Azure Automation Update Management Azure Update Manager
Unified Azure-native patching and update compliance service for Windows and Linux virtual machines across Azure and Azure Arc-enabled hybrid and multicloud servers.
Naming timeline
- Azure Automation Update Management
Provided guest OS patching via the Log Analytics MMA/OMS agent and Azure Automation Hybrid Runbook Workers (retired August 31, 2024).
- Update Management Center
Previewed as a standalone, agentless-extension-based update management service powered by Azure Compute and Azure Arc platform APIs.
- Azure Update ManagerCurrent name
Reached general availability in September 2023 as Azure Update Manager on Microsoft.Maintenance/maintenanceConfigurations, fully replacing Azure Automation Update Management on August 31, 2024.
What replaced Azure Automation Update Management?
Azure Automation Update Management has been superseded by Azure Update Manager, with the latest change on 14 September 2023 (General Availability & Automation Update Management Retirement). Unified Azure-native patching and update compliance service for Windows and Linux virtual machines across Azure and Azure Arc-enabled hybrid and multicloud servers. The underlying legacy API or CLI surface is deprecated, so a technical migration is required.
Also known as
- Update Management Center (preview)
Technical identifiers
Legacy identifiers deprecated. The underlying API or CLI surface for the legacy name is officially deprecated, so this change requires a technical migration rather than a label update.
| ARM Resource Providers (Microsoft.*) | Microsoft.Maintenance/maintenanceConfigurations Microsoft.Maintenance/configurationAssignments Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/assessPatches Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/installPatches Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/softwareUpdateConfigurations (retired) |
|---|---|
| Azure CLI (az) / PowerShell | az maintenance az vm assess-patches az vm install-patches az connectedmachine assess-patches |
| Entra ID / Azure RBAC Roles | Maintenance Contributor Virtual Machine Contributor Azure Connected Machine Resource Administrator |
| Terraform Resources (azurerm_*) | azurerm_maintenance_configuration azurerm_maintenance_assignment_virtual_machine azurerm_maintenance_assignment_dynamic_scope |
The legacy Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/softwareUpdateConfigurations API and Log Analytics MMA agent were retired on August 31, 2024 in favor of Microsoft.Maintenance/maintenanceConfigurations, az maintenance, and azurerm_maintenance_configuration.
Notes & disambiguation
- Legacy Azure Automation Update Management relied on the Log Analytics agent (MMA / OMS agent), Azure Automation accounts (`Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts`), and Hybrid Runbook Workers, and was officially retired on August 31, 2024 alongside the Log Analytics MMA agent.
- Initially previewed under the working title 'Update Management Center', standalone Azure Update Manager reached general availability in September 2023 as a native Azure Resource Manager service that uses lightweight Azure VM and Azure Arc extensions instead of Log Analytics or Automation runbooks.
- Programmatically, patch schedules, dynamic scopes, and maintenance windows moved from `Microsoft.Automation/automationAccounts/softwareUpdateConfigurations` to `Microsoft.Maintenance/maintenanceConfigurations` (with `maintenanceScope: 'InGuestPatch'`), managed via `az maintenance`, Azure Resource Graph (`patchassessmentresources` / `patchinstallationresources`), and `azurerm_maintenance_configuration`.
Sources & official documentation
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