Azure Local VM rebrand - Overview

Author: v-sissondan

azure-local/concepts/compare-windows-server.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ ms.topic: conceptual
 author: alkohli
 ms.author: alkohli
 ms.service: azure-local
-ms.date: 03/28/2025
+ms.date: 04/08/2025
 ---
 
 # Compare Azure Local to Windows Server
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ When replacing a datacenter primarily running VMware, Azure Local is typically n
 
 ## When to use Azure Local
 
-Azure Local is Microsoft's premier hyperconverged infrastructure platform for running VMs or virtual desktops on-premises with connections to Azure hybrid services. Azure Local can help to modernize and secure your datacenters and branch offices, and achieve industry-best performance with low latency and data sovereignty.
+Azure Local is Microsoft's premier hyperconverged infrastructure platform for running virtual machines (VMs) or virtual desktops on-premises with connections to Azure hybrid services. Azure Local can help to modernize and secure your datacenters and branch offices, and achieve industry-best performance with low latency and data sovereignty.
 
 :::image type="content" source="media/compare-windows-server/hci-scenarios.png" alt-text="When to use Azure Local over Windows Server 2019" border="false" lightbox="media/compare-windows-server/hci-scenarios.png":::
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ Windows Server is a highly versatile, multi-purpose operating system with dozens
 
 Use Windows Server for:
 
-- A guest operating system inside of virtual machines (VMs) or containers
+- A guest operating system inside of VMs or containers
 - As the runtime server for a Windows application
 - To use one or more of the built-in server roles such as Active Directory, file services, DNS, DHCP, or Internet Information Services (IIS)
 - As a traditional server, such as a bare-metal domain controller or SQL Server installation
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ The following table compares the management options for Azure Local and Windows
 | Azure portal > Windows Admin Center integration (preview) | Yes | Azure VMs only <sup>1</sup>|
 | Azure portal > Multi-cluster monitoring for Azure Local | Yes | No |
 | Azure portal > Azure Resource Manager integration for clusters | Yes | No |
-| Azure portal > Arc VM management | Yes | No |
+| Azure portal > Management of Azure Local VMs enabled by Arc | Yes | No |
 | Desktop experience | No | Yes |
 
 <sup>1</sup> Requires manually installing the Arc-git statusConnected Machine agent on every machine.

azure-local/faq.yml

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ metadata:
   author: cosmosdarwin
   ms.author: cosdar
   ms.service: azure-local
-  ms.date: 02/03/2025
+  ms.date: 04/08/2025
 title: Azure Local FAQ
 summary: The Azure Local FAQ provides information about Azure Local connectivity with the cloud, and how Azure Local relates to Windows Server.
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ sections:
         answer: |
           While your connection is down, all host infrastructure and VMs continue to run normally, and you can use edge-local tools for management. However, you wouldn't be able to use features that directly rely on cloud services. Information in the Azure portal may also become out-of-date until Azure Local is able to sync again.
           
-          Configuration changes made to Arc VMs using edge-local tools won't automatically sync with Azure.
+          Configuration changes made to Azure Local VMs enabled by Arc using edge-local tools won't automatically sync with Azure.
 
       - question: How long can Azure Local run with the connection down?
         answer: |

azure-local/known-issues.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Release notes with fixed and known issues in Azure Local
 description: Read about the known issues and fixed issues in Azure Local.
 author: alkohli
 ms.topic: conceptual
-ms.date: 04/01/2025
+ms.date: 04/08/2025
 ms.author: alkohli
 ms.reviewer: alkohli
 ---
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ The following table lists the known issues in this release:
 
 |Feature|Issue|Workaround/Comments|
 |------|------|----------|
-| Azure Local VMs <!--ADO--> | Unable to delete an Arc VM when one of the nodes is down.| Contact Microsoft Support if this issue occurs.|
+| Azure Local VMs <!--ADO--> | Unable to delete an Azure Local VM enabled by Arc when one of the nodes is down.| Contact Microsoft Support if this issue occurs.|
 | Azure Local VMs <!--ADO--> | Checkpoints on Azure Local VMs cause sync issues between Azure Local VMs and Portal. | Remove any checkpoints on the VM. |
 | Updates <!--32073115--> | Updating to 2503.0.13 failed `Update PreRequisites` for Role 'MocArb' with exception: `SyntaxWarning: invalid escape sequence '\W' at CheckAndInstall-CliExtensions`. | For detailed steps on how to resolve this issue, see the [Troubleshooting guide](https://github.com/Azure/AzureLocal-Supportability/blob/main/TSG/Update/).  |
 | Security vulnerability <!--32074481--> | There is a known security vulnerability in this release that may affect security scans for the updates. For more information, see [Azure Arc Installer vulnerability CVE-2025-26627 - Host](https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-26627) |  |

azure-local/overview.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ ms.topic: overview
 author: alkohli
 ms.author: alkohli
 ms.service: azure-local
-ms.date: 11/19/2024
+ms.date: 04/08/2025
 ms.custom: e2e-hybrid, linux-related-content
 ---
 
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ Customers often choose Azure Local in the following scenarios.
 |:-|:-|
 | Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) | Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local lets you deploy Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts on your on-premises infrastructure. You manage your session hosts from the Azure portal. To learn more, see [Azure Virtual Desktop for Azure Local](/azure/virtual-desktop/azure-stack-hci-overview). |
 | Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) enabled by Azure Arc | You can leverage Azure Local to host container-based deployments, which increases workload density and resource usage efficiency. Azure Local also further enhances the agility and resiliency inherent to Azure Kubernetes deployments. Azure Local manages automatic failover of VMs serving as Kubernetes cluster nodes in case of a localized failure of the underlying physical components. This supplements the high availability built into Kubernetes, which automatically restarts failed containers on either the same or another VM. To learn more, see [Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Local and Windows Server](/azure/aks/hybrid/aks-overview). |
-| Run Azure Arc services on-premises | Azure Arc allows you to run Azure services anywhere. This allows you to build consistent hybrid and multicloud application architectures by using Azure services that can run in Azure, on-premises, at the edge, or at other cloud providers. Azure Arc enabled services allow you to run Arc VMs, Azure data services and Azure application services such as Azure App Service, Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid, and API Management anywhere to support hybrid workloads. To learn more, see [Azure Arc overview](/azure/azure-arc/overview). |
+| Run Azure Arc services on-premises | Azure Arc allows you to run Azure services anywhere. This allows you to build consistent hybrid and multicloud application architectures by using Azure services that can run in Azure, on-premises, at the edge, or at other cloud providers. Azure Arc enabled services allow you to run Azure Local VMs, Azure data services and Azure application services such as Azure App Service, Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid, and API Management anywhere to support hybrid workloads. To learn more, see [Azure Arc overview](/azure/azure-arc/overview). |
 | Highly performant SQL Server | Azure Local provides an additional layer of resiliency to highly available, mission-critical Always On availability groups-based deployments of SQL Server. This approach also offers extra benefits associated with the single-vendor approach, including simplified support and performance optimizations built into the underlying platform. To learn more, see [Deploy SQL Server on Azure Local](./deploy/sql-server-23h2.md). |
-| Trusted enterprise virtualization | Azure Local satisfies the trusted enterprise virtualization requirements through its built-in support for Virtualization-based Security (VBS). VBS relies on Hyper-V to implement the mechanism referred to as virtual secure mode, which forms a dedicated, isolated memory region within its guest VMs. By using programming techniques, it's possible to perform designated, security-sensitive operations in this dedicated memory region while blocking access to it from the host OS. This considerably limits potential vulnerability to kernel-based exploits. To learn more, see [About Trusted Launch for Arc VMs on Azure Local](./manage/trusted-launch-vm-overview.md). |
+| Trusted enterprise virtualization | Azure Local satisfies the trusted enterprise virtualization requirements through its built-in support for Virtualization-based Security (VBS). VBS relies on Hyper-V to implement the mechanism referred to as virtual secure mode, which forms a dedicated, isolated memory region within its guest VMs. By using programming techniques, it's possible to perform designated, security-sensitive operations in this dedicated memory region while blocking access to it from the host OS. This considerably limits potential vulnerability to kernel-based exploits. To learn more, see [About Trusted Launch for Azure Local VMs enabled by Arc](./manage/trusted-launch-vm-overview.md). |
 | Scale-out storage | Storage Spaces Direct is a core technology of Azure Local that uses industry-standard servers with locally attached drives to offer high availability, performance, and scalability. Using Storage Spaces Direct results in significant cost reductions compared with competing offers based on storage area network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS) technologies. These benefits result from an innovative design and a wide range of enhancements, such as persistent read/write cache drives, mirror-accelerated parity, nested resiliency, and deduplication. |
 | Disaster recovery for virtualized workloads | A stretched cluster of Azure Local (functionality only available in Azure Stack HCI OS, version 22H2) provides automatic failover of virtualized workloads to a secondary site following a primary site failure. Synchronous replication ensures crash consistency of VM disks. |
 | Data center consolidation and modernization | Refreshing and consolidating aging virtualization hosts with Azure Local can improve scalability and make your environment easier to manage and secure. It's also an opportunity to retire legacy SAN storage to reduce footprint and total cost of ownership. Operations and systems administration are simplified with unified tools and interfaces and a single point of support. |

azure-local/rename-to-azure-local.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ author: alkohli
 ms.author: alkohli
 ms.topic: conceptual
 ms.service: azure-local
-ms.date: 11/16/2024
+ms.date: 04/08/2025
 ---
 
 # New name for Azure Stack HCI
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ The following table lists what isn't impacted by the rename:
 | Azure Stack HCI APIs/namespace  | The Azure Stack HCI APIs/namespaces remain the same. No breaking changes were made and you won’t be required to update the code. |
 | Azure Stack HCI resource provider        | The `Microsoft.AzureStackHCI` resource provider name remains the same. |
 | Azure Stack HCI PowerShell cmdlets | The Azure Stack HCI PowerShell cmdlets remain the same. |
-| Azure Stack HCI CLI | The Azure CLI commands for Azure Stack HCI and Arc VM management remain the same.  |
+| Azure Stack HCI CLI | The Azure CLI commands for Azure Stack HCI and management of Azure Local VMs remain the same.  |
 | Azure Stack HCI OS  | The Azure Stack HCI operating system (OS), which is a component of Azure Local, remains the same. |
 | Azure Stack HCI OEM license | The license name remains the same. |
 | Azure Stack HCI documentation | The text changes for Azure Stack HCI documentation (on Microsoft Learn) were made for the entire portfolio including screenshots and conceptual diagrams. <br><br> Documentation for older versions of Azure Stack HCI; for example, 22H2 only, continues to reference Azure Stack HCI, and don't reflect the name change. <br><br> Release notes and security updates that are more than 6 months old also do not reflect the name change.|
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ The Azure billing meters for Azure Stack HCI will be renamed with meter ID updat
 
 ### Are PowerShell cmdlets and Azure CLI commands being renamed?
 
-No. Both the PowerShell cmdlets and Azure CLI commands for Arc VM management and for Azure Stack HCI system, service, and management remain the same.
+No. Both the PowerShell cmdlets and Azure CLI commands for Azure Local virtual machines (VMs) enabled by Arc and for Azure Stack HCI system, service, and management remain the same.
 
 ### How and when are customers being notified?
 

azure-local/whats-new.md

@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ ms.topic: overview
 author: alkohli
 ms.author: alkohli
 ms.service: azure-local
-ms.date: 04/03/2025
+ms.date: 04/08/2025
 ---
 
 # What's new in Azure Local?
 
 
 [!INCLUDE [azure-local-banner-23h2](./includes/azure-local-banner-23h2.md)]
 
-This article lists the various features and improvements that are available in Azure Local. The latest version of Azure Local solution focuses on cloud-based deployment and updates, cloud-based monitoring, new and simplified experience for Arc VM management, security, and more.
+This article lists the various features and improvements that are available in Azure Local. The latest version of Azure Local solution focuses on cloud-based deployment and updates, cloud-based monitoring, new and simplified experience for management of Azure Local virtual machines (VM) enabled by Arc, security, and more.
 
 ::: moniker range="=azloc-2503"
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ This is a baseline release with the following features and improvements:
     - Composed image is now supported for Other Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
     - Several security enhancements were done for the Bootstrap service.
     - Service Principal Name (SPN) is deprecated for Arc registration.
-    - The Arc installer script is simplified to only use `Start-ArcBootstrap` to register Azure Local machines with Arc.
+    - The Arc installer script is simplified to only use `Start-ArcBootstrap` to register Azure Local VMs.
   - **Deployment of current version and previous versions**: Starting with this release, you can deploy the current version of Azure Local using the Azure portal. To deploy a previous version, use an Azure Resource Manager template that matches the version you wish to deploy. For more information, see [Deploy via ARM template](./deploy/deployment-azure-resource-manager-template.md).
 - **Environment checker related changes**
   - Environment checker is now integrated for connectivity tests.
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ For more information on improvements in this release, see the [Fixed issues in 2
 
 This is a baseline release with the following features and improvements:
 
-- **Arc VMs** - Here are the improvements made to Arc VMs in this release:
-    - **Azure Marketplace images**: Three new Azure Marketplace images are available in addition to the existing images. For more information, see the [List of Azure Marketplace images supported for Arc VMs](./manage/virtual-machine-image-azure-marketplace.md#create-azure-local-vm-image-using-azure-marketplace-images).
+- **Azure Local VMs** - Here are the improvements made to VMs in this release:
+    - **Azure Marketplace images**: Three new Azure Marketplace images are available in addition to the existing images. For more information, see the [List of Azure Marketplace images supported for VMs](./manage/virtual-machine-image-azure-marketplace.md#create-azure-local-vm-image-using-azure-marketplace-images).
     - **Live migration**: Live migration is available for Azure Local VMs via on-premises tools. For more information, see [Live migration of Azure Local VMs](./manage/manage-arc-virtual-machines.md#conduct-live-migration-of-azure-local-vms).
 
 - **4-node switchless support documentation** - Documentation for 4-node switchless is now available. For more information, see [4-node switchless support](./plan/four-node-switchless-two-switches-two-links.md).