Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
Optimizing Docker Images for Java Applications on Azure Container Apps
Introduction
In the cloud-native era, the need for rapid application startup and automated scaling has become more critical, especially for Java applications, which require enhanced solutions to meet these demands effectively. In a previous blog post Accelerating Java Applications on Azure Kubernetes Service with CRaC, we explored using CRaC technology to address these challenges. CRaC enables faster application startup and reduces recovery times, thus facilitating efficient scaling operations. In this blog post, we’ll delve further into optimizing container images specifically for Azure Container Apps (ACA), by leveraging multi-stage builds, Spring Boot Layer Tools, and Class Data Sharing (CDS) to create highly optimized Docker images. By combining these techniques, you’ll see improvements in both the image footprint and the startup performance of your Java applications on ACA. These improvements make Java applications more agile and responsive to frequent cloud-native deployments, ensuring they can keep pace with modern operational demands
Key Takeaways
- Multi-stage builds reduced the image size by 33%, leading to faster image pulls.
- Spring Boot Layer Tools further optimized the build process by reducing unnecessary rebuilds, slightly improving both image pull and startup times.
- Class Data Sharing (CDS) provided the most impactful benefit, reducing application startup time by 27%, significantly enhancing runtime performance.
Overview of Optimization Techniques
Multi-Stage Builds
Spring Boot Layer Tools
Class Data Sharing (CDS)
Applying the Techniques: Step-by-Step Optimization
Step 0: Starting Point: The Base Docker Image
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu
WORKDIR /home/app
ADD . /home/app/spring-petclinic-main
RUN cd spring-petclinic-main && ./mvnw -Dmaven.test.skip=true clean package && cp ./target/*.jar /home/app/petclinic.jar
EXPOSE 8080
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "petclinic.jar"]
Base Image Metrics for Comparison
Optimization Stage | Image Size (MB) | Image pull time (s) | Startup Time (s) |
Base Image (No Optimization) | 734 | 8.017 | 7.649 |
Step 1: Using Multi-Stage Builds
# Stage 1: Build Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu AS builder
WORKDIR /home/app
ADD . /home/app/spring-petclinic-main
RUN cd spring-petclinic-main && ./mvnw -Dmaven.test.skip=true clean package
# Stage 2: Final Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-mariner
WORKDIR /home/app
EXPOSE 8080
COPY --from=builder /home/app/spring-petclinic-main/target/*.jar petclinic.jar
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "petclinic.jar"]
Multi-Stage Build Metrics
Optimization Stage | Image Size (MB) | Image pull time (s) | Startup Time (s) |
Base Image (No Optimization) | 734 | 8.017 | 7.649 |
Multi-Stage Build | 492 | 7.145 | 7.932 |
Step 2: Optimizing with Spring Boot Layer Tools
# Stage 1: Build Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu AS builder
WORKDIR /home/app
ADD . /home/app/spring-petclinic-main
RUN cd spring-petclinic-main && ./mvnw -Dmaven.test.skip=true clean package
# Stage 2: Layer Tool Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu AS optimizer
WORKDIR /home/app
COPY --from=builder /home/app/spring-petclinic-main/target/*.jar petclinic.jar
RUN java -Djarmode=layertools -jar petclinic.jar extract
# Stage 3: Final Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-mariner
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "org.springframework.boot.loader.JarLauncher"]
COPY --from=optimizer /home/app/dependencies/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /home/app/spring-boot-loader/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /home/app/snapshot-dependencies/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /home/app/application/ ./
Layer Tools Metrics
Optimization Stage | Image Size (MB) | Image pull time (s) | Startup Time (s) |
Base Image (No Optimization) | 734 | 8.017 | 7.649 |
Multi-Stage Build | 492 | 6.987 | 7.932 |
Spring Boot Layer Tools | 493 | 7.104 | 7.805 |
Step 3: Integrating Class Data Sharing (CDS)
# Stage 1: Build Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu AS builder
WORKDIR /home/app
ADD . /home/app/spring-petclinic-main
RUN cd spring-petclinic-main && ./mvnw -Dmaven.test.skip=true clean package
# Stage 2: Layer Tool Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-ubuntu AS optimizer
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /home/app/spring-petclinic-main/target/*.jar petclinic.jar
RUN java -Djarmode=tools -jar petclinic.jar extract --layers --launcher
# Stage 3: Optimize with CDS Stage
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/openjdk/jdk:17-mariner
COPY --from=optimizer /app/petclinic/dependencies/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /app/petclinic/spring-boot-loader/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /app/petclinic/snapshot-dependencies/ ./
COPY --from=optimizer /app/petclinic/application/ ./
RUN java -XX:ArchiveClassesAtExit=./application.jsa -Dspring.context.exit=onRefresh org.springframework.boot.loader.launch.JarLauncher
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-XX:SharedArchiveFile=application.jsa", "org.springframework.boot.loader.launch.JarLauncher"]
Optimizing with Class Data Sharing (CDS)
Optimization Stage | Image Size (MB) | Image pull time (s) | Startup Time (s) |
Base Image (No Optimization) | 734 | 8.017 | 7.649 |
Multi-Stage Build | 492 | 6.987 | 7.932 |
Spring Boot Layer Tools | 493 | 7.104 | 7.805 |
CDS | 560 | 7.145 | 5.562 |
Conclusion
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Get AI ready: Empowering developers in the era of AI
The rise of AI is reshaping software development—providing opportunities for AI-assisted development and building AI applications while also bringing significant challenges. For developers, adapting to this AI-driven landscape requires proactive skill building. At Microsoft Learn, we support you with focused training resources, empowering you to thrive in this fast-evolving environment and helping you to address new hurdles, including:
- Staying current with technology. The pace of advancements in AI can be overwhelming, and many developers need specialized skills for integrating AI. Filling these gaps requires access to the right training and tools that make learning effective and efficient.
- Complex integration. Bringing AI into existing workflows can add complexity to development processes. Without clear guidance, it can be difficult to effectively incorporate AI without disrupting current systems.
- Security and ethical concerns. Building secure, compliant, and ethically responsible AI solutions involves careful planning and execution. Developers must navigate the nuances of ethical AI use, while meeting security and compliance guidelines.
At Microsoft Learn, we’re all about helping you build skills to tackle technical challenges. Our approach is designed to equip you with practical tools and resources, so you can develop the skills that matter most to you. Whether it’s boosting your productivity, tightening up security, or unleashing your creativity with AI, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Elevate your AI development skills
At the recent GitHub Universe’24, we learned how integrating tools from the Microsoft and GitHub ecosystems, including Azure AI services and GitHub Copilot, can streamline building, testing, and deployment of AI applications—all within one environment.
With that inspiration, we’ve put together a wealth of resources to help you build, practice, and validate your expertise. We know that your time is valuable, so we’ve streamlined the path to learning AI technologies. Our curated set of Official Plans on Microsoft Learn is tailored to fit your schedule and learning style, offering self-paced modules and interactive training.
Dive into the recommended Plans that cover topics like developing with AI, building AI applications, implementing platform engineering, and incorporating security best practices. Let’s embark on this learning adventure together and unlock your full potential!
Work smarter—not harder—with GitHub Copilot
Discover how to put Copilot to work and use AI to handle repetitive coding tasks:
- Accelerate app development by using GitHub Copilot. Use autocompletion and chat features in Copilot to more efficiently author new code features. Plus, get the details on refactoring, debugging, and testing code with GitHub Copilot.
- Explore AI-enhanced productivity with Visual Studio. Learn how to use Visual Studio in conjunction with GitHub Copilot to streamline your workflow, from navigating your codebase to debugging efficiently.
Start the Accelerate app development by using GitHub Copilot Plan.
Build, test, and deploy AI apps
Work with Azure AI Studio, Azure AI services, and GitHub Copilot to build, test, and deploy powerful AI-driven applications:
- Explore generative AI model selection, evaluation, and multimodal integration with Azure AI Studio. Discover the process of applying the best generative AI models for your needs by using Azure AI Studio. Learn how to benchmark models by using built-in tools, gain the skills to apply multimodal models, and help ensure performance and safety.
- Build, test, and deploy applications securely with GitHub and Azure. Integrate natural language processing, computer vision, and other cognitive capabilities by using Azure AI services, supported by GitHub integration. Find practical scenarios for working with prebuilt APIs to easily add AI capabilities.
Start the Build, test, and deploy applications securely with GitHub and Microsoft Azure Plan.
Create secure developer platforms
As a developer, you have the power to implement, configure, and secure your software delivery lifecycle from code to cloud. Work with secure continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), workstations, and policy—without sacrificing speed:
- Discover secure and responsible deployment. Learn to write more secure code, respond swiftly to vulnerabilities in the software supply chain, and adopt best practices that instill responsibility and trust in AI.
- Apply AI-driven security practices. Gain interactive experience with tools like secret scanning, dependency scanning, and code scanning, all powered by GitHub Advanced Security. Discover how AI-generated code fixes work and how they explain fixes in natural language, making it easier to understand and act on security recommendations.
Start the Implement platform engineering with GitHub and Azure Plan.
Continue the GitHub Universe momentum
Even if you didn’t attend GitHub Universe, you can still skill up to make the most of GitHub tools and features in your AI app development:
- Join the GitHub Universe Devpost Hackathon to engage with the developer community, build innovative AI solutions, and enhance your skills while competing for exciting prizes, including cash rewards and Azure credits.
- Enroll in the GitHub Universe Microsoft Learn Challenge, and level up your AI development skills.
- Expand your skills in the AI learning hub on Microsoft Learn. Find detailed skill-building Plans and other resources designed to help AI developers build their proficiency with GitHub Copilot, Azure AI services, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and more.
Whether you’re looking to develop with AI, build AI applications, simplify your workflows, or incorporate security best practices, Microsoft Learn has you covered. We’re here to help you tackle challenges, boost your productivity, tighten up security, and unleash your creativity in the exciting world of AI-driven development.
Learn Microsoft AI with our blog series: ‘Get AI ready’
Check out other articles from our AI-focused series of blog posts exploring perspectives and opportunities to acquire critical AI skills.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Windows Server 2025 Security Book
Security affects everyone in an organization from upper-level management to the information worker. Inadequate security is a real risk for organizations as a security breach can disrupt all normal business and bring the organization to a halt. Information technology infrastructure is susceptible to a wide variety of attacks. Attackers typically take advantage of vulnerabilities in the hardware, firmware, operating system, or the application layer. Once they gain a foothold, they use techniques such as privilege escalation to move laterally to other systems in the organization. Windows Server supports security capabilities that can help protect, as well as detect and respond to such attacks.
To learn about security capabilities in Windows Server 2025, read the Windows Server 2025 security book attached to this blog.
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Effective Monitoring of Azure PostgreSQL for Azure OpenAI Workloads
Introduction
Azure OpenAI Service is becoming a go-to solution for businesses integrating AI capabilities into their applications, allowing for high-performance, scalable, and reliable data handling. Many of these applications rely on PostgreSQL for data storage due to its flexibility, advanced features, and ability to manage both structured and unstructured data. However, as these AI workloads often involve complex, high-volume data transactions, effectively monitoring your PostgreSQL instance is crucial to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and business continuity.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why PostgreSQL is a popular choice for Azure OpenAI workloads, examine key metrics to monitor for database health, and walk through a structured architecture for monitoring and alerting that integrates with Azure’s tools and services.
Why PostgreSQL is Popular with Azure OpenAI Workloads
When it comes to data storage for AI-driven applications, PostgreSQL offers several advantages:
- Scalability & Performance: PostgreSQL is designed to handle high-throughput read/write operations, essential for AI workloads with significant data handling requirements.
- Data Handling & Analytics: It’s well-suited for managing structured and unstructured data, making it ideal for applications needing a mix of data formats.
- Managed Flexibility: Azure’s managed PostgreSQL options allow for a balance between automated administration and customization, essential for complex AI models.
- Seamless Integration: With Azure, PostgreSQL integrates smoothly with OpenAI workloads, simplifying data flow between applications and the underlying storage.
This combination makes PostgreSQL on Azure a natural choice for powering data-centric, AI-driven applications.
Key Metrics for Monitoring Azure PostgreSQL
When monitoring PostgreSQL, especially for high-performance AI workloads, it’s essential to keep an eye on specific metrics that indicate database health and performance. Below are the key metrics to monitor:
1. CPU Percent
- Why Monitor: CPU utilization is a fundamental indicator of your server’s load and responsiveness.
- Interpretation: A sudden drop in CPU usage could signal a failover or server unresponsiveness, providing an early warning for potential issues.
- Learn More: CPU Percent in Azure PostgreSQL
2. Active Connections
- Why Monitor: Active connections reflect application demand and can indicate potential availability issues.
- Interpretation: Spikes or drops in connections may indicate a failover or issues with connection handling, affecting the database’s ability to manage incoming requests.
- Learn More: Active Connections in Azure PostgreSQL
3. Write IOPS
- Why Monitor: Write IOPS measures the frequency of write operations, which is critical in data-intensive AI workloads.
- Interpretation: A drop in write operations may indicate downtime or connectivity issues, impacting data persistence and accuracy.
- Learn More: Write IOPS in Azure PostgreSQL
4. Read Replica Lag
- Why Monitor: Replica lag measures how up-to-date read replicas are with the primary database.
- Interpretation: After a failover, lag should reset as the replica assumes the primary role. Persistent lag can affect query performance and data consistency.
- Learn More: Read Replica Lag in Azure PostgreSQL
5. Database Is Alive
- Why Monitor: This metric provides a simple check on database availability, indicating whether the database is up or down.
- Interpretation: A value of 0 signals downtime, making it a useful metric for automated alerts.
- Learn More: Database Is Alive in Azure PostgreSQL
6. Disk I/O Queue Depth
- Why Monitor: Disk I/O Queue Depth reveals potential disk bottlenecks, impacting database performance.
- Interpretation: High queue depth can cause slow response times, affecting AI model processing and data retrieval.
- Learn More: Disk I/O Queue Depth in Azure PostgreSQL
Architecture Overview for Monitoring Azure PostgreSQL
To support the monitoring of these metrics in a structured way, we can employ an architecture that integrates PostgreSQL metrics with Azure’s monitoring tools and automated responses. Below is a text-based illustration of this architecture:
Explanation of Each Component:
Azure OpenAI Workloads:
- These workloads require reliable data handling from PostgreSQL to manage model inputs, outputs, and analytics.
Azure PostgreSQL (Flexible Server):
- This managed instance serves as the primary database for data persistence, supporting complex AI workload requirements.
Key Metrics:
- Metrics like CPU Percent, Active Connections, Write IOPS, and others provide real-time insights into the database’s health and performance.
- These metrics are monitored continuously to detect and address performance issues promptly.
Monitoring Tools:
- Azure Monitor: Collects, analyzes, and sets up alerts based on the key metrics, using both static and dynamic thresholds.
- Azure Service Health: Notifies users about Azure-wide issues, including planned maintenance or outages affecting the PostgreSQL service.
- Azure Resource Health: Focuses specifically on resource health, helping diagnose service issues related to PostgreSQL.
- Automated Responses: With Azure Automation or Logic Apps, you can automate responses, such as restarting services or notifying your team when an alert triggers.
This architecture enables comprehensive, proactive monitoring to ensure your PostgreSQL setup meets the demands of Azure AI workloads.
Advanced Alerting Strategies with Azure Monitor
To enhance your monitoring setup further, Azure Monitor offers several advanced alerting features:
Dynamic Thresholds:
- These automatically adjust based on your data trends, making it easier to detect unusual spikes or drops in metrics.
Custom Queries:
- Use Log Analytics to track specific errors or connection issues, alerting you when thresholds are crossed.
Automated Responses:
- Consider tools like Azure Automation or Logic Apps to automate responses, reducing manual intervention during critical events.
For more details on configuring advanced alerts, you might find Advanced Alerting Strategies for Azure Monitoring helpful.
Conclusion
Monitoring your Azure PostgreSQL instance is vital for maintaining the performance and reliability of Azure AI workloads. By using Azure Monitor, Service Health, and Resource Health—and setting up automated responses—you can ensure that your database remains resilient and responsive, meeting the demands of complex, data-intensive applications.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Forms improvements
There are a set of features I would like to see implemented:
1 – Possibility of classifying the choice possibilities in multiple choice questions. Example:
2 – Possibility of making the total available per section after submitting the questionnaire;
3 – Drag-and-drop questions;
4 – Possibility of classifying the options in “linkert” type questions and obtaining the result of the question, which may be the sum or the average.
5 – Education Teams the possibility of creating a question bank to create random questionnaires.
There are a set of features I would like to see implemented:1 – Possibility of classifying the choice possibilities in multiple choice questions. Example:2 – Possibility of making the total available per section after submitting the questionnaire;3 – Drag-and-drop questions;4 – Possibility of classifying the options in “linkert” type questions and obtaining the result of the question, which may be the sum or the average.5 – Education Teams the possibility of creating a question bank to create random questionnaires. Read More
Save script in Outlook
Good morning, I am creating a script in Outlook for a rule that forwards the email to the name that appears in the subject. The thing is that I create the modules and save them, but when I am configuring the rule, when I select the script I get an empty folder as if I had done nothing. Am I saving wrong or am I skipping a step? Thank you for your advice.
I attach it as it appears in the email
Good morning, I am creating a script in Outlook for a rule that forwards the email to the name that appears in the subject. The thing is that I create the modules and save them, but when I am configuring the rule, when I select the script I get an empty folder as if I had done nothing. Am I saving wrong or am I skipping a step? Thank you for your advice.I attach it as it appears in the email Read More
Excel Workbook Link Source from 1 workbook tab to another
Hi,
I’ve seen some similar posts but not sure if what I am looking for is correct. But here goes.
Because it involves work, I’ll say Workbook A and B.
The idea is taking Tab 1 of Workbook A and linking it into Tab 3 in Workbook B and then have it automatically refresh when we update Workbook A Tab 1.
Now I understand that this has to be a workbook link source. I did try and highlight all of Tab 1 Workbook A and then Pasted it into the Tab 3 of Workbook B and I was able to do Paste > Link Source and click on automatic refresh. But all I got was #Connect in all the cells of that tab.
So I’m not sure if I was on the right track and I simply need whoever created Workbook A’s permission to do this or I need to do something else.
Hi, I’ve seen some similar posts but not sure if what I am looking for is correct. But here goes. Because it involves work, I’ll say Workbook A and B.The idea is taking Tab 1 of Workbook A and linking it into Tab 3 in Workbook B and then have it automatically refresh when we update Workbook A Tab 1. Now I understand that this has to be a workbook link source. I did try and highlight all of Tab 1 Workbook A and then Pasted it into the Tab 3 of Workbook B and I was able to do Paste > Link Source and click on automatic refresh. But all I got was #Connect in all the cells of that tab. So I’m not sure if I was on the right track and I simply need whoever created Workbook A’s permission to do this or I need to do something else. Read More
फ़ोनपे से पैसा दूसरे के खाते में गलती से चला जाए तो वापस पैसा कैसे अपने खाते में पा
फ़ोनपे से पैसे कट जाने पर, ये कदम उठाए जा सकते ग्राहक सहायता से संपर्क(8167^396√291) है फ़ोनपे ऐप में जाकर, “ट्रांज़ैक्शन” या “इतिहास” सेक्शन में जाएं. असफल लेन-देन चुनें. “वापस लें” या “वापस लेने के लिए अनुरोध करें” विकल्प चुनें.
फ़ोनपे से पैसे कट जाने पर, ये कदम उठाए जा सकते ग्राहक सहायता से संपर्क(8167^396√291) है फ़ोनपे ऐप में जाकर, “ट्रांज़ैक्शन” या “इतिहास” सेक्शन में जाएं. असफल लेन-देन चुनें. “वापस लें” या “वापस लेने के लिए अनुरोध करें” विकल्प चुनें. Read More
Exchange Hybrid connector validation from o365 to on-prem
We recently setup Exchange Hybrid on Classic mode. Completed without errors.
During setup we ensure that the Transport Certificate is valid and we assigned our 3rd party cert.
We checked on IIS that “Default Front End” certificates are assigned with 3rd party cert.
IIS ‘Exchange Back End’ is using the private “Exchange Server” certificate.
When checking Exchange online connectors and validating the O365-Onprem connector, it errors with
“450 4.4.317 Cannot connect to remote server [Message=SubjectMismatch Expected Subject: …… Thumbprint:######”
When troubleshooting and Checking the certificate thumbprint from the error message on the server. Determined that the thumbprint belonged to the private certificate used in the ‘Exchange Back End’
Not sure why it’s presenting the wrong certificate and not the front-end certificate?
Normal email flow is still working.
Appreciate anyone’s feedback.
We recently setup Exchange Hybrid on Classic mode. Completed without errors.During setup we ensure that the Transport Certificate is valid and we assigned our 3rd party cert. We checked on IIS that “Default Front End” certificates are assigned with 3rd party cert.IIS ‘Exchange Back End’ is using the private “Exchange Server” certificate. When checking Exchange online connectors and validating the O365-Onprem connector, it errors with “450 4.4.317 Cannot connect to remote server [Message=SubjectMismatch Expected Subject: …… Thumbprint:######” When troubleshooting and Checking the certificate thumbprint from the error message on the server. Determined that the thumbprint belonged to the private certificate used in the ‘Exchange Back End’ Not sure why it’s presenting the wrong certificate and not the front-end certificate? Normal email flow is still working. Appreciate anyone’s feedback. Read More
Function to return the number of columns which contain information
Hi
currently I am using google sheet. I need a function to return the number of columns which contain information (text or number) as in the attached file. is it possible to do that?
Thanks
Hicurrently I am using google sheet. I need a function to return the number of columns which contain information (text or number) as in the attached file. is it possible to do that?Thanks Read More
Trusted Signing is now open for individual developers to sign up in Public Preview!
Trusted Signing addresses the signing issues faced by individual developers by providing a comprehensive and affordable solution. It ensures the authenticity and integrity of code through a modern identity validation process, which is crucial for securing code signing certificates.
One of the key advantages of Trusted Signing is its cost-effectiveness. Trusted Signing offers two pricing tiers, starting at $9.99/month: Basic and Premium. Both tiers are designed to provide optimal cost efficiency and cater to various signing needs. The costs for identity validation, certificate lifecycle management, and signing are all included in a single offering, ensuring accessibility and predictable expenses. This eliminates the need for individual developers to invest in additional infrastructure and operations required to manage and store private keys securely.
Trusted Signing Identity Validation Process
Trusted Signing leverages Microsoft Entra Verified ID (VID) for performing Identity Validation for individual developers. This ensures that developers get VID that lives on the Authenticator app. The verification process typically involves the following steps:
- Submission of Government-Issued Photo ID: The first requirement is to provide a legible copy of a currently valid government-issued photo ID. This document must include the same name and address as on the certificate order.
- Biometric/selfie check: Along with the photo ID, applicants need to submit a selfie. This step ensures that the person in the ID matches the individual applying for the certificate.
- Additional Verification Steps: If the address is missing on the government issued ID card, then additional documents will be required to verify the address of the applicant.
- Got an existing VID? Make sure it meets the onboarding criteria for your desired service, and you can effortlessly reuse it across multiple services!
This is how a successfully procured VID would appear in Azure portal.
Best Practices for a Smooth Validation Process
To ensure a smooth and successful identity validation process, individual developers should adhere to the following best practices:
- Accurate Documentation: Ensure that all submitted documents are accurate and up to date.
- Stay Informed: Keep abreast of any changes in the validation requirements or processes.
Conclusion
Identity validation is a critical step for individual developers seeking code signing certificates. By understanding the process, preparing in advance, and following best practices, developers can successfully navigate the validation process and secure their code signing certificates. The plan is to extend the same level of robust identity validation process to make Trusted Signing available for organizations incorporated less than 3 years ago.
Try out Trusted Signing today by visiting the Azure portal.
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My Extionsions are turned off and not accessible
Hi.
Version 132.0.2933.0 (Official build) canary (64-bit)
I recently discovered that I cannot see all my installed extensions. Doesn’t matter which way I try to access them; I only see this one as on the screenshot.
Please suggest what I need to do to get them back. Some of them I really need and cannot access them.
I tried Paul’s suggestions here but it didn’t help.
My extensions don’t show in Edge Canary – Microsoft Community
Thanks very much.
Hi.Version 132.0.2933.0 (Official build) canary (64-bit)I recently discovered that I cannot see all my installed extensions. Doesn’t matter which way I try to access them; I only see this one as on the screenshot.Please suggest what I need to do to get them back. Some of them I really need and cannot access them.I tried Paul’s suggestions here but it didn’t help.My extensions don’t show in Edge Canary – Microsoft Community Thanks very much. Read More
A New Dawn of Software Defined Networking (SDN) in Windows Server 2025
A New Dawn of Software Defined Networking (SDN) in Windows Server 2025
Today is an exciting day as we unveil extensive new features and improvements for Software Defined Networking (SDN) in Windows Server 2025. We deeply appreciate your fantastic feedback and requests which have driven our team forward.
We hope you are as thrilled as we are, and we can’t wait to hear how you leverage these new features. We’ve categorized our updates into three major areas: Manageability, Security, and Scalability.
Manageability
“Native” SDN Infrastructure: The long-awaited feature is finally here! Traditionally, the Network Controller, a crucial part of SDN infrastructure, has been hosted in virtual machines (VMs), requiring multiple VMs for high availability. This setup consumes computing resources that could otherwise be used for applications, posing a significant issue for small-scale and single node Failover Clusters. With Windows Server 2025, we have transitioned the Network Controller from VMs to being hosted directly as Failover Cluster services on Windows Server 2025 hosts. This change not only conserves resources but also simplifies deployment and management, eliminating the need to deploy, manage, and update VMs. Yes, no more patching or installing agents from various teams on these VMs. You can use PowerShell cmdlets or Windows Admin Center to deploy and manage the “native” SDN infrastructure. Native SDN empowers you to have advanced VM network security features in less than ten minutes.
Figure: Differences between Network Controller in VMs and “native” Network Controller
Simplified SDN Load Balancers (Coming Soon): Previously, setting up the SDN load balancer service involved setting up Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peering between the load balancer virtual machines and the top-of-rack network switches to achieve external network connectivity. This process was cumbersome and incurred additional operational costs, consuming both resources and energy. This is particularly valuable for SMBs and smaller edge deployments, where advanced networking knowledge and know-how may be limited. The upcoming updates will make BGP optional, streamlining both the deployment and management process.
Security
Network security is a paramount concern for organizations today, given the rise in breaches, threats, and cybersecurity risks. SDN Network Security Groups (NSGs) offer Azure-consistent network security for Windows Server customers, protecting against both external and lateral threats. With Windows Server 2025, we are introducing new NSG capabilities to further enhance the security of your workloads.
Tag-based Segmentation: Instead of depending on cumbersome and unreliable methods for specifying IP ranges for NSG control, administrators can now use custom service tags to associate NSGs and VMs for access control. No more remembering and retyping IP ranges for your production and management machines; you can now use simple, self-explanatory labels. This allows you to tag your workload VMs with labels of your choice and apply security policies based on these tags. You can use PowerShell cmdlets or Windows Admin Center to deploy and manage network security tags. You can read more about tag-based segmentation here.
Figure: Network Security tags in Windows Admin Center
Default Network Policies: We are bringing Azure parity to our existing Network Security Groups (NSGs) on Windows Server 2025. Default Network Policies now enable you to reduce lateral attacks for workloads deployed through Windows Admin Center, offering options such as “Open some ports,” “Use existing NSG,” or “No protection.”
- No protection: All ports on your VM are exposed to networks, posing a security risk.
- Open some ports: The default policy denies all inbound access, allowing you to selectively open well-known inbound ports while permitting full outbound access from the VM.
- Use existing NSG: Utilize an NSG you have already created.
With these options, you can ensure that your newly created VMs and applications are always protected with NSGs. You can read more about Default Network Policies here.
Figures: Default network policies in Windows Admin Center during VM creation
Scalability
SDN Multisite: Many of you deploy applications across multiple locations and need the flexibility to move parts of these applications freely without reconfiguring the application or networks. Traditionally, Windows Server only partially supported this scenario and required additional components for deployment and management. SDN Multisite addresses this by providing native Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity between applications across two locations without any extra components. It also offers unified network policy management for workloads, eliminating the need to update policies when a workload VM moves from one location to another. You can use PowerShell cmdlets or Windows Admin Center to deploy and manage SDN Multisite. You can read more about SDN Multisite here.
Figure: Native connectivity for workload VMs across California and Norway WS 2025 clusters with SDN multisite
High Performance SDN Gateways: SDN Layer 3 gateways are essential for SDN infrastructure, providing connectivity between workloads on SDN networks and external networks by acting as routers. Many of you have requested performance improvements for these gateways. With Windows Server 2025, we have significantly enhanced the performance of SDN Layer 3 gateways, achieving higher throughputs (~15-30% improvement) and reduced CPU cycles (~25-40% improvement). These improvements are enabled by default, so you will automatically experience better performance when you configure a SDN gateway Layer 3 connection through PowerShell cmdlets or Windows Admin Center.
Learning
Exciting news! We’ve just rolled out fresh learning content tailored to empower our customers and support engineers with in-depth knowledge and practice on SDN. All self-guided content is comprised of a lecture and a hands-on lab aimed to provide actionable knowledge that drives success for our customers. You can access the learning content here: Technical reference for Software Defined Networking (SDN)| Microsoft Learn.
We are excited to share all these innovations with you. Upgrade to Windows Server 2025 to try out these features, we look forward to your feedback. For any suggestions, opinions, or issues, please reach out to us at sdn_feedback@microsoft.com.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Monthly news – November 2024
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This is our monthly “What’s new” blog post, summarizing product updates and various new assets we released over the past month. In this edition, we are looking at all the goodness from October 2024. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Revolutionizing Network Management and Performance with ATC, HUD and AccelNet on Windows Server 2025
In an era where seamless network management and enhanced performance are paramount, the release of Network ATC, Network HUD, and AccelNet for Windows Server 2025 marks a significant milestone. These groundbreaking innovations are designed to optimize the way we manage, monitor, and accelerate network operations, promising unprecedented efficiency and reliability.
Network ATC
Historically, deployment and management of networking for Failover clusters has been complex and error prone. The configuration flexibility with the host networking stack means there are many moving parts that can be easily misconfigured or overlooked. Keeping up with the latest best practices is also a challenge as improvements are continuously made to the underlying technologies. Additionally, configuration consistency across failover cluster nodes is vital for reliability.
Network ATC simplifies the deployment and network configuration management for Windows Server 2025 clusters. It provides an intent-based approach to host network deployment. Customers specify one or more intents (management, compute, or storage) for a network adapter, and we automate the deployment of the intended configuration.
Network ATC helps to:
- Reduce host networking deployment time, complexity, and errors
- Deploy the latest Microsoft-validated and supported best practices
- Ensure configuration consistency across the cluster
- Eliminate configuration drift
One of the greatest benefits of Network ATC is its ability to remediate configuration drift. Have you ever wondered “who changed that?” or said, “we must have missed this node.” You’ll never worry about this again with Network ATC at the helm. Expanding the cluster to add new nodes? Simply install the feature on the new node, join the cluster and within minutes, the expected configuration will be deployed.
For more details about deploying and managing Network ATC on Windows Server 2025, please check here: Deploy host networking with Network ATC. You can manage Network ATC through Powershell cmdlets or Windows Admin Center.
Figure: Network ATC management in Windows Admin Center
Network HUD (Coming Soon)
Network HUD is an upcoming Windows Server 2025 feature that will proactively identifies and remediates operational network issues.
Managing a network for business applications is challenging. Ensuring stability and optimization requires coordination across the physical network (switches, cabling, NICs), host operating system (virtual switches, virtual NICs), and the applications running in VMs or containers. Each component has its own configurations and capabilities, often managed by different teams. Even with a perfect setup, a bad configuration elsewhere in the network can degrade performance.
The complexity of managing these components has reached an all-time high, with numerous tools and technologies involved. Windows Server OS provides a wealth of information through event logs, performance counters, and tools, but analyzing this data when issues arise requires expertise and time, often after the problem has occurred.
Network HUD excels by analyzing real-time data from event logs, performance counters, tools like Pktmon, network traffic, and physical devices to identify issues before they happen. In many cases, it prevents issues by adjusting your system to avoid exacerbating problems. When prevention isn’t possible, Network HUD alerts you with actionable messages to resolve the issue.
Network HUD leverages capabilities in the physical switch to ensure that your configuration matches the physical network. For example, it can determine whether the locally connected switchports have the correct VLAN settings and the correct data center bridging configuration required for RDMA storage traffic to function.
Network HUD is built as a true cloud service that runs on-premises. It will ship as an Arc extension and will be part of Windows Server Azure Arc Management (WSAAM) services. This allows us to bring in more capabilities and make these available to you as soon as they are ready.
AccelNet
Accelerated Networking simplifies the management of single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) for virtual machines hosted on Windows Server 2025 clusters. SR-IOV provides a high-performance data path that bypasses the host, which reduces latency, jitter, and CPU utilization for the most demanding network workloads. This is particularly useful in High Performance Computing (HPC) environments, Real-time applications such as financial trading platforms, and virtualized network functions.
The following figure illustrates how two VMs communicate with and without SR-IOV.
Without SR-IOV, all networking traffic in and out of the VM traverses the host and the virtual switch. With SR-IOV, network traffic that arrives at VM’s network interface (NIC) is forwarded directly to VM.
SR-IOV has been available in Windows Server since 2012 R2 days. So, what benefit does AccelNet provide?
- Prerequisite checking: Informs users if the Windows Server cluster hosts support SR-IOV, checking for OS version and hyperthreading status among other things.
- Host Configuration: Ensures SR-IOV is enabled on the correct vSwitch that hosts virtual machine workloads and allows configuration of reserve nodes in case of failover to prevent resource over-subscription.
- Simplified VM performance settings: It can be overwhelming to identify how many queue pairs may be needed for a VM that is being enabled through SR-IOV. AccelNet abstracts performance settings into “Low,” “Medium,” and “High” to simplify configuration.
- Health Monitoring and Diagnostics: Leverages Network HUD to identify and remediate configuration/performance related issues. Examples include NIC SR-IOV support, Live migration management, etc. (Coming Soon)
- Simplified management with Windows Admin Center: All AccelNet management functionality is available through Powershell and with an easy-to-use UI through Windows Admin Center (Latter coming Soon).
AccelNet is part of Windows Server Azure Arc Management (WSAAM) services. To learn more about Accelnet, please check here.
As organizations continue to navigate the challenges of an ever-evolving digital landscape, the integration of these advanced features into Windows Server 2025 ensures they are equipped with the tools needed to achieve excellence in network management and performance. Embrace the future of networking with Windows Server 2025 and experience the transformative power of Network ATC, Network HUD, and AccelNet.
We are excited to share all these innovations with you. Upgrade to Windows Server 2025 to try out these features, we look forward to your feedback. For any suggestions, opinions or issues, please reach out to us at edgenetfeedback@microsoft.com.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
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Is there an option to embed the Viva insight’s Praise in SharePoint site? Currently there is only limited options like conversation, community etc that you can add in SharePoint but how to add the Viva Praise option? So that the Praise is visible in the Intra-SharePoint site for all to see basically who praised who for what. Read More
Need guidance to transition my career to Azure Cloud Engineer
Hello,
I have done certifications in Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals and ITIL 4 Foundation. I have 7 years of experience as an IT Major Incident Manager, and I am interested in transitioning my career to an Azure Cloud Engineer role. Please help me with a strategy to get a job as an Azure Cloud Engineer.
Thanks in Advance,
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