This blog post series highlights the key announcements and major updates related to Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Azure Local, as officially released by Microsoft in the past two weeks.
Azure
General
Microsoft to Tighten Cloud Security with Mandatory MFA for Azure Resource Management
Microsoft has announced that Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) will be enforced for all Azure resource management actions starting October 1, 2025. The enforcement will apply to sign-ins via Azure CLI, PowerShell, SDKs, REST APIs, Infrastructure as Code tools, and the Azure mobile app, as part of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI). SFI focuses on Secure by Design, Secure by Default, and Secure in Operations across engineering pillars such as identity protection, network security, threat detection, and rapid vulnerability remediation. To prepare, administrators are advised to upgrade to Azure CLI v2.76+ and PowerShell v14.3+, migrate automation from user identities to workload identities, use Azure Policy in audit/enforcement mode to assess impact, and monitor MFA registration with built-in reports or scripts. Enforcement will roll out gradually across all tenants, with global administrators able to defer until July 1, 2026. Microsoft’s research indicates that accounts with MFA enabled are 99.99% resistant to hacking attempts, and that MFA reduces unauthorized access risk by 98.56% even when credentials are compromised.
Compute
Upgrade Existing Azure Gen1 VMs to Gen2 Trusted Launch
Microsoft has made generally available the ability to enable Trusted Launch on existing Azure Generation 1 virtual machines by upgrading them to Generation 2 with Trusted Launch. This capability strengthens foundational compute security by enabling Secure Boot and virtual TPM (vTPM), and by measuring the VM’s boot chain for attestation. By helping defend against bootkits and rootkits, the upgrade enhances the security posture of existing workloads without requiring full redeployment.
Retirement of Confidential VM SKUs DCesv5, DCedsv5, ECesv5, ECedsv5
Microsoft is retiring the Confidential VM SKUs DCesv5, DCedsv5, ECesv5, and ECedsv5, with the DCesv6 and ECesv6 sizes designated as their successors. The next-generation sizes—currently in public preview—introduce enhancements such as integration with OpenHCL and will be the primary focus going forward. As part of the transition, all new and existing deployments of the retiring series will be stopped by September 12, 2025. After that date, no new VMs can be created, and any VM from these series that is rebooted will no longer be available. Customers are encouraged to plan migrations to the v6 series to maintain continuity and benefit from the latest confidential computing capabilities.
Networking
Multiple Address Prefixes for Subnets in Azure Virtual Networks
Support for multiple address prefixes per subnet in Azure Virtual Networks is now generally available. Previously, a subnet could hold only a single prefix, which complicated scale-out when the address space was exhausted. The new capability allows additional prefixes to be added directly to a subnet, expanding available address space without emptying or resizing the subnet. This enables dynamic subnet growth with minimal disruption and more efficient use of address space, while preserving headroom for future expansion.
Retirement of Azure CDN in Azure China—migrate to Azure Front Door by December 1, 2025
Azure CDN operated by 21Vianet in Azure China will be retired on December 1, 2025. Because Azure CDN relies on local provider POPs via API integrations and lacks deep, native Azure integration, Microsoft is directing customers to Azure Front Door as the native, more integrated alternative with built-in security features such as WAF and Private Link to origins. Customers should complete migration and validation and delete Azure CDN resources by November 15, 2025. If migration is not completed by that date, the Azure Front Door team will attempt to migrate eligible CDN profiles. Profiles that are disabled, have had no active traffic in the prior three months, or are otherwise incompatible will not be migrated and will experience service disruption starting December 1, 2025. In such cases, customers should migrate to Azure Front Door or another CDN solution before November 15, 2025.
Azure Front Door Standard and Premium now available in Azure China
Azure Front Door Standard and Premium are now generally available in the Azure China regions (China North 3 and China East 3), operated by 21Vianet. With this release, customers can deliver secure, reliable, high-performance applications using a natively integrated platform that provides global load balancing with instant failover, edge caching and protocol optimizations for acceleration, and enterprise-grade security including WAF, DDoS protection, and TLS/SSL offload. The service supports local compliance requirements such as ICP filing for custom domains and offers end-to-end observability through Azure Monitor metrics, logs, and analytics, enabling reduced latency, improved resilience, and a consistent operational experience across global and China regions.
CNI Overlay for Application Gateway for Containers and AGIC
Azure CNI Overlay support with Application Gateway for Containers and the Application Gateway Ingress Controller (AGIC) is now generally available. With CNI Overlay, AKS clusters can assign pod IPs from a separate CIDR, conserving VNet IP space and simplifying multi-cluster deployments. When paired with Application Gateway and Application Gateway for Containers, this approach provides secure, efficient load balancing to designated services inside the cluster’s private overlay network while reducing external exposure. Network configuration (CNI Overlay or traditional CNI) is detected automatically by the platform, eliminating additional setup and streamlining deployment.
Custom block response code and body for Application Gateway WAF (preview)
Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) integrated with Application Gateway now supports customizable response status codes and bodies for blocked requests in public preview. By default, WAF returns HTTP 403 with “The request is blocked” when a rule is triggered; with this preview, administrators can define a custom status code and message at the policy level so that all blocked requests receive a consistent, tailored response. This enhancement aligns Application Gateway WAF with the customization already available on WAF with Azure Front Door, giving teams greater flexibility and control over client-facing behavior during enforcement.
Storage
Azure NetApp Files short-term clones (preview)
Azure NetApp Files short-term clones are available in public preview, enabling space-efficient, instant read/write access by creating temporary thin clones from existing volume snapshots rather than full data copies. Suitable for development, analytics, disaster recovery scenarios, and testing of large datasets, these clones can be refreshed quickly from the latest snapshots and remain temporary for up to one month, consuming capacity only for incremental changes. The capability accelerates workflows, improves quality and resilience, and lowers costs by avoiding full-copy storage and reducing operational overhead, and is available in all Azure NetApp Files supported regions.
Entra ID and RBAC support for supplemental Azure Storage APIs
Support for Entra ID (OAuth 2.0) and Azure RBAC is now generally available for the following Azure Storage operations: Get Account Information, Get/Set Container ACL, Get/Set Queue ACL, and Get/Set Table ACL. With this change, REST responses for unauthorized access have been aligned with other OAuth-enabled Storage APIs: calls made with OAuth that lack required permissions now return 403 (Forbidden) instead of the previous 404, while anonymous requests for a bearer challenge return 401 (Unauthorized). For example, GetAccountInformation requires the RBAC action Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/blobServices/getInfo/action. Applications that depend on the old 404 behavior should be updated to handle both 403 and 404 responses, as SDKs will not automatically adjust this behavior.
Conclusion
Over the past two weeks, Microsoft has introduced a slew of updates and announcements pertaining to Azure Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Azure Local. These developments underscore the tech giant’s unwavering commitment to enhancing its cloud offerings and adapting to the ever-evolving needs of businesses and developers. Users of Azure can anticipate improved functionalities, streamlined services, and enriched features as a result of these changes. Stay tuned for more insights as I continue to monitor and report on Azure’s progression in the cloud sphere.
