Jehudi
11 September 2026
Ubuntu Pro in-place upgrades for Virtual Machine Scale Sets on Azure
You can now upgrade Ubuntu Server Virtual Machine Scale Sets on Azure to Ubuntu Pro without rebuilding the set. Your instances keep serving traffic. The change is a license update, not a new image.
Users could already perform in-place upgrades to Ubuntu Pro for individual VMs. Now, we’re extending the feature to scale sets – groups of load balanced virtual machines that you can manage as a single unit.
The upgrade is a license change
The image and the scale set stay as they are. You set the Ubuntu Pro license on the scale set, apply it to running instances, and run the pro auto-attach command from the Azure CLI – without needing to log into each VM.
Azure meters Pro on your existing invoice, and metering can start as soon as the license is set. You have Ubuntu Pro when pro status --all --wait shows esm-infra and esm-apps as enabled. You pay for running machines, so the bill follows the set as it grows and shrinks.
New instances pick up the Pro license from the scale set.
Which scale sets qualify
Upgrading scale sets works with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and onwards from Canonical on Azure Marketplace. Custom images are not supported, including golden images and copies in Azure Compute Gallery.
What Ubuntu Pro adds
Ubuntu Pro is Canonical’s subscription for security and compliance on Ubuntu LTS.
After Pro attaches, you get Expanded Security Maintenance for infrastructure and applications, as well as Kernel Livepatch. esm-infra covers the Main repository. esm-apps covers Universe packages such as NGINX, Kafka, Redis, and PostgreSQL. Livepatch can apply kernel fixes without a reboot.
You also get access to Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) crypto packages and CIS or DISA STIG hardening. These stay off until you enable them.
Ubuntu Pro offers up to 15 years of security maintenance.
Learn more about Ubuntu Pro for Azure >
Uniform and Flexible orchestration
Azure scale sets are Uniform or Flexible. The CLI is different for each, and you cannot switch mode later. Setting the license only changes that field. When you apply it to running instances, any other pending model changes go with it.
Next steps
Read the documentation on Microsoft Learn to get started:
How to upgrade Virtual Machine Scale Sets to Ubuntu Pro >
If you want to discuss your fleet’s requirements, or you need support on top of the license, get in touch:
