Merge pull request #17137 from sethmanheim/ss2-20

Pull commits from Arc connect changes

Author: prmerger-automator[bot]

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-deployment-config-json.md

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ You can find the complete JSON schema file at `C:\Program Files\AksEdge\aksedge-
 | `DeploymentType` |[`SingleMachineCluster` / `ScalableCluster`]| Specifies deployment type. In `ScalableCluster`, you can add more machines to the cluster infrastructure. | `SingleMachineCluster` |Single-machine and full deployment|
 | `Init.ServiceIPRangeStart` |IPv4 address `A.B.C.x`.|Reserved IP start address for your Kubernetes services. This IP range must be free on your subnet **A.B.C.0**.| None |Single-machine and full deployment|
 | `Init.ServiceIPRangeSize` |`[0-127]`|Number of reserved IP start addresses for your Kubernetes services. Based on the size, we allocate a range of free IP addresses on your subnet. | `0` |Single-machine and full deployment|
-| `Init.KmsPlugin.Enable` |Boolean| Enables the KMS plugin | false |Single-machine and full deployment|
+| `Init.KmsPlugin.Enable` | Boolean | Specifies whether the KMS plugin is enabled or not. | false | Single-machine and full deployment|
 | `Join.ClusterJoinToken` |String|`Reserved` | None |Full deployment only|
 | `Join.DiscoveryTokenHash` |String|`Reserved`| None |Full deployment only|
 | `Join.CertificateKey` |String|`Reserved`| None |Full deployment only|

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-howto-connect-to-arc.md

@@ -4,14 +4,17 @@ description: Connect your AKS Edge Essentials clusters to Arc
 author: sethmanheim
 ms.author: sethm
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 09/27/2024
+ms.date: 02/20/2025
 ms.custom: template-how-to
 ---
 
 # Connect your AKS Edge Essentials cluster to Arc
 
 This article describes how to connect your AKS Edge Essentials cluster to [Azure Arc](/azure/azure-arc/kubernetes/overview) so that you can monitor the health of your cluster on the Azure portal. If your cluster is connected to a proxy, you can use the scripts provided in the GitHub repo to connect your cluster to Arc [as described here](./aks-edge-howto-more-configs.md).
 
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> Starting with the AKS Edge Essentials February 2025 release, the `Arc` section of the config file is required. The Azure Arc connection occurs automatically after you run `New-AksEdgeDeployment` to deploy an AKS Edge Essentials cluster.
+
 ## Prerequisites
 
 - Before connecting to Arc, infrastructure administrators who are the owner or contributor role of the subscription will have to:

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-howto-multi-node-deployment.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Describes how to create a cluster with multiple machines in AKS Edg
 author: sethmanheim
 ms.author: sethm
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 01/09/2025
+ms.date: 02/20/2025
 ms.custom: template-how-to
 ---
 
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ The key parameters to note for a scalable Kubernetes deployment are:
 > [!IMPORTANT]
 > The Kubernetes `pod cidr` is `10.42.0.0/16` for K3s and `10.244.0.0/24` for K8s. The Kubernetes `service cidr` is `10.43.0.0/16` for K3s and `10.96.0.0/12` for K8s.
 
+- `Arc`: This section is required. During the AKS Edge Essentials deployment, the Arc parameters are used to connect the AKS EE cluster to Azure Arc. For more information about the required Arc parameters, see the [connect to Arc documentation](aks-edge-howto-connect-to-arc.md).
+  
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> Starting with the AKS Edge Essentials February 2025 release, the `Arc` section of the config file is required. The Azure Arc connection occurs automatically during AKS EE deployment.
+  
 - The `Network.NetworkPlugin` value by default is `flannel`. Flannel is the default CNI for a K3S cluster. In a K8S cluster, change the `NetworkPlugin` to `calico`.
 - In addition to the previous parameters, you can set the following parameters according to your deployment configuration, [as described here](aks-edge-deployment-config-json.md): `LinuxNode.CpuCount`, `LinuxNode.MemoryInMB`, `LinuxNode.DataSizeInGB`, `LinuxNode.Ip4Address`, `WindowsNode.CpuCount`, `WindowsNode.MemoryInMB`, `WindowsNode.Ip4Address`, `Init.ServiceIPRangeSize`, and `Network.InternetDisabled`.
 

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-howto-single-node-deployment.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Learn how to deploy AKS Edge Essentials on a single machine.
 author: sethmanheim
 ms.author: sethm
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 08/21/2024
+ms.date: 02/20/2024
 ms.custom: template-how-to
 ---
 
@@ -31,9 +31,14 @@ See [Deployment JSON configuration](aks-edge-deployment-config-json.md) for a de
 The key parameters for single machine deployment are:
 
 - `DeploymentType`: This parameter defines the deployment type and is specified as `SingleMachineCluster`.
+- `Arc`: This section is required. During the AKS Edge Essentials deployment, the Arc parameters are used to connect the AKS EE cluster to Azure Arc. For more information about the required Arc parameters, see the [connect to Arc documentation](aks-edge-howto-connect-to-arc.md).
+  
 - The `Network.NetworkPlugin` by default is `flannel`. This is the default for a K3S cluster. If you're using a K8S cluster, change the CNI to `calico`.
 - You can set the following parameters according to your deployment configuration [as described here](aks-edge-deployment-config-json.md): `LinuxNode.CpuCount`, `LinuxNode.MemoryInMB`, `LinuxNode.DataSizeInGB`, `WindowsNode.CpuCount`, `WindowsNode.MemoryInMB`, `Init.ServiceIPRangeSize`, and `Network.InternetDisabled`.
 
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> Starting with the AKS Edge Essentials February 2025 release, the `Arc` section of the config file is required. The Azure Arc connection occurs automatically during the AKS EE deployment.
+
 ## Step 2: create a single machine cluster
 
 1. You can now run the `New-AksEdgeDeployment` cmdlet to deploy a single-machine AKS Edge cluster with a single Linux control-plane node:

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-howto-uninstall.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Learn how to uninstall AKS Edge Essentials.
 author: sethmanheim
 ms.author: sethm
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 07/11/2024
+ms.date: 02/20/2025
 ms.custom:
   - template-how-to
   - devx-track-azurecli
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ If you used `Connect-AideArcKubernetes` to connect to Azure Arc, run `Disconnect
 Disconnect-AideArcKubernetes
 ```
 
-If you used `Connect-AksEdgeArc` to connect to Arc, run `Disconnect-AksEdgeArc` to disconnect your cluster from Azure Arc:
+Run `Disconnect-AksEdgeArc` to disconnect your cluster from Azure Arc:
 
 ```powershell
 Disconnect-AksEdgeArc -JsonConfigFilePath .\aksedge-config.json

AKS-Arc/aks-edge-system-requirements.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Requirements and supported versions for AKS Edge Essentials.
 author: sethmanheim
 ms.author: sethm
 ms.topic: conceptual
-ms.date: 09/10/2024
+ms.date: 02/20/2025
 ms.custom: template-concept
 ---
 
@@ -59,8 +59,11 @@ Install Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise/Enterprise/Pro on your machine and activate
 
 - **Deployment options**: Full Kubernetes deployment on multiple machines.
 - **Workloads**: Windows worker nodes.
+- **GPU**: [GPU-PV](aks-edge-gpu.md).
+- **Secret Encryption**: [KMS plugin for AKS EE](aks-edge-howto-secret-encryption.md).
+- **Security**: [Workload identity](aks-edge-workload-identity.md). Workload identity federation is only available for customers deploying Azure IoT Operations on top of AKS Edge Essentials.
 - **Network plugins**: Calico on K3S (discontinued).
 
 ## Next steps
 
-- [Set up your machine](./aks-edge-howto-setup-machine.md)
+- [Set up your machine](aks-edge-howto-setup-machine.md)