Support and Retirement Information for the Azure SDK for .NET and APIs
Important
Beginning with Visual Studio 2017, Azure SDK for .NET has been deprecated in favor of the Azure development workload in Visual Studio. The Azure development workload includes the functionality of the Azure SDK for .NET. For current documentation, see Azure for .NET and .NET Core developers.
This topic contains the following information:
Azure SDK for .NET Support Policy and Retirement Information
REST APIs and Client Libraries Support Policy and Retirement Information
More Information
Azure SDK for .NET Support Policy and Retirement Information
The Azure SDK for .NET is the core building block that helps developers author Cloud Services using Azure Service Runtime Programming model, debug using emulators on the local machine, and deploy to Azure data centers in the cloud. As new versions of the SDK are released, support for side-by-side Cloud Service debugging or specific version of operating systems, Microsoft Visual Studio, and .NET Framework may change. Older versions of the SDK will also be retired from time to time.
Azure SDK for .NET Support Policy
Azure Cloud Services will support no fewer than the latest two SDK versions for deploying new Cloud Services. Microsoft will provide notification 12 months before retiring a SDK in order to smooth the transition to a supported version.
The Azure SDK Policy covers Azure SDK Authoring Tools, Command line utilities, Compute & Storage Emulators, and Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Azure SDK dependencies such as the .NET Framework, Operation Systems, and Visual Studio follow their own retirement policies. Supporting a particular version of Azure SDK does not guarantee all its dependencies are fully supported. For more information, please refer to Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
Azure SDK Release Dates, Retirement Dates, and Support Information
The following table lists the release dates, retirement dates, and support information for specific versions of the Azure SDK for .NET.
Important
The following table applies to only to development scenarios using the Azure SDK for .NET, which was released in 2017 and is now deprecated. For current documentation, see Azure for .NET and .NET Core developers.
| Azure SDK | Release Date | Official Retirement Date | .NET Framework Support | Operating System Support | Visual Studio Support |
| 3.0 | May 10 2017 | September 30 2020 | 4.5.2, 4.6*, 4.6.1* | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter | Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 with Update 1 / Visual Studio 2017 Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 / Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2015 |
| 2.9 | March 30 2016 | July 1 2019 | 4.5.2, 4.6*, 4.6.1* | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter | Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 / Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 with Update 1 / Visual Studio 2017 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 / Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2015 |
| 2.8 | November 18 2015 | July 1 2019 | 4.5.2, 4.6*, 4.6.1* | Windows 10, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 with at least Update 5/Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 with at least Update 1 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 (only when installing the Azure Tools) |
| 2.7 | July 20 2015 | April 3 2017 | 4.5.2, 4.6*, 4.6.1* | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 with at least Update 5/Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 with at least Update 1 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 (only when installing the Azure Tools) |
| 2.6 | April 29 2015 | April 3 2017 | 4.5.2, 4.6*, 4.6.1* | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 with at least Update 5/Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 with at least Update 1 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 (only when installing the Azure Tools) |
| 2.5 | November 12 2014 | April 3 2017 | 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1 | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 with at least Update 3/Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Preview OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 2.4 | August 4 2014 | April 3 2017 | 4.0, 4.5 | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 2.3 | April 9 2014 | April 3 2017 | 4.0, 4.5 | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 Preview (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 2.2 | October 23 2013 | April 3 2017 | 4.0, 4.5 | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2012/Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2013 Preview (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 2.1 | July 2013 | November 12 2015 | 4.0, 4.5 | Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Preview, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Professional/Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 2.0 | April 2013 | November 12 2015 | 4.0, 4.5 | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Professional/Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 1.8/October 2012 | October 2012 | November 12 2015 | 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Professional/Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 1.7 SP1/August 2012 | August 2012 | November 12 2015 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows Server 2012 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Professional/Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012 (only when installing the Azure Tools). |
| 1.7/June 2012 | June 2012 | November 12 2015 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows 8 Release Preview, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SP1 Professional/Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 RC OR Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2010 Express SP1/Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2012 RC (only when installing the Azure Tools) |
| 1.6/November 2011 | November 2011 | November 12 2015 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2 or greater, Windows Server 2008 SP2 or greater | Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) OR Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.5/September 2011 | September 2011 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2 or greater, Windows Server 2008 SP2 or greater | Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) OR Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.4/March 2011 | March 2011 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista | Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) OR Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.3/November 2010 | November 2010 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2 or greater, or Windows Server 2008 SP2 or greater | Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) OR Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.2/May 2010 | May 2010 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1, 4.0 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or greater, or Windows Server 2008 | Visual Studio 2008 SP1 (Standard or above) OR Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition with SP1 or Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) or Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.1/February 2010 | February 2010 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or greater, or Windows Server 2008 | Visual Studio 2008 SP1 (Standard or above) or Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition with SP1 or Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) or Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
| 1.0/November 2009 | November 2009 | June 1 2014 | 3.5 SP1 | Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or greater, or Windows Server 2008 | Visual Studio 2008 SP1 (Standard or above) or Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition with SP1 or Visual Studio 2010 (Standard or above) or Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition |
* For Cloud Services, .NET 4.6 or .NET 4.6.1 must be manually installed on your role by following the instructions in the article, Install .NET on a Cloud Service Role.
REST APIs and Client Libraries Support Policy and Retirement Information
The Azure REST APIs offer programmatic access to Azure services. The REST APIs can be accessed from within a service running in Azure, or directly over the internet from any application that can send an HTTP/HTTPS request and receive an HTTP/HTTPS response.
The Client Libraries provide the required API’s to write client applications. Most of the Azure services offer client libraries for .NET, Java, Node.js, and a few other languages as well. All of these libraries are wrappers around the service REST APIs. As new versions of the REST APIs and Client Libraries are released, older versions may be retired.
REST APIs and Client Libraries Support Policy
Microsoft will provide notification at least 12 months in advance before retiring a REST API or client library, in order to smooth the transition to a newer/supported version.
REST APIs Retirement Dates
We strongly recommend that you upgrade to the latest version as early as possible. For details on determining which service version your applications use or upgrading the client libraries that your applications use, please refer to this Microsoft Azure Storage Team Blog post. It’s recommended that you begin application upgrades now in order to avoid being impacted when the earlier service versions are removed.
More Information
To download the current version of the SDK, see Downloads.
For release notes and information on previous versions of the SDK, see Previous Versions: Azure SDK for .NET
For more information on the lifecycle policy details for the Guest OS and SDK, see Azure Support Policy page.
For information on which Azure SDK versions are compatible with which Guest OS releases, see Azure Guest OS Releases and SDK Compatibility Matrix