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Update Management and Solution Builder Extension

Runbook Azure

DOCUMENT CATEGORY: Runbook SCOPE: Solution updates and hardware vendor (Solution Builder Extension) updates PURPOSE: Keep every cluster inside the six-month support window with predictable maintenance windows MASTER REFERENCE: Microsoft Learn — About updates for Azure Local

Status: Active

Why this matters​

An Azure Local release is supported for six months. A cluster that is older than that is unsupported, and Microsoft Support can only help it update. The Azure Arc resource bridge also needs a solution update at least once a year. See Releases and support lifecycle for the current builds.

What an update contains​

A solution update bundles the Azure Local OS, core agents and services, and, where your hardware supports it, a Solution Builder Extension (SBE) package from the hardware vendor. SBE packages carry driver and firmware updates, hardware monitoring enhancements, diagnostic tools, supplemental Windows Defender Application Control policies, and extra validation logic for the pre-update health checks. Microsoft recommends installing the combined solution update (Azure Local plus SBE) in most cases, which reduces the number of update operations.

Update flow​

  1. Confirm health. Connect with the deployment user account, confirm the cluster runs a supported version, and review the update environment health.
  2. Discover updates. Use Azure Update Manager in the Azure portal, or Get-SolutionUpdate in PowerShell. Use the PackageType and SbeVersion properties to tell a standalone SBE update from a combined solution update. The SBEReleaseLink and SBENotifyMessage properties show whether a vendor update is urgent.
  3. Import SBE content if needed. An update in the AdditionalContentRequired state needs files from your hardware vendor. Download the discovery manifest, the inventory file, and the payload (SBE_Discovery_<Manufacturer>.xml, SBE_<Manufacturer>_<Family>_<Version>.xml, and .zip) from the vendor and import them. If the SBE supports a download connector, updates show as Ready and need no import. Credentials for the connector can be set after deployment with Set-SolutionExtensionSecretLocation.
  4. Prepare (optional). Run Start-SolutionUpdate -PrepareOnly to download and validate content and run health checks without installing. Release 2608 adds a prepare updates workflow in the portal, so you can prepare now and install later.
  5. Install. Run Start-SolutionUpdate or start the update in the portal. Feature updates can show a Pending OEM Validation state while the vendor validates them.
  6. Verify. Check Get-SolutionUpdateEnvironment for the SBE state (AppliedSuccessfully is the goal) and re-run your post-update validation.

Limited or no connectivity​

For sites with limited connectivity, download the combined solution bundle from the Azure portal (available from release 2607) or by script, check its SHA256 hash, extract it to the import share on the infrastructure volume, and run Add-SolutionUpdate. Then discover and start the update as above.

Operating practices​

  • Update in batches. Start with the smallest or least critical batch in a maintenance window, then move on if it succeeds.
  • Pre-download update content with the prepare-only workflow. Components for the Arc resource bridge and AKS are downloaded during the update itself.
  • Systems with more than 16 nodes can have longer update runtimes. Consider running the SBE update separately from the solution update.
  • Feature releases arrive after your hardware vendor validates them. Expect a delay of a few weeks.
  • Release 2604 added update settings that control how updates are applied. Review them before you automate.
  • azurelocal-beacon runs endpoint, network, and hardware readiness checks, which you can re-run before a maintenance window.
  • azurelocal-ranger is a read-only discovery and reporting tool; run it before and after an update window to compare the as-built state.

Data verified with Microsoft Learn (update articles and release information), October 2026.

References​