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Windows Server 2025 Hotpatching Hits Preview; WSUS Hits the End

Microsoft recently described some updates to Windows Server, including the introduction of global hotpatching and the planned deprecation of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

Late last week, Microsoft announced the preview of hotpatching capabilities for Windows Server 2025 -- specifically, the Standard and Datacenter editions. This new capability is enabled via Azure Arc, Microsoft's tool for managing multiple cloud services from the Azure portal.

"Hotpatching will be available as an option through the power of Azure Arc," Microsoft said in its announcement. "Azure Arc enables management and allows the Windows Server internal licensing service for Hotpatch to run so that Hotpatch updates are delivered to customers."

Hotpatching lets administrators patch their Windows Server virtual machines without needing to reboot. Patches are applied in-memory, with zero interruption to any processes currently running.

The capability was first implemented in Windows Server 2022's Datacenter Azure edition, though it only worked on virtual machines running in Azure or Azure Stack HCI. The expansion planned for Windows Server 2025 (which is also still in preview) will remove those dependencies, Microsoft promised.

"When Windows Server 2025 becomes generally available, you will be able to run the edition you want, where you want -- whether on-prem, in Azure, or elsewhere," the company said. "You'll have an option to hotpatch Windows Server 2025 physical servers or virtual machines, and those VMs can run on Hyper-V, VMware, or anywhere else that supports Microsoft's protection-focused Virtualization Based Security standard."

Windows Server 2025 is expected to become generally available this fall. The hotpatching preview can be accessed here.

WSUS Deprecation
In related news, Microsoft also announced that it is deprecating Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), nearly 20 years after it was first released.

"[W]e are no longer investing in new capabilities, nor are we accepting new feature requests for WSUS," Microsoft said in a blog post late last week. "However, we are preserving current functionality and will continue to publish updates through the WSUS channel. We will also support any content already published through the WSUS channel."

WSUS will still be included in Windows Server 2025, Microsoft noted. However, it advised organizations to transition to its cloud-based tools for managing updates -- namely Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopatch for clients, and Azure Update Manager for servers.

A full list of discontinued and deprecated products in Windows Server 2025 is available here.

About the Author

Gladys Rama (@GladysRama3) is the editorial director of Converge360.

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