There is a new update for Azure local for Jan 2026. It brings some neat additions and more specifically Rack Aware Clustering is now GA. I will be getting into the nitty gritty of Azure Local Rack Aware Clustering….
Features and improvements in 2601
The January 2026 release of hyperconverged deployments of Azure Local is version 12.2601.1002.38. For more information, see Release information summary. This release includes various reliability improvements and other bug fixes.
OS changes:
In 2601 release, all the new and existing deployments of Azure Local run the new OS version 26100.32230 (download from the Azure portal).
You also need a driver that’s compatible with OS version 26100.32230 or Windows Server 2025.
For Integrated System or Premier solution hardware from the Azure Local Catalog, the OS is preinstalled. Work with your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to get a compatible OS image and a compatible driver.
.NET updates: This build uses .NET version 8.0.22 for both .NET Runtime and ASP.NET Core. For more information, see Download .NET 8.0.
Infrastructure logical network surfaced in Azure portal: The infrastructure logical network created during Azure Local deployment is now visible in the Azure portal. This visibility allows administrators to review the infrastructure network configuration. This change also acts as a safeguard against accidental workload provisioning on the network reserved for Azure Local infrastructure.
For more information, see About infrastructure logical network for Azure Local VMs.
VM Connect for Azure Local VMs (Preview): Starting with 2601 release, you can connect to Windows and Linux based Azure Local VMs that don’t have network connectivity or have boot failures.
For more information, see VM Connect for Azure Local VMs.
Unique ID for data disks: In 2601 release, you can identify data disks on your Azure Local instance with a new property called Unique ID. The unique ID matches the
UniqueIdof the data disk (Get-Disk | Select-Object UniqueId).Rack aware clustering General Availability (GA): Rack aware clustering is now generally available. This feature allows you to define local availability zones based on physical racks in your datacenter, enhancing the resilience of your cluster against rack-level failures.
For more information, see Rack aware clustering.
Diagnostics log collection in Azure portal: You can now collect diagnostics logs directly from the Azure portal to help with support investigations. This eliminates the need to manually gather logs from individual nodes.
Drift detection for Azure PowerShell modules and Azure Command-line Interface (CLI): This release adds the Drift Detection framework, enabling Azure Local to continuously validate component level state against the baseline of approved component versions and configurations. The system detects version mismatches during both deployment and runtime by comparing installed component metadata to that of the baseline. Administrators can manually trigger validation using the
Invoke-AzStackHciVSRDriftDetectionValidationcmdlet to generate detailed drift reports for build components.Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement (DRTM) settings for 2504 deployments: Starting with 2601 release, DRTM is enabled on Azure Local instances deployed prior to 2504, and those instances transition from Static Root of Trust for Measurement (SRTM) to DRTM to defend against the firmware level attacks. New deployments since 2504 have DRTM enabled by default.
For more information, see Defend against firmware level attacks.
Enable 26100.XXXX (24H2) security baseline for existing Azure Local deployments: Starting with 2601 release, customers who perform the solution upgrade on an existing deployment can now match the security posture of newly deployed systems (post-upgrade actions) with new cmdlets to apply 26100.XXXX security baseline.
Pre-upgrade CredSSP validation: To ensure successful upgrades, a new pre-upgrade check is added that validates that CredSSP isn’t disabled on existing Azure Local instances.
