What's new in SQL Server on Azure VMs? (Archive)
Applies to: 
SQL Server on Azure VM
This article summarizes older documentation changes associated with new features and improvements in the recent releases of SQL Server on Azure VMs. To learn more about SQL Server on Azure VMs, see the overview.
Return to What's new in SQL Server on Azure VMs?
2023
Note
SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 are out of extended support and no longer available from the Azure Marketplace.
| Changes | Month | Details |
|---|---|---|
| SQL VM health notifications | September | The Overview page of the SQL virtual machines resource in the Azure portal now displays information about the health of the SQL IaaS Agent extension, as well as error conditions when the state is unhealthy or failed. Review Troubleshoot the extension to learn more. |
| Configure AG from Azure portal GA | August | The experience to deploy an Always On availability group to multiple subnets by using the Azure portal is now generally available. To learn more, review Configure availability group through the Azure portal. |
| Azure SQL bindings for Azure Functions GA | May | Azure Functions supports input bindings, and output bindings for the Azure SQL and SQL Server products. This feature is now generally available. Review Azure SQL bindings for Azure Functions to learn more. |
| Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions preview | May | Azure Functions supports function triggers for the Azure SQL and SQL Server products. This feature is currently in preview. Review Azure SQL triggers for Azure Functions to learn more. |
| Migrate AG to multi-subnet | April | Learn how to migrate your single-subnet Always On availability group to multiple subnets to remove the reliance on an Azure Load Balancer or Distributed Network Name (DNN) to route traffic to your listener. See Migrate availability group to a multi-subnet environment to learn more. |
| Removed extension management modes | March | The architecture for the SQL IaaS Agent extension has been updated to remove management modes. All newly deployed SQL Server VMs are registered with the extension by using the same default configuration and least privileged security model. To learn more, review Management modes. |
| Extend your multi-subnet AG to multiple regions | January | Extend an existing multi-subnet availability group, either on Azure virtual machines, or on-premises, to another region in Azure. To learn more, review Multi-subnet availability group in multiple regions. |
2022
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Troubleshoot SQL IaaS Agent extension | We've added an article to help you troubleshoot and address some known issues with the SQL Server IaaS agent extension. To learn more, read Troubleshoot known issues. |
| Configure AG from Azure portal | There is a new experience to deploy an Always On availability group to multiple subnets by using the Azure portal. The new availability group deployment method replaces the previous deployment through the SQL virtual machines resource. This feature is currently in preview. To learn more, review Configure availability group through the Azure portal. |
| Least privilege permission model for SQL IaaS Agent extension | There is a new permissions model available for the SQL Server IaaS Agent extension that grants the least privileged permission for each feature used by the extension. To learn more, review SQL IaaS Agent extension permissions. |
| Azure CLI for SQL best practices assessment | It's now possible to configure the SQL best practices assessment feature using the Azure CLI. |
| Configure tempdb from Azure portal | It's now possible to configure your tempdb settings, such as the number of files, initial size, and autogrowth ratio for an existing SQL Server instance by using the Azure portal. See manage SQL Server VM from portal to learn more. |
| Security best practices | The SQL Server VM security best practices have been rewritten and refreshed! |
2021
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Deployment configuration improvements | It's now possible to configure the following options when deploying your SQL Server VM from an Azure Marketplace image: System database location, number of tempdb data files, collation, max degree of parallelism, min and max server memory settings, and optimize for ad hoc workloads. Review Deploy SQL Server VM to learn more. |
| Automated backup improvements | The possible maximum automated backup retention period has changed from 30 days to 90, and you're now able to choose a specific container within the storage account. Review automated backup to learn more. |
| Tempdb configuration | You can now modify tempdb settings directly from the SQL virtual machines pane in the Azure portal, such as increasing the size, and adding data files. |
| Eliminate need for HADR Azure Load Balancer or DNN | Deploy your SQL Server VMs to multiple subnets to eliminate the dependency on the Azure Load Balancer or distributed network name (DNN) to route traffic to your high availability / disaster recovery (HADR) solution! See the multi-subnet availability group tutorial, or prepare SQL Server VM for FCI article to learn more. |
| SQL Assessment | It's now possible to assess the health of your SQL Server VM in the Azure portal using SQL Assessment to surface recommendations that improve performance, and identify missing best practices configurations. This feature is currently in preview. |
| Repair SQL Server IaaS extension in portal | It's now possible to verify the status of your SQL Server IaaS Agent extension directly from the Azure portal, and repair it, if necessary. |
| HADR content refresh | We've refreshed and enhanced our high availability and disaster recovery (HADR) content! There's now an Overview of the Windows Server Failover Cluster, as well as a consolidated how-to configure quorum for SQL Server VMs. Additionally, we've enhanced the cluster best practices with more comprehensive setting recommendations adopted to the cloud. |
| Performance best practices refresh | We've rewritten, refreshed, and updated the performance best practices documentation, splitting one article into a series that contains: a checklist, VM size guidance, Storage guidance, and collecting baseline instructions. |
2020
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Azure SQL family | SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines is now a part of the Azure SQL family of products. Check out our new look! Nothing has changed in the product, but the documentation aims to make the Azure SQL product decision easier. |
| Distributed network name (DNN) | SQL Server 2019 on Windows Server 2016+ is now previewing support for routing traffic to your failover cluster instance (FCI) by using a distributed network name rather than using Azure Load Balancer. This support simplifies and streamlines connecting to your high-availability (HA) solution in Azure. |
| FCI with Azure shared disks | It's now possible to deploy your failover cluster instance (FCI) by using Azure shared disks. |
| Reorganized FCI docs | The documentation around failover cluster instances with SQL Server on Azure VMs has been rewritten and reorganized for clarity. We've separated some of the configuration content, like the cluster configuration best practices, how to prepare a virtual machine for a SQL Server FCI, and how to configure Azure Load Balancer. |
| Migrate log to ultra disk | Learn how you can migrate your log file to an ultra disk to leverage high performance and low latency. |
| DNN for availability group | You can now configure a distributed network name (DNN) listener) for SQL Server 2019 CU8 and later to replace the traditional VNN listener, negating the need for an Azure Load Balancer. |
2019
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| Performance-optimized storage configuration | You can now fully customize your storage configuration when creating a new SQL Server VM. |
| Premium file share for FCI | You can now create a failover cluster instance by using a Premium file share instead of the original method of Storage Spaces Direct. |
| Azure Dedicated Host | You can run your SQL Server VM on Azure Dedicated Host. |
| SQL Server VM migration to a different region | Use Azure Site Recovery to migrate your SQL Server VM from one region to another. |
| New SQL Server VM management in the Azure portal | There's now a way to manage your SQL Server VM in the Azure portal. For more information, see Manage SQL Server VMs in the Azure portal. |
| Portal enhancement | The Azure portal experience for deploying a SQL Server VM has been revamped to improve usability. For more information, see the brief quickstart and more thorough how-to guide to deploy a SQL Server VM. |
2018
| Changes | Details |
|---|---|
| New resource provider for a SQL Server cluster | A new resource provider (Microsoft.SqlVirtualMachine/SqlVirtualMachineGroups) defines the metadata of the Windows failover cluster. Joining a SQL Server VM to SqlVirtualMachineGroups bootstraps the Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) service and joins the VM to the cluster. |
Additional resources
Windows VMs:
- Overview of SQL Server on Windows VMs
- Provision SQL Server on Windows VMs
- High availability and disaster recovery for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
- Performance best practices for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
- Application patterns and development strategies for SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines
Linux VMs: