Still using Azure Classic VMs? Here's how to tackle them...

Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure has evolved a great deal since it was launched over 13 years ago, and during that time we have seen many services introduced and retired. This year, a significant element of the platform is being switched off, a move that was announced back in 2020. The Microsoft Azure Service Manager (known as “Azure Classic”), is being retired in favour of the Azure Resource Manager (ARM), which has been the default method of managing Infrastructure-as-a-Service Virtual Machines for three years. Microsoft estimate that 90% of VMs on Azure are now managed via ARM, which still leaves a fair number on the Classic service.

Previously I discussed why you might still have VMs managed through the Azure Classic method, but what does it mean for you if this is the case? Simply put, these virtual machines will fail to boot on 1st September this year – any services provided by or relying on them will stop working.  

So, how do we address this problem? I spoke to our Microsoft Practice lead Nick Hill for some advice. This is what he said -

There are a few steps you need to take to migrate these services to ARM:

* Identify any classic (ASM) resources (using your MS portal or Azure Resource Graph)

* Analyse the services running on these VMs to identify any features that have become unsupported on ARM

* If these VMs are economically viable, modify or rebuild these problem resources

* Perform trial conversions to improve your chances of a successful migration

* Do your conversions for real (possibly out of hours)

* Fix any unexpected glitches, preferably with Microsoft support

Alternatively, you could use a Microsoft-accredited partner to help you with this work, and at Jumar we have all the skills and experience that are needed to perform a low-risk migration to Resource Manager. 

For more information contact us here

Chris Weston 
CDIO, Jumar