Azure Batch SKU Upgrade and End-of-Life Warning

Question

Currently we are using microsoft-azure-batchfor job scheduling for run specific job-tasks in our service. And our current pool having warning as well "This pool's image is nearing its end-of-life date of Wednesday 23 April 2025 at 05:30:00. After this date, it will not appear as an option when creating new pools. API calls to create or scale pools using the image may continue to function for up to 60 days afterwards"

• Current SKU in use: 20.04-LTS
• Publisher: microsoft-azure-batch
• Offer: ubuntu-server-container
• End-of-Life Date: April 23, 2025 But when we try to create new pool there is no direct option to upgrade the SKU. The only available option is 20.04-LTS, which is set to expire on April 23, 2025. How do I create new pool with microsoft-azure-batch ?

Answer 1

Hi Sandun Tharaka,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

Since the only available SKU for microsoft-azure-batch is 20.04-LTS, and it’s nearing its end-of-life, you will need to consider alternative approaches:

1. Check for Alternative SKUs

Even though 20.04-LTS is the only option listed under microsoft-azure-batch, you can check if there are other supported images from Microsoft. Try running:

 az batch pool supported-images list --query "[?publisher=='canonical']"

This will list images from Canonical, which might include newer Ubuntu versions that you can use.

2. Use a Custom Image from Azure Compute Gallery

If a newer version isn’t available under microsoft-azure-batch, you’ll need to create a custom image with the required dependencies. Here’s how:

•Prepare a VM with the necessary configuration.

•Capture an image from this VM.

•Store it in Azure Compute Gallery.

•Use this custom image when creating a new Batch pool.

3. Monitor Azure Updates

Microsoft may release a newer supported image before the end-of-life date. Keep an eye on Azure’s official documentation and release announcements.

For now, the best course of action is to plan a migration to a supported image or use a custom image to prevent service disruptions.

Please refer the documents below.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/batch/best-practices

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/batch/batch-sig-images

If you found the information useful, please don't forget to click "Upvote" on the post to let us know.