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Unleashing the Future Windows Server 2025 Hyper‑V Virtualization & Advanced Security

Unleashing the Future: Windows Server 2025’s Hyper‑V Virtualization & Advanced Security

Microsoft Windows Server 2025 is rewriting the playbook on enterprise virtualization. With its Hyper‑V solution at the core, it delivers not only powerful computing and storage capabilities but also a resilient security foundation that addresses today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape. In this post, we’ll explore the architectural advances, enhanced virtualization features, and robust security mechanisms baked into this release.

Hyper‑V in Windows Server 2025: A New Paradigm in Virtualization

A Strategic and Integrated Platform

Hyper‑V remains Microsoft’s flagship hardware virtualization technology—now scaled to meet modern data center demands. In Windows Server 2025, Hyper‑V serves as the backbone for a wide array of Microsoft solutions, from on‑premises infrastructures to cloud integrations via Azure and Azure Arc. This unified approach ensures seamless orchestration across hybrid environments, providing flexibility and cost efficiencies to businesses switching between workloads on Windows Server Standard and Datacenter editions. Notably, while the Standard edition grants licensing rights to run two Windows Server guest operating systems, the Datacenter edition offers unlimited virtualization rights, empowering enterprises with a dramatic boost in scalability.

Virtual Machines Optimized for Modern Workloads

Hyper‑V’s modern enhancements are not just about quantity but also quality. The solution supports a diverse catalog of guest operating systems—including not only Windows but also leading Linux distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Debian, Oracle Linux, SUSE, and Ubuntu, with integration services natively updated within the Linux kernel. Even FreeBSD gets its own integration enhancements for improved performance. By offering this extensive compatibility, Microsoft ensures that organizations can integrate heterogeneous environments without sacrificing performance or support.

Innovative Tools and Performance Enhancements

Windows Server 2025 embraces innovative management and performance tools:

  • DTrace Integration: A native tool for dynamic system instrumentation, DTrace’s inclusion allows administrators to conduct real‑time performance monitoring and troubleshooting at both the kernel and user levels without modifying source code.
  • Storage and Networking Virtualization: Integrated with technologies like Software‑Defined Storage (Storage Spaces Direct) and Software‑Defined Networking (SDN), Hyper‑V enables efficient resource utilization across modern storage infrastructures—whether local, SAN, or hyperconverged solutions. SDN Multisite allows you to expand the capabilities of traditional SDN deployed at different physical locations. SDN Multisite enables native Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity across different physical locations for virtualized workloads
  • Enhanced Desktop Integration and Hybrid Cloud Capabilities: The new desktop shell and advanced upgrade paths from previous Windows Server versions ensure a smooth transition, bolstering both administrative efficiency and user experience.

Together, these capabilities position Hyper‑V as a strategic tool in the IT arsenal of enterprises worldwide.

Fortifying Infrastructure with Advanced Security

Multilayered Security Architecture

On the security front, Windows Server 2025 represents a major leap forward. At a time when cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated, Microsoft has embedded multiple security layers directly into the operating system. Hyper‑V plays a central role in virtualization‑based security (VBS), where hardware virtualization creates isolations that serve as roots of trust—from the hypervisor to the kernel. This design reduces the attack surface significantly, even if core components are compromised.

Active Directory and SMB Improvements

Primary security staples such as Active Directory have seen significant security enhancements. New protocols, improved encryption standards, and hardened configurations offer a resilient defense against credential-based attacks. In addition, file sharing services in Windows Server 2025 benefit from SMB hardening techniques, including support for SMB over QUIC. This ensures that file sharing remains secure against man‑in‑the‑middle attacks, brute force attempts, and spoofing threats while providing seamless access over the internet.

Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA)

Microsoft has also overhauled the approach to service identity management. By introducing delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA), Windows Server 2025 eliminates the need for manual password management on service accounts. This automated process not only simplifies administrative overhead but also tightens security by ensuring that every account has the minimal privileges required—and every access is logged for better accountability.

Hotpatching: Zero‑Downtime Security Updates

Among the innovations, hot patching stands out as a “game changer.” In traditional systems, applying security patches often necessitated reboots—a disruptive process in today’s always‑on environments. Windows Server 2025 now supports hot patching, enabling administrators to apply updates to live systems without interruption. By leveraging Azure Arc, Windows Server 2025 brings a level of agility to on‑premises deployments similar to that found in cloud environments. It’s important to note, however, that for on‑premises solutions, hot patching is currently offered under a paid subscription model, while Azure customers get this capability as part of standard service offerings.

Hotpatch process

Bridging Cloud and On‑Premises with Seamless Integration

Hybrid Cloud Flexibility

Windows Server 2025’s hybrid cloud capabilities offer the best of both worlds. When integrated with Microsoft Azure Arc, Hyper‑V not only extends its virtualization benefits but also ensures that on‑premises deployments continuously receive cutting‑edge cloud agility. This seamless integration paves the way for dynamic scaling, improved disaster recovery, and unified management across multi‑cloud environments.

Cost Efficiency and Licensing Strategies

The licensing approach is designed with flexibility in mind. Whether you opt for the Standard edition or embrace the unlimited potential of the Datacenter edition, you receive enterprise‑grade virtualization at no additional cost for Hyper‑V. This cost model proves particularly attractive for organizations extending their operations to include Linux guests or multiple virtualized servers, streamlining operational costs without compromising security or performance.
Here you find more about Comparison of Windows Server editions.

Conclusion

Microsoft Windows Server 2025, with its powerhouse Hyper‑V virtualization solution, redefines how enterprises approach infrastructure management in an era of constant digital transformation. By combining advanced virtualization techniques with multilayered security features—ranging from VBS to hot patching—this release is a testament to Microsoft’s commitment to high performance and resilient, adaptive security.

For IT professionals eager to modernize their data centers and streamline hybrid cloud deployments, exploring the latest improvements in Hyper‑V and the overarching security framework in Windows Server 2025 is not just recommended—it’s imperative.

If you’re looking to experiment with these features and integrate them into your infrastructure, consider diving deeper into hot patching subscription details, exploring Linux guest integrations, or even benchmarking Hyper‑V performance against legacy virtualization systems. Each step uncovers further opportunities to optimize and secure your IT environment for the future.

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Test and Innovate with the New Windows Server Insider features!
It’s Awesome and Hyper-V Rocks 🚀


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Running CBL-Mariner 2.0 Azure Linux on Hyper-V for Docker Container Host and Azure CLI

CBL-Mariner Linux is a lightweight operating system, containing only the packages needed for a cloud environment. CBL-Mariner can be customized through custom packages and tools, to fit the requirements of your application. CBL-Mariner undergoes Azure validation tests, is compatible with Azure agents, and is built and tested by the Azure Edge & Platform to power various use cases, ranging from Azure services to powering IoT infrastructure. CBL-Mariner is the internally recommended Linux distribution for use with Microsoft cloud services and related products.

In the following steps we are going to install CBL-Mariner 2.0 on Hyper-V as a virtual Docker Container Host.
First you have to download CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux) ISO here

Enable Secure Boot Template: Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority

When you have made your Virtual Machine on Microsoft Hyper-V, you have to change the Security Boot Template from Microsoft Windows to Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority and then you can boot from the ISO.

Select the Installation Experience
I used the Graphical Installer,
Select Next.

Default is the installation type: CBL-Mariner Core

I selected Installation type: CBL-Mariner Full

Read and Accept the CBL-Mariner Eula.

Here you can Partition your Storage.

 

Enter the Computer hostname and Create a User account.

Install Now.

Installing CBL-Mariner 2.0 on the VM.

And yes It’s fast 😉

Login with your new created user account.

It’s a habbit of my to update always the OS before doing other installations, so in the next steps we are going to upgrade to the latest updates since the ISO is released. Then we are going to install Azure-CLI and Docker Host for Containers.

Type the Command: Sudo dnf upgrade

The OS is now asking a couple of times if it’s OK to install.

Installing of Packages to update the System.

Upgrade of CBL-Mariner 2.0 is Completed.

Installing Microsoft Azure-CLI on CBL-Mariner 2.0

The Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is a cross-platform command-line tool to connect to Azure and execute administrative commands on Azure resources. It allows the execution of commands through a terminal using interactive command-line prompts or a script. Here you can find more about Microsoft Azure-CLI

 

First, we install the ca-certificates
then
we install Microsoft Azure-CLI 

       type Y if this is OK.

Azure-CLI is installed.

The Latest Microsoft Azure-CLI is running on your up-to-date CBL-Mariner VM.

Type command: cat /etc/os-release
and you can see the exact version of CBL-Mariner 2.0

Installing Docker Container host on CBL-Mariner 2.0

Docker provides the ability to package and run an application in a loosely isolated environment called a container. The isolation and security lets you run many containers simultaneously on a given host. Containers are lightweight and contain everything needed to run the application, so you don’t need to rely on what’s installed on the host. You can share containers while you work, and be sure that everyone you share with gets the same container that works in the same way.

Docker provides tooling and a platform to manage the lifecycle of your containers:

  • Develop your application and its supporting components using containers.
  • The container becomes the unit for distributing and testing your application.
  • When you’re ready, deploy your application into your production environment, as a container or an orchestrated service. This works the same whether your production environment is a local data center, a cloud provider, or a hybrid of the two.

Now we are going to install the Docker Container host software on Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux):

Type Command: sudo tdnf install moby-engine moby-cli ca-certificates -y

Type command: sudo systemctl enable docker.service

Type command: sudo systemctl start docker.service
and then
type command: sudo systemctl status docker.service

Now you can pull or create your containers from here for example:
Type Command: docker run -it -d –name my_container ubuntu bash

Here I’m inside the Ubuntu Linux Container running on CBL-Mariner 2.0 with Docker Container Host.

Docker Container Ubuntu image.

More information about Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 you can find here:

Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux) on Github

Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux) Security

Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux) Toolkit docs

Conclusion

Running Microsoft CBL-Mariner 2.0 (Azure Linux) on Azure Stack HCI Hyper-V Cluster or in Microsoft Azure Cloud can be very powerfull as a lightweight Linux operating system at the Edge. Now we did running Docker Container Host on CBL-Mariner 2.0 (AzureLinux) but you can also install Microsoft Azure Arc agent to use this Operating System in a Adaptive Cloud way for Azure Hybrid Management and security. Try it yourself first in your test lab and when you have build a great security by design solution, use it in production for your business.

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Adding Windows Server 2022 to Azure Arc Services #AzureHybrid #HybridIT #Azure

Azure Arc Enabled Server

With Microsoft Azure Arc Machine agent you can connect your Windows Server 2022 with Microsoft Azure Arc Services.
Microsoft Azure Arc-enabled servers lets you manage Windows and Linux physical servers and virtual machines hosted outside of Azure, on your corporate network, or other cloud provider. in October 2023 Microsoft released via Windows Update Center the setup of Azure Arc Machine agent. In the following steps I will install Azure Arc via the Windows Server Manager:

Click on Disabled

Click on Next

Azure Connected Machine Agent is installing.

Click on Configure

Click on Next

Sign into your Azure Subscription

Click on Next

Select your Azure Active Directory Tenant.
Select Subscription
Select the Resource Group
Select the Azure Region
Select Network Connectivity.
Click on Next

 

Your done, your Windows Server is now connected with Azure Arc
Click on Finish

Here is our Azure Arc enabled Windows Server 2022 in the Microsoft Azure Portal.

 

From here you have all the Azure Arc Services available for your on-prem Server.

When you connect your machine to Azure Arc-enabled servers, you can perform many operational functions, just as you would with native Azure virtual machines. Below are some of the key supported actions for connected machines.

  • Govern:
  • Protect:
    • Protect non-Azure servers with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, included through Microsoft Defender for Cloud, for threat detection, for vulnerability management, and to proactively monitor for potential security threats. Microsoft Defender for Cloud presents the alerts and remediation suggestions from the threats detected.
    • Use Microsoft Sentinel to collect security-related events and correlate them with other data sources.
  • Configure:
  • Monitor:
    • Monitor operating system performance and discover application components to monitor processes and dependencies with other resources using VM insights.
    • Collect other log data, such as performance data and events, from the operating system or workloads running on the machine with the Log Analytics agent. This data is stored in a Log Analytics workspace.

This is handy to install a couple of Servers manually but when you have to do more, you can generate a script for multiple
Servers installation:

From the Azure Portal
Click on Generate Script

Here you can make a Basic script or for Configuration Manager,
or a script for a Group Policy or via Ansible.

Important:

Before you begin with making your Windows Server Azure Hybrid with the Arc Connected Machine Agent, you have to think about Security by Design. with Identity Access Management (IAM) you can manage who will get access to your Arc enabled Servers.
Wo may use Windows Admin Center for example in the Azure portal?

Access Control on Azure Arc enabled Server.

With Microsoft Azure policy you can set your governance and policies for the organization. There are a lot of pre-defined policies, but you can also make your own Azure policies for your Arc enabled Servers.

Conclusion

Make your datacenter(s) securely Hybrid with Microsoft Azure Arc Services is easy to do and gives you a lot of Azure Hybrid benefits.
Start with your test environment and make your own Azure Arc enabled solutions and when the experience is good you can do it in production 😉

 Here you find more about Azure Arc enabled Services:

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Whats new with Azure Connected Machine agent and More CLI #AzureArc #AzureHybrid

Azure Connected Machine Agent

Microsoft is continuously improving and fixing issues on the Azure Connected Machine agent for Azure Arc Enabled Servers.

Before you make your Servers in your datacenter Hybrid with Azure Arc Connected Machine Agent, you can have a look at Security first when you want to be in Controle of the Azure Arc extensions. For example, who can install Azure Arc Extensions? and which Extensions should be installed and which not. Or in the latest Azure Connected Machine Agent Version 1.35 of October 2023 No Extensions allowed to install on this Server.

With Azure Arc Connected Machine Agent version 1.35 you can configure the extension manager to run, without allowing any extensions to be installed, by configuring the allowlist to “Allow/None”.  This supports Windows Server 2012 ESU scenarios where the extension manager is required for billing purposes but doesn’t need to allow any extensions to be installed.

Users and applications granted contributor or administrator role access to the resource can make changes to the resource, including deploying or deleting extensions on the machine. Extensions can include arbitrary scripts that run in a privileged context, so consider any contributor on the Azure resource to be an indirect administrator of the server.

The Azure Connected Machine Onboarding role is available for at-scale onboarding and is only able to read or create new Azure Arc-enabled servers in Azure. It cannot be used to delete servers already registered or manage extensions. As a best practice, we recommend only assigning this role to the Microsoft Entra service principal used to onboard machines at scale.

Users as a member of the Azure Connected Machine Resource Administrator role can read, modify, re-onboard, and delete a machine. This role is designed to support management of Azure Arc-enabled servers, but not other resources in the resource group or subscription.

Identity and Access Management (IAM) in Azure to Configure Roles.

Azure Arc Portal Agent version.

With AZCMAGENT CLI command, you can see more information from the Arc enabled Server and is handy for
the Administrator to know:

azcmagent check

azcmagent Config get config.mode

azcmagent show

azcmagent logs

in ProgramData you will find the Azure Arc Connected Machine Agent Logs

Guest config logs of Azure Arc extensions

The Azure Connected Machine agent command line tool, azcmagent, helps you configure, manage, and troubleshoot a server’s connection with Azure Arc. I just showed you some azcmagent commands I use for troubleshooting or to just get the right information.
Here you find the complete Azure Connected Machine Agent Command line reference

Hope this information is useful for you and keep your azcmagent up-to-date for fixes and new innovated features!

Join the Azure Hybrid Community on LinkedIn Group

 


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Azure Update Management for Windows and Linux in Multi Cloud #Azure #Winserv #Linux

Microsoft Azure Update Management Center

Microsoft Azure Update Manager (preview) is a unified service to help manage and govern updates for all your machines. You can monitor Windows and Linux update compliance across your deployments in Azure, on-premises, and on the other cloud platforms from a single dashboard. Important: It’s still in Preview but GA is coming Soon 

To support management of your Azure VM or non-Azure machine, Update Manager (preview) relies on a new Azure extension designed to provide all the functionality required to interact with the operating system to manage the assessment and application of updates. This extension is automatically installed when you initiate any Update manager (preview) operations such as check for updates, install one time update, periodic assessment on your machine. The extension supports deployment to Azure VMs or Arc-enabled servers using the extension framework. The Update Manager (preview) extension is installed and managed using the following:

The extension agent installation and configuration are managed by the Update Manager (preview). There’s no manual intervention required as long as the Azure VM agent or Azure Arc-enabled server agent is functional. The Update Manager (preview) extension runs code locally on the machine to interact with the operating system, and it includes:

  • Retrieving the assessment information about status of system updates for it specified by the Windows Update client or Linux package manager.
  • Initiating the download and installation of approved updates with Windows Update client or Linux package manager.

In my case I’m updating Windows Server Insider version which is Azure Arc enabled in the following steps :


Here you see my Azure Arc enabled Domain Controller with Windows Server Insider.
Here you Click on Check for Updates
Go to Update Management Center

When you Click on Machines you will get a Nice Overview of your Servers

When you Click on History, you will see the assessment and keeps all activity history in one place.

Update reports are Important and you can make your Own reports or download
Public Templates.

In the following steps we are going to install the three updates on the Azure Arc Enabled Server :

Select the machine(s) for the One-time updates.
Click on Next

here you see the Updates.

You can select your reboot Options and the Maintenance Window in Minutes.

If everything is correct you can click on Install.

In History you see your job in progress

Update Management Overview
In Progress

This is what I like most, when you have to manage more then 100 Servers and they are in your Own Datacenter On-premises but also at Multi Cloud vendors Like in Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or are not Domain Joined Servers then here you can see your Update Compliance in a Single point of Dashboard Overview in the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

Create your Own Maintenance Configuration.

Click on Next DynamicScopes

Add a Dynamic Scope

Select the Filter(s)

Filter for Arc Servers and OS type Windows.

Then you see the Azure Arc Servers by your Filter.

Dynamic Scope is set.

select.

Machines.

Include Update Classification

Azure Update Management Center Overview with Updates Completed 🙂

Updates completed on Windows Server Insider Domain Controller.

Conclusion

Microsoft Azure Update Management Center is still in Preview but is a Great Single Dashboard Overview for managing your Updates on Windows Servers and Linux at any Place. It gives you Great Overview and you can see the status in one view. GA is coming soon, but you can now test and experience it before you go in production with this Awesome product.
Follow Microsoft Azure Update Manager here on X

More information on Microsoft Azure Update Management Center (Preview) here

 


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Keep your Azure Arc Server extensions up-to-date #AzureHybrid #HybridIT #Azure

Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Servers

When you have your Servers Azure Arc enabled, you will work with Azure Arc extensions to work with Azure hybrid features like Defender for Cloud, Azure Monitor, Windows Admin Center and more. For each Azure Arc extension you can get updates, and it’s important to keep them up-to-date for new functionality and security. You have Azure Arc extensions for Windows Servers but also for Linux Servers.
Some of the Azure Arc extensions will automatic upgrade when you have enabled it and some must go manually from the Azure Portal.
More information about Azure Arc extensions you can find them here

In the next steps you will see the Update management of the Azure Arc enabled extensions :

Here I update one extension.

Inside the WindowsOsUpdateExtension

Here you can see that the WindowsOsUpdateExtension is up-to-date
and Status Succeeded

On the right of this screenshot you see Automatic Upgrade and some extensions are enabled, but some are not supported.
That’s why it’s important to check these updates.

Here you can see in the Status that two Azure Arc extensions are updating

And sometimes it failed to update.
But you can see what you can do best with this failed Status.

Here you see the error message and the Tips.
And when you can’t fix it yourself you can make a Support ticket right away.

Here you can see that all the Azure Arc extensions are updated successfully

So I selected all my Azure Arc enabled Servers and updated them all.

Conclusion

With Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Servers you have do some IT management to keep your Azure Arc extensions up-to-date.
I did this without rebooting Servers, just from the Azure Portal update Azure Arc extension.
Here you find more information about Microsoft Azure Arc for Azure Hybrid IT

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Running #Ubuntu and #Debian Linux distro on Windows Server 2022 Preview with #WSL2

Running Ubuntu and Debian Linux Distro on Windows Server 2022
Preview Build 25120.1010 with WSL 2.0

In the Week of MS-Build 2022 Event, Microsoft is announcing that WSL 2.0 is coming to Windows Server 2022 Preview Build on twitter.

In the following step-by-step guide we will install Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.0 (WSL) on Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25120.1010 to run Ubuntu and Debian Linux Distro’s.

Here you can download Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build ISO or VHDX disk
when you are registered as a Windows Insider.

Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25120 Installed.

Install the latest updates.

Open Windows Server Manager.

I Have installed the following :

  • Containers ( because I like this for later in my MVP Lab )
  • Hyper-V
  • Windows Subsystem for Linux
  • VirtualMachine Platform
  • Reboot the System after installation.

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

When the Virtual Server is up, you have to bring it down to make nested virtualization possible when you run your server on a Hyper-V Host like me.

On the host in PowerShell administrator mode :

Set-VMProcessor -VMName WIN2022 -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

Start the Virtual Machine.

wsl –install

wsl –update

WSL 2.0 is Installed

wsl –status

wsl –install -d Ubuntu

I did the same for Debian wsl –install -d debian

Here you can see both Linux distro’s on Windows Server.

Here we are running both WSL 2.0 Linux distro’s Ubuntu and Debian on Windows Server Insider Preview Build together at the same time 😉

Here I’m running VSCode on Remote WSL Debian Linux distro.

More information about Microsoft WSL you can find here on Docs.

Important:

All this is still in Preview and not ready for production environment yet. I installed this all in my MVP Test Lab for learning and testing. Hope you find this useful for your test environment to play with the newest Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview and WSL 2.0 with
all kind of Linux distro’s.


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Azure Monitor Insights for Arc enabled Kubernetes Clusters anywhere #Azure #Kubernetes

Azure Monitor Insights for Monitoring your Containers.

In the last blogpost I wrote about Microsoft Azure Arc Services and how to connect a Docker for Desktop Kubernetes Cluster for testing your DevOps solution like Container Apps, Functions, App Services in a test environment. Here you find the Link to the Installation.

One of the Microsoft Azure Arc features is Azure Monitor Insights for monitoring your Kubernetes Cluster and the Containers.

Azure Arc Insights for Kubernetes Cluster anywhere

In the following step-by-step guide we will configure Azure Monitor Insights for your Kubernetes Cluster.

I Connected my Analytics Workspace CloudMVPLab.
Click on Configure.

Onboarding your Kubernetes Cluster will take some minutes.

After a while your Kubernetes Cluster Analytics data will show in Insights.

Here you see a navigation bar with the following topics

  • What’s New
  • Cluster
  • Reports
  • Nodes
  • Controllers
  • Containers.

Insights reports of the Kubernetes Cluster

Here you can Click on default reports of your Kubernetes Cluster.

Storage Capacity and Health Status report of your Kubernetes Cluster.

Storage Capacity more in Details.

Deployments Report of your Kubernetes Cluster.

Workload details Report of your Kubernetes Cluster.

Kubelet report of your Kubernetes Cluster

Data Usage of your Kubernetes Cluster

Data Usage

Insights the Nodes of the Kubernetes Cluster

Insights of the Nodes and on the right you can view Analytics.

Here you can work with Log Analytics on your Cluster.

Insights in Controllers of your Kubernetes Cluster

Insights of your Controllers

Insights Containers of your Kubernetes Cluster

Container Insights of your Kubernetes Cluster

Container Insights with Azure Log Analytics.

So with Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes Clusters you can monitoring your Cluster and running Containers to keep you in Control on what is happening on the Cluster but also with your Container Apps and microservices. After this you can set Alerts and notifications when something is going wrong or offline. With this running you can start running your own App services, Containers or Azure functions on your Kubernetes Cluster.

Microsoft Senior Cloud Advocate Thomas Maurer explains in this awesome video how to add Azure App Services to your Kubernetes Cluster

Conclusion

This configuration with Docker for Desktop Kubernetes Cluster is for testing purpose only and can be used for your own DevOps solutions before you deploy on Production Ready Clusters. With Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes Clusters you get the powerful Microsoft Azure Features and solutions in a secure way on your Kubernetes Cluster. I wish you lot of success with Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes Clusters to make Awesome Apps and IT solutions for the Business 😉


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#WindowsAdminCenter and Windows Server 20H2 Core with WSL2 #Ubuntu Distro #Winserv #WSL2

Windows Server 2019 Core and WSL 2 Ubuntu 18.04

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) gives you the most command-line tools, utilities, and applications directly on Windows. I’m using Microsoft Windows Admin Center and Windows Server Core 20H2 with Build version 19042.746 to deploy WSL 2 with Ubuntu 18.04 Linux Distro. Here you find the installation of the Windows Server Core 20H2 with Windows Admin Center

In the following steps we will install the Following :

  • Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
  • Move from WSL 1.0 to WSL 2.0
  • Install Ubuntu 18.04 Linux distro

Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

This will install the WSL Feature.
When it ask do you want to Restart select No, because we will install the Next Feature :

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform

Select now Yes for Restarting the Server.

Moving from WSL 1.0 to WSL version 2.0

Before we Move from WSL version 1 to WSL version 2, we need a WSL Kernel Update.
Download here https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel

I Created a Share on the Windows Server via WIndows Admin Center.
And Uploaded the WSL_Update_X64.msi

Run WSL_Update_X64 and Click on Next.

Click on Finish

WSL –Set-Default-Version 2
Now we have Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 Active.

Install Ubuntu 18.04 Linux Distro for WSL2

With the following Powershell Invoke-WebRequest we get Ubuntu 18.04

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/wsl-ubuntu-1804 -OutFile ~/Ubuntu1804.zip -UseBasicParsing
md C:\Distros\Ubuntu1804
Expand-Archive ~/Ubuntu1804.zip C:\Distros\Ubuntu1804

Run Ubuntu 18.04

Ubuntu 18.04 is Running in WSL2 on Windows Server Core 20H2 😉

Conclusion

First of All Microsoft Windows Admin Center is supporting me in the Installation of Windows Subsystem for Linux. We have WSL 2 Running with Ubuntu 18.04 with a lot of possibilities!
What I really like is integration, like in Windows 10 and Docker for desktop with the WSL 2 Engine. Here my Blogpost
Together with VSCode Remote WSL is Cool.

Would be awesome to run Docker Windows and Linux Containers in combination with WSL 2 integration on Windows Server Core edition. Maybe in the Future, who knows?


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Running #Dapr in WSL2 Ubuntu 20-04 distro in #WindowsInsider Build 21277 RS and #VSCode

Working with Dapr in WSL2 Remote VSCode and Ubuntu 20.04 distro

Dapr is a portable, event-driven runtime that makes it easy for any developer to build resilient, stateless and stateful applications that run on the cloud and edge and embraces the diversity of languages and developer frameworks.

 

Developer language SDKs and frameworks

To make using Dapr more natural for different languages, it also includes language specific SDKs for Go, Java, JavaScript, .NET and Python. These SDKs expose the functionality in the Dapr building blocks, such as saving state, publishing an event or creating an actor, through a typed, language API rather than calling the http/gRPC API. This enables you to write a combination of stateless and stateful functions and actors all in the language of their choice. And because these SDKs share the Dapr runtime, you get cross-language actor and functions support.

SDKs

Dapr in Standalone version.

I’m using Windows Insider Build version 21277-RS with Docker for Windows Edge and Visual Studio Code.

Docker for Windows Edge Version Running.

Because Docker for Windows Edge support WSL2 Engine and Visual Studio Code too, brought me to an idea to build dapr into Ubuntu 20.04 WSL Distro on my Windows Insiders 21277 RS version on my Surface Book 3. There for you must activate the WSL2 integration with my default WSL distro Ubuntu-20.04.

Docker for Windows WSL 2 Integration.

In your Ubuntu-20.04 WSL2 version, you can install Dapr into your linux distro, more information you find here on dapr.io

Microsoft Windows Subsystem for Linux Installation Guide for Windows 10 with all kind of Linux distro’s 

Dapr init ( in the Ubuntu-20.04 WSL2 Linux distro )

Here you find the Dapr dev environment installation types for Dapr init, I did the standalone version. Dapr makes then the following containers :

Dapr Containers.

Then we have the following running :

  • Dapr Dashboard
  • Zipkin

Zipkin is a distributed tracing system. It helps gather timing data needed to troubleshoot latency problems in service architectures. Features include both the collection and lookup of this data.

Zipkin Traces

Dapr Dashboard

Now we have Dapr running in the WSL2 Ubuntu-20.04 distro, you can use Visual Studio Code on Windows Insiders using Remote WSL and work with your favourite dapr SDK like the list above 😉

Dapr Extension in VSCode

From here you can work with your dapr application.

In this guide dapr is running with Docker containers, but you can also install it on Kubernetes or K8s, AKS, Azure any where, see this overview :

Dapr with Kubenetes Containers.

Dapr Overview.

Important Note : Dapr is now production ready with version 1.0 ! Developers, DevOps, AzOps, you can start with it and Build and Test your own microservices and Container apps !  Hope you are having fun with it too 😉