure Linux
Confidential Virtual Machines (CVM) offer strong security and confidentiality for tenants. CVM for Azure Linux in AKS is now generally available and enables node pools with CVM to target the migration of highly sensitive container workloads to AKS without any code refactoring…
Generally Available: Workload identity support for Azure Files CSI driver (SMB) in Azure
The Azure Files Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) now supports workload identity for pod-level authentication to SMB file shares.
Generally Available: Connect to AKS clusters using Azure Bastion
Azure Bastion integration with Azure Kubernetes Service is now generally available. Customers can establish a secure tunnel from their local machine through Azure Bastion to an AKS cluster API server.
Generally Available: eBPF host routing in Advanced Container Networking Services for AKS
eBPF Host Routing in Advanced Container Networking Services for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is now generally available.
Generally Available: Control plane metrics collection for AKS with Managed Prometheus
Control plane metrics collection for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), powered by Azure Monitor Managed Service for Prometheus, is now generally available.
Generally Available: Application Routing with Gateway API
Managing ingress routing while adopting newer Kubernetes standards can require balancing modernization efforts with existing deployments.
Public Preview: Prepared Image Specification
Organizations running large-scale, AI, GPU, Windows, and other performance-sensitive workloads on AKS often experience longer node startup times because new nodes must repeatedly download container images and perform initialization tasks before workloads can run.
Generally Available: Encryption in Transit for Azure Files NFS Shares in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) now generally supports Encryption in Transit (EiT) for Azure Files NFS v4.1 volumes through the Azure File CSI driver.
Public Preview: Application Gateway for Containers – Inference gateway
Application Gateway for Containers is extending its ingress gateway feature set with new AI gateway capabilities.
Generally available: Generally available: Managed system node pools in AKS Automatic
Provisioning and maintaining system node pools in AKS requires ongoing work to handle scaling, patching, and availability. Managed system node pools in AKS Automatic remove that responsibility.
Public Preview: Anyscale on Azure
Now in Public Preview, Anyscale on Azure is a cloud-native managed Ray platform for machine learning engineers and AI developers who need to run Python workloads at massive scale without compromising speed or control.
