Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) changelog 2025

Generally Available: Cloud-native apps on Kubernetes pricing calculator scenarioGA

Public Preview: Container network metrics filtering in Advanced Container Networking Services for (ACNS) for AKSPreview

Generally Available: MCP support for AI toolchain operator add-on in AKSGA

Generally Available: Local redirect policy in Azure CNI powered by Cilium for AKSGA

Generally Available: Cluster-wide Cilium network policy with Azure CNI powered by Cilium for AKSGA

Generally Available: Layer 7 policy with Advanced Container Networking Services (ACNS) for AKSGA

Public Preview: Azure Monitor for Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes with OpenShift and Azure Red Hat OpenShiftPreview

Public Preview: AKS Automatic managed system node poolsPreview

Generally Available: AKS Automatic pod readiness SLAGA

Public Preview: Windows Server 2025 on AKSDeprecation

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager for Arc-enabled clustersPreview

Generally Available: Managed namespaces on AKSGA

Generally Available: Pod sandboxing on AKSGA

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Service desktopPreview

Public Preview: Azure Network Watcher Topology – AKS VisualizationPreview

Public Preview: Pod CIDR expansion in Azure CNI Overlay for AKSPreview

Public Preview: eBPF host routing in Advanced Container Networking Services for AKSPreview

Public Preview: Scheduler profile configuration for AKSPreview

Generally Available: LocalDNS for AKSGA

Public Preview: Agentic CLI for AKSPreview

Public Preview: Flatcar Container Linux for AKSPreview

Public Preview: Azure Linux OS Guard for AKSPreview

Retirement: Confidential Containers preview on AKS is Closing DownDeprecation

Retirement: Azure Network Policy Manager (NPM) for Windows nodes on AKS to Be Retired by September 30, 2026Deprecation

Generally Available: AI toolchain operator add-on (KAITO) for AKSGA

Generally Available: CLI command for migration from Availability Sets and basic load balancer on AKSDeprecation

Retirement: Azure Network Policy Manager (NPM) for Linux nodes on AKS to Be Retired by September 30, 2028Deprecation

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager – auto-upgrade target Kubernetes version channelPreview

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager – update run approval gatesPreview

Generally Available: AKS AutomaticGA

Retirement: Azure Linux 2.0 on AKSDeprecation

Public Preview: Azure Bastion now supports connectivity to private AKS clusters via tunnelingPreview

Generally Available: Confidential VMs for Ubuntu 24.04 in AKSGA

Public Preview: Encryption in Transit for Azure Files NFS shares in AKSPreview

Generally Available: Deployment safeguards in AKSGA

Generally Available: Control Plane Improvements in AKSGA

Public Preview: AKS Model Context Protocol (MCP) serverPreview

Public Preview : Azure Bastion integration with AKSPreview

Public Preview: LocalDNS for AKSPreview

Generally Available: Static egress gateway public prefix support in AKSGA

Public Preview: Multiple Standard Load Balancers support in AKSPreview

Public Preview: Azure Virtual Network Verifier for AKS (VNV) for AKSPreview

Generally Available: AKS Security DashboardGA

Public Preview: Managed Namespaces in AKSPreview

Private Preview: Agentic experience for AKS in the Azure CLIPreview

Generally Available: Cluster Extension Manager move to AKS control planeGA

Public Preview: Max blocked nodes allowed support in AKSPreview

Generally Available: Virtual Machines node pools support in AKSGA

Public Preview: CLI command for migration from Availability Sets and Basic load balancer on AKSDeprecation

Generally Available: Node auto-provisioning support in AKSGA

Generally Available: Kubernetes v1.31 and v1.32 available as Long Term Support versions in AKSGA

Generally Available: Azure Linux now also supports AKS LTS with Kubernetes v1.28 & aboveGA

Public Preview: Ubuntu 24.04 for AKSPreview

Generally Available: Smart VM defaults in AKSGA

Public Preview: Automated deployments support in Azure Kubernetes Fleet ManagerPreview

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager now supports placement drift detection and takeoverPreview

Public Preview: Azure Kubernetes Fleet Manager now supports DNS-based public load balancingPreview

Generally Available: Every AKS version is now long term support (LTS) compatibleGA

Generally Available: Track AKS supported Kubernetes version regional updates in AKS release trackerGA

Public Preview: Gating vulnerable deployments in AKS (Microsoft Defender for Cloud)Preview

Public Preview: Vulnerability assessment and malware detection for AKS nodes (Microsoft Defender for Cloud)Preview

Public Preview: AKS security dashboard (Microsoft Defender for Cloud)Preview

Public Preview: Onboarding of individual AKS clusters in Microsoft Defender for CloudPreview

Generally Available: Entity Tags (eTags) for Concurrency Control in AKSGA

Generally Available: Automated deployments in AKS now supports Azure DevOps (ADO), AKS-ready templates and service connectorsGA

Generally Available: HTTP proxy can now be enabled on an existing AKS clusterGA

Generally Available: Custom certificate authority support in AKSGA

Generally Available: Core Kubernetes extensions for AKSGA

Public Preview: Agentless runtime vulnerability assessment for AKS-owned images (Microsoft Defender for Cloud)Preview

Generally Available: Network isolated cluster in AKSGA

Public Preview: Multi-cluster Eviction and Disruption Budgets with Azure Kubernetes Fleet ManagerPreview

Public Preview: Advanced Container Networking Services Cilium L7 Policies Support in AKSPreview

Generally Available: Cilium Endpoint Slices in AKSGA

Public Preview: Service Allowed IP Ranges in AKSPreview

Public Preview: Multiple Load Balancers for AKSPreview

Generally Available: AKS Cost Recommendations in Azure AdvisorGA

Public preview: Multi-cluster Workload Rollout Strategies and Runs with Azure Kubernetes Fleet ManagerPreview

Public Preview: Standard Load Balancer (SLB) Health Probe Redesign in AKSPreview

Public Preview: maxUnavailable Setting for Upgrades in AKSPreview

Public Preview: Container Network Logs in AKS for deep Network VisibilityPreview

Public Preview: Application Insights auto-instrumentation for AKSPreview

Generally Available: Multi-cluster Auto-upgrade in Azure Kubernetes Fleet ManagerGA

Generally Available: Azure Linux 3.0 Support in AKSGA

Generally Available: AKS Communication ManagerGA

Public Preview: Azure Monitor Application Insights Auto-Instrumentation for Java and Node Microservices on AKSPreview

Retirement: Ubuntu 20.04 Node Pools in AKSDeprecation

Retirement: Ubuntu 18.04 Node Pools in AKSDeprecation

Retirement: Kubenet Networking for Azure Kubernetes Service to Be Retired on March 31, 2028Deprecation

Retirement: GPU image (Preview) in AKSDeprecation

WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) Node Pools in AKS

Generally Available: Node Auto-Repair Kubernetes Events in AKSGA

Public Preview: Windows Support for Virtual Machines Node Pools in AKSPreview

Public Preview: Azure Linux 3.0 Support in AKSPreview

Generally Available: Message of the Day Support in AKSGA

Generally Available: Default Ephemeral OS Disk Sizing in AKSGA

Public Preview: Control Plane Azure Platform Metrics in AKSPreview

Generally Available: Azure Managed Prometheus Supports Horizontal Pod Autoscaling for Replica Set Pods in AKSGA

Public Preview: Azure CNI Powered by Cilium Node Subnet Support in AKSPreview