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Applies to: ✔️ Windows VMs
Original product version: Windows 10, version 1803, all editions, Windows 10, version 1709, all editions, Virtual Machine running Windows, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 Enterprise
Original KB number: 4014997
This article describes how to do an in-place system upgrade of supported Windows 10-based and Windows-11-based Azure Virtual Machines (VMs). This article also describes workarounds for Azure VMs that aren't supported for in-place system upgrades.
Note
Looking for Windows Server?
For Azure VMs running Windows Server, see In-place upgrade for supported Windows Server VMs.
Caution
Following the process in this article causes a disconnection between the data plane and the control plane of the VM. Azure capabilities like Auto guest patching, Auto OS image upgrades, Hotpatching, and Azure Update Manager won't be available. To utilize these features, create a new VM using your preferred operating system instead of performing an in-place upgrade.
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 VM? Try one of the following tools:
- Azure VM Windows Update Error Detection Tool to diagnose specific Windows Update errors.
- Azure VM Windows Servicing Stack Reset Tool to reset the Windows servicing stack.
- Azure Virtual Machine (VM) Windows OS Upgrade Assessment Tool to validate the OS upgrade path and any known issues.
If you're experiencing performance problems with VMs, run these tools first before contacting support.
Symptoms
Consider the following scenario:
- You have a VM that's running Windows in a Microsoft Azure environment.
- 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.
Cause
In-place system upgrades are supported for specific versions of Azure Windows VMs. We're working to broaden support of in-place system upgrade (as a Feature Update) to other versions soon.
Windows versions supported for in-place system upgrades
Windows 10 single-session, all editions, all versions
Note
- You can't do an in-place upgrade from a single-session SKU of Windows to a multi-session SKU. For more information, see Can I upgrade a Windows VM to Windows Enterprise multi-session? .
- When migrating from Windows 10 to Windows 11, follow best practices by deploying new VMs. This approach avoids potential compatibility issues and ensures an optimized configuration. The VM must meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11.
Windows versions not yet supported for in-place system upgrades (consider using a workaround)
- Windows 10 and 11 single-session (includes Enterprise multi-session, all versions)
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 7 Enterprise
In-place system upgrade process for a Windows 10 VM
This process requires 45-60 minutes to complete and for the VM to restart. To do the in-place system upgrade, follow these steps:
Run Azure Virtual Machine (VM) Windows OS Upgrade Assessment Tool to validate the OS upgrade path and any known issues.
Verify that the Windows 10 VM doesn't use Ephemeral OS Disk. This feature is currently not supported.
Verify that the Windows 10 VM has at least 2 GB of RAM, and 12 GB of free disk space on the system disk.
To prevent data loss, back up the Windows 10 VM by using Azure Backup. You can also use a third-party backup solution from Azure Marketplace Backup & Recovery.
To check whether the backup was successful, turn off the original Windows 10 VM and verify that a new VM can be successfully restored from the backup and that all applications are running successfully.
Note
You can use either the original Windows 10 VM or the restored VM as a source for an in-place system upgrade. The VMs can't run simultaneously unless one VM's system name and IP address are changed to avoid conflicts.
Connect to the Windows 10 VM, and then go to Settings > Updates & Security > Windows Update.
In Windows Update, select Check for updates.
When the Feature Update item appears, select Download and install now.
The update downloads and installs. User settings and data are preserved, and the VM restarts automatically.
If you have general questions about this procedure, post them to Microsoft Q&A. Add the azure-virtual-machines tag to your questions.
Workaround
To work around this issue, create an Azure VM that's running a supported version. Download and upgrade the VHD of the VM.
To prevent data loss, back up the Windows 10 VM by using Azure Backup. Or, use a third-party backup solution from Azure Marketplace Backup & Recovery.
Download and upgrade the VHD
Step 1: Do an in-place upgrade in a local Hyper-V VM
- Download the VHD of the VM.
- Attach the VHD to a local Hyper-V VM.
- Start the VM.
- Run the in-place upgrade.
Step 2: Upload the VHD to Azure
Follow the steps in the following article to upload the VHD to Azure and to deploy the VM.
Upload a generalized VHD and use it to create new VMs in Azure
Note
When you perform an in-place upgrade on Azure Windows VMs, the VM properties on the Azure portal aren't updated. The changes are reflected only within the OS. This means that the source image information in the VM properties (including the publisher, offer, and plan) remains unchanged. The image that's used to deploy the VM remains the same. Only the OS is upgraded.
References
Microsoft server software support for Microsoft Azure virtual machines.
Contact us for help
If you have questions, you can ask Azure community support. You can also submit product feedback to Azure feedback community.
Third-party contact disclaimer
Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find additional information about this topic. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of third-party contact information.