Generated on: August 01, 2025 Target period: Within the last 24 hours Processing mode: Details Mode Number of updates: 4 items
Published: July 31, 2025 17:15:08 UTC Link: Generally Available: Live Resize for Premium SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe Disks
Update ID: 495106 Data source: Azure Updates API
Categories: Launched, Storage, Azure Disk Storage, Features
Summary:
What was updated
Azure has announced the general availability of Live Resize for Premium SSD v2 (Pv2) and Ultra NVMe disks.
Key changes or new features
This feature enables dynamic expansion of disk storage capacity without requiring downtime or application disruption. Users can increase disk size on-the-fly, improving flexibility and scalability. This capability helps optimize costs by allowing incremental storage growth aligned with workload demands.
Target audience affected
Developers and IT professionals managing Azure virtual machines and storage, particularly those using Premium SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe disks, will benefit from this update. It is especially relevant for scenarios requiring high-performance storage with minimal operational impact.
Important notes if any
Live Resize supports only disk expansion, not shrinking. Ensure your applications and operating systems support online disk resizing to fully leverage this feature. Review Azure documentation for any region-specific availability or limitations.
Details:
The Azure update announces the general availability of the Live Resize feature for Premium SSD v2 (Pv2) and Ultra NVMe managed disks, enabling dynamic, non-disruptive expansion of disk storage capacity to enhance flexibility and cost optimization in cloud storage management.
Background and Purpose:
Traditionally, resizing Azure managed disks required detaching the disk or stopping the associated virtual machine (VM), causing downtime and operational disruption. With increasing demands for scalable storage in performance-sensitive workloads, there was a need for a seamless method to adjust disk sizes on-the-fly. This update addresses that by allowing IT professionals to expand disk capacity live, improving operational agility and minimizing downtime.
Specific Features and Detailed Changes:
Technical Mechanisms and Implementation Methods:
diskpart on Windows or growpart and resize2fs on Linux).Use Cases and Application Scenarios:
Important Considerations and Limitations:
Integration with Related Azure Services:
In summary, the Live Resize feature for Premium SSD v2 and Ultra NVMe disks empowers IT professionals to dynamically scale storage capacity without VM downtime
Published: July 31, 2025 17:00:19 UTC Link: Generally Available: Azure Virtual Network Manager in Azure US Government Cloud
Update ID: 499387 Data source: Azure Updates API
Categories: Launched, Networking, Azure Virtual Network Manager, Regions & Datacenters, Security, Services, Pricing & Offerings, Management, Features
Summary:
What was updated
Azure Virtual Network Manager (AVNM) is now generally available in the Azure US Government Cloud.
Key changes or new features
AVNM provides centralized management for network connectivity, security policies, and routing configurations across multiple subscriptions, regions, and tenants within the US Government Cloud environment. It automates network configuration deployment to ensure consistent policy enforcement and simplifies large-scale network management. This includes unified control over virtual networks, network security groups, and routing tables, enabling streamlined governance and operational efficiency.
Target audience affected
Developers, network administrators, and IT professionals managing Azure US Government Cloud environments who require scalable, consistent network configuration and security management across complex, multi-subscription and multi-tenant deployments.
Important notes if any
The general availability of AVNM in the US Government Cloud aligns with compliance and security requirements specific to government workloads. Users should evaluate integration with existing network management workflows to leverage automation benefits fully. Further details and deployment guidance are available on the official Azure update page.
Details:
The Azure Virtual Network Manager (AVNM) has reached general availability (GA) in the Azure US Government Cloud, delivering centralized and automated management of network connectivity, security, and routing policies across multiple Azure subscriptions, regions, and tenants within the government cloud environment. This update addresses the complexity and operational overhead of managing large-scale, distributed network topologies in regulated government sectors by providing a unified control plane tailored to meet stringent compliance and governance requirements.
Background and Purpose
Managing network configurations in large enterprises, especially within government agencies, often involves multiple subscriptions and isolated environments to meet compliance and security mandates. Prior to AVNM, network administrators had to configure and maintain connectivity, security rules, and routing policies individually per virtual network or subscription, increasing the risk of configuration drift, inconsistent policies, and operational inefficiencies. The introduction of AVNM in Azure US Government Cloud aims to simplify and standardize network management at scale, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and reducing manual errors while adhering to government compliance standards.
Specific Features and Detailed Changes
AVNM provides a centralized management framework that allows administrators to:
Technical Mechanisms and Implementation Methods
AVNM operates as a control plane service that abstracts the underlying network resources and exposes policy-driven management constructs. It leverages Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates and APIs to declaratively define connectivity groups, security admin rules, and routing policies. These policies are then automatically propagated and enforced across targeted virtual networks, subscriptions, and regions. The service integrates with Azure Policy and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure governance and secure delegation of network management tasks. AVNM uses Azure’s native identity and access management to authenticate and authorize policy application, ensuring compliance with government security standards.
Use Cases and Application Scenarios
Important Considerations and Limitations
Integration with Related Azure Services
AVNM integrates tightly with Azure Resource Manager for policy deployment and management, Azure Policy for compliance auditing, Azure Security Center for threat detection, and Azure Firewall and Network Security Groups for security enforcement. It also complements Azure Sentinel for security monitoring and Azure Monitor for network diagnostics, providing a holistic network governance and security posture management solution within the Azure US Government Cloud.
In summary, the general availability of Azure Virtual Network Manager in the Azure US Government Cloud enables government IT professionals to centrally and consistently manage network connectivity, security, and routing policies across complex, multi-subscription
Published: July 31, 2025 17:00:19 UTC Link: Public Preview: New tagging features in Azure confidential ledger
Update ID: 499382 Data source: Azure Updates API
Categories: In preview, Databases, Security, Storage, Azure confidential ledger, Features
Summary:
What was updated
Azure Confidential Ledger now supports tagging features in public preview.
Key changes or new features
Users can assign up to five tags per transaction within the confidential ledger. These tags act as secondary keys, enhancing data organization and enabling more efficient retrieval and categorization of ledger entries. This feature improves the ability to filter and query transactions based on custom metadata, facilitating better management of ledger data.
Target audience affected
Developers and IT professionals working with Azure Confidential Ledger, especially those implementing secure, tamper-proof transaction logging and requiring advanced data organization and querying capabilities.
Important notes if any
This feature is currently in public preview, so users should evaluate it in non-production environments first. Tagging improves data handling but does not alter the underlying security or immutability guarantees of the confidential ledger. Developers should update their applications to leverage tagging via the ledger’s API.
Details:
The recent public preview update for Azure Confidential Ledger introduces enhanced tagging capabilities designed to improve data organization, retrieval, and management within ledger collections. Azure Confidential Ledger is a blockchain-based service that provides a tamper-proof, cryptographically verifiable ledger for storing sensitive data with confidentiality guarantees using trusted execution environments (TEEs). This update addresses the need for more granular and flexible data categorization, which is critical for enterprises managing complex transaction records in confidential environments.
Background and Purpose
Azure Confidential Ledger ensures data integrity and confidentiality by leveraging hardware-based trusted execution environments, but until now, its querying and data management capabilities were limited to basic transaction retrieval. As organizations increasingly adopt ledger technology for audit trails, compliance, and secure record-keeping, the ability to organize and filter transactions efficiently becomes essential. The introduction of tagging features aims to provide secondary keys—metadata labels—that can be attached to transactions to facilitate easier indexing, searching, and categorization without compromising the ledger’s security and immutability.
Specific Features and Detailed Changes
Technical Mechanisms and Implementation Methods
Tags are implemented as metadata fields attached to each transaction payload before submission to the ledger. When a transaction is committed, the tags are cryptographically bound to the transaction record within the trusted execution environment, ensuring they cannot be altered post-commit. The ledger’s indexing engine incorporates these tags to support efficient secondary key lookups. The API surface has been extended to accept tag parameters during transaction submission and to filter query results based on tag values. This design maintains the ledger’s cryptographic proofs and consensus guarantees while enhancing usability.
Use Cases and Application Scenarios
Important Considerations and Limitations
Integration with Related Azure Services
Azure Confidential Ledger’s tagging feature complements other Azure services by enabling better data governance and integration:
Published: July 31, 2025 17:00:19 UTC Link: Generally Available: Log or block shared access signature (SAS) tokens for Azure Storage based on expiration policy
Update ID: 498759 Data source: Azure Updates API
Categories: Launched, Storage, Storage Accounts, Security
Summary:
What was updated
Azure Storage now generally supports logging or blocking Shared Access Signature (SAS) tokens based on their expiration policy.
Key changes or new features
Administrators can enforce an upper limit on SAS token validity intervals via SAS expiration policies. Beyond setting validity duration, they can now configure Azure Storage to either log usage of SAS tokens that exceed the defined expiration policy or block such tokens entirely. This enhances security by preventing or monitoring the use of overly long-lived SAS tokens that could pose risks.
Target audience affected
Developers and IT professionals managing Azure Storage access controls, especially those implementing fine-grained, time-bound access via SAS tokens, will benefit from improved governance and security capabilities.
Important notes if any
This feature is generally available, meaning it is production-ready and supported for all Azure Storage accounts. Organizations should review and update their SAS expiration policies to leverage logging or blocking to better align with their security compliance requirements. Implementing these controls helps mitigate risks associated with long-lived SAS tokens.
For more details, visit: https://azure.microsoft.com/updates?id=498759
Details:
The recent Azure update titled “Generally Available: Log or block shared access signature (SAS) tokens for Azure Storage based on expiration policy” introduces enhanced governance capabilities over SAS tokens by enabling administrators to enforce and monitor SAS token validity periods through expiration policies.
Background and Purpose
Shared Access Signatures (SAS) are widely used in Azure Storage to delegate limited access to storage resources without sharing account keys. However, controlling the lifespan of SAS tokens has been a challenge, often leading to security risks if tokens remain valid longer than intended. Prior to this update, administrators could define an upper limit on SAS token validity via expiration policies but lacked mechanisms to enforce or audit compliance effectively. This update aims to strengthen security posture by allowing organizations to log or outright block SAS tokens that exceed defined expiration policies, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized or prolonged access.
Specific Features and Detailed Changes
Technical Mechanisms and Implementation Methods
The expiration policy is implemented as a configuration on the Azure Storage account. When a SAS token is presented for authentication, Azure Storage evaluates the token’s expiry time against the configured expiration policy:
Administrators configure these policies via Azure CLI, PowerShell, or Azure Portal, specifying the maximum allowed SAS token lifetime and the desired action (log or block).
Use Cases and Application Scenarios
Important Considerations and Limitations
Integration with Related Azure Services
In summary, this GA update empowers IT professionals to enforce strict SAS token expiration policies on Azure Storage accounts by enabling blocking or logging of tokens that exceed configured validity intervals. This enhances security governance, reduces
This report was automatically generated - 2025-08-01 03:02:11 UTC