Azure Weekly Newsletter Issue #438

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@HowardvRooijen | @endjin

AI + Machine Learning

Covering: Anomaly detector, Azure Bot Service, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Open Datasets, Bing APIs, Cognitive Services, Computer Vision, Content moderator, Custom vision, Data Science Virtual Machines, Face, Form Recogniser, Immersive Reader, Ink Recogniser, Language Understanding (LUIS), Machine Learning Studio, Microsoft Genomics, ML.NET, Personaliser, Project Cortex, QnA Maker, Speaker Recognition, Speech-to-Text, Speech translation, Text Analytics, Text to Speech , Translator Speech, Translator Text

• Lee Stott (@lee_stott) discusses Register today for Microsoft Build: AI Day in London. This free, one-day event 19th October
• Ben Roberts covers Azure MLOps Challenge Blog: Part 8
• On the Microsoft Mechanics show, Mary David Pasch describes How Microsoft 365 Copilot can work with your external data
• James Nguyen walks through Building Real-Time, Intelligent AI Copilots with Confluent Cloud, Azure OpenAI & Azure Data Services
• Mike Tholfsen discusses Azure OpenAI for Education: Prompts, AI, and a guide from Ethan and Lilach Mollick
• John Reilly (@johnny_reilly) covers Azure Open AI: generate article metadata with TypeScript

Analytics

Covering: Apache Spark for HDInsight, Azure Analysis Services, Azure Data Explorer, Azure Data Share, Azure Databricks, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Factory, Event Hubs, HDInsight, Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Fabric

• On Microsoft Fabric Blog, Pawel Potasinski discusses Microsoft Fabric MVP Corner – September 2023
• Salil Kanade announces SQL Projects support for Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
• On Microsoft Fabric Blog, Alvaro Videla (@old_sound) walks through Sending data to Synapse Real-Time Analytics in Fabric from Apache Kafka Ecosystems using Java
• Meagan Longoria (@mmarie) describes how to Parameterize your Databricks notebooks with widgets
• Temidayo Omoniyi delves into Azure Databricks Tables - Delta Lake, Hive Metastore, TempViews, Managed, External
• Sam Panda blogs about Metadata driven data ingestion pipeline using the SAP CDC connector.
• Sucharita Das walks through Sending Multiple Attachments in Email from Azure Data Factory Pipeline
• Marc Bushong writes about Metadata Driven Pipelines for Dynamic Full and Incremental Processing in Azure SQL
• John Folberth (@j_folberth) covers Part 5 - Unlock the Power of Azure Data Factory: A Guide to Boosting Your Data Ingestion Process

Compute

Covering: Azure CycleCloud, Azure Dedicated Host, Azure Functions, Azure VMware Solution by CloudSimple, Batch, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances, Service Fabric, Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets

• The Azure Updates Team announces GA: Support for Python 3.11 in Azure Functions, and Generally Available: Azure Functions v4 Programming model for Node.js, and Public preview: Azure Functions Support for Node.js 20 and Public preview: Azure Functions extension for Dapr
• Ajay Kundnani discusses Breaking Change for VM & VMSS PowerShell/CLI Customers
• Amy Colyer describes Optimizing your Azure VMs – 3 Simple Steps to Cloud Efficiency
• Alan Kinane (@Azure_Alan) covers Using Azure Compute Gallery to help deliver a managed multi-customer desktop solution
• Madhura Bharadwaj writes about Azure Functions: Node.js v4 programming model is Generally Available

Containers

Covering: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, CNAB, CNCF, Container Instances, Container Registry, Porter, WSL, Web App for Containers

• The Azure Updates Team announces Public preview: AKS support for Kubernetes version 1.28, and GA: Node OS patching - NodeImage feature in AKS, and GA: Vertical Pod Autoscaling add-on for AKS, and GA: AKS image cleaner, and GA: Azure Container Apps in Azure China cloud, and GA: Dedicated table support for AKS diagnostics logs, and Generally Available: Artifact cache for Azure Container Registry and Generally Available: KEDA add-on for AKS
• Karol Pieciukiewicz covers Azure Container Apps – traffic splitting part 4
• Massimo Crippa (@mas_que_crippa) does a Dive into Azure Container Apps Workload Profiles
• Richard Fennell (@richardfennell) blogs about SonarQube Docker Container will not start

Databases

Covering: Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for MariaDB, Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Database Edge, Azure Cache for Redis, SQL Data Warehouse, SQL Server on virtual machines, SQL Server Stretch Database, Table storage

• The Azure Updates Team announces Generally available: Custom partitioning in Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB, and General availability: Azure SQL updates for late-September 2023, and Public Preview: Azure SQL Database free offer, and Public Preview: Additional cache sizes for Azure Cache for Redis Enterprise and Public preview: Azure Database for MySQL flexible maintenance
• Karla Escobar blogs about Azure Database for MariaDB is being retired on 19 September 2025
• On the Redmond magazine site, Kurt Mackie (@kurmac) covers Microsoft Ending Azure Database for MariaDB Service in 2025
• Geert Baeke (@GeertBaeke) walks through Using Azure Database for PostgreSQL as a vector store
• Kevin Gatimu (@_kevincomba) walks through Migrating Google Firebase Firestore Database to Azure Cosmos DB
• Brent Ozar (@BrentO) writes Oops, I Lost My Indexes in Azure SQL DB.
• Tyler Becker discusses Creating and Monitoring Read Replicas in Azure Postgres Flexible Server
• Paloma Garcia Martin covers Configuring backups retention for all Azure SLQ Managed instances under same subscription
• Sandro Pereira (@sandro_asp) writes a Note to myself: How to reset the Azure SQL Server adminaccountpassword
• Jose M Jurado (@jmjuradodiaz) describes lessons learned: 433:Azure SQL Pre-login Handshake Error 64:The specified network name is no longer, 434:Adjusting NSG Port Ranges:Azure SQL Manage Instance Tier Migration from GP to BC and 435:How to Know the Status of Your Azure SQL Database:Service Health-Resource Health
• Vikas Singhvi writes about New capabilities for Elastic Cloud Elasticsearch – An Azure native ISV service

Developer Tools

Covering: App Configuration, Azure Lab Services, CLIs, Developer tool integrations, SDKs, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio Online

• Vikas Singhvi writes about New capabilities for Elastic Cloud Elasticsearch – An Azure native ISV service
• Naveen Kumar Nooka covers Whats new in MSIX: September 2023
• On Visual Studio Magazine - Blogs, David Ramel (@dramel) covers Community Dev Gives VS Code Python Some YAPF
• Nik Karpinsky writes A unit of profiling makes the allocations go away
• Antti K. Koskela (@koskila) explains How to find out dependency versions in your .csproj files using PowerShell

DevOps

Covering: Azure Artifacts, Azure Boards, Azure DevOps, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos, Azure Test Plans, Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations

• The Azure Updates Team writes about Generally available: Azure Load Testing in Southeast Asia, Canada Central, Germany West Central and Central India
• On the Microsoft DevOps blog, Angel Wong explains how to Managed identity and service principal support for Azure DevOps now in General Availability GA and writes about New Azure DevOps scopes now available for Microsoft Identity OAuth delegated flow apps
• Dan Hellem writes about New Boards Hub Rollout Update
• Anthony Watherston blogs about Infrastructure as Code Testing with Azure Policy
• On episode 1865 of the .NET Rocks podcast, Carl Franklin (@carlfranklin) and Richard Campbell (@richcampbell) are joined by Arpil Edwards (TheAprilEdwards) to talk about Azure and GitHub
• Don Koning explains how to Achieve Code Consistency: MegaLinter Integration in Azure DevOps
• Harshitha Putta writes about Efficient Identity Management in Azure Chaos Studio for Secure Fault Injection
• Vivek Garudi blogs about Revolutionizing Requirement Gathering: Azure DevOps Meets Azure OpenAI using Semantic kernel
• Danidu Weerasinghe walks through Deploying an Automation Account with a Runbook and Schedule Using Bicep

Hybrid + Multicloud

Covering: Azure Arc, Azure Stack

• Thomas Maurer (@thomasmaurer) blogs about Premier Solutions for Azure Stack HCI

Identity

Covering: Azure Active Directory (AD), Azure Active Directory B2C, Azure Active Directory Domain Services

• No content this week

Integration

Covering: Azure API for FHIR, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus

• The Azure Updates Team discusses Public Preview: Azure Communication Services Job Router
• Bryan Grimm covers Azure Communications Gateway: Fall Update
• On the Microsoft Mechanics show, Jeremy Chapman and Bob Serr (@deployjeremy) explain how to Build GPT-automated customer support with Azure Communication Services

Internet of Things

Covering: Azure Digital Twins, Azure IoT Central, Azure IoT Edge, Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT solution accelerators, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere, Azure Time Series Insights, IoT DevKit, WildernessLabs, Windows 10 IoT Core Services

• No content this week

Learning

Covering: Microsoft Certifications, Azure Certifications, Microsoft Learning Paths, Certification Pathway Information

• Rishona Elijah blogs about Microsoft Learn: Four key features to help expand your knowledge and advance your career
• Daniel Calbimonte covers AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification Exam Tips and Tricks
• On episode 264 of Azure DevOps podcast, Jeffrey Palermo (@jeffreypalermo) is joined by Jimmy Bogard to talk about .NET 7 and Azure Modernization

Management and Governance

Covering: Automation, Azure Advisor, Azure Backup, Azure Blueprints, Azure Lighthouse, Azure Managed Applications, Azure mobile app, Azure Monitor, Azure Policy, Azure Resource Manager, Azure Service Health, Azure Site Recovery, Cloud Shell, Cost Management, Microsoft Azure portal, Scheduler, Azure Purview

• Akanksha Agrawal writes about Generally available: Secure critical infrastructure from accidental deletions at scale with Policy
• Panu Oksala provides Five Tips and Tricks for Application Monitoring with Application Insights
• Issa Khoury provides a Skilling snack: Cloud-based printing with Universal Print
• Billy York (@SCAutomation) explains how to Query Azure Resource Graph from Log Analytics
• Vivek Garudi walks through Running natural language queries against Log analytics using Semantic function

Media

Covering: Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Media Analytics, Media Services, Video Indexer

• No content this week

Migration

Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box

• No content this week

Mobile

Covering: App Service (Mobile), Mobile apps, Notification Hubs, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin

• No content this week

Networking

Covering: Application Gateway, Azure Bastion, Azure DNS, Azure ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall, Azure Firewall Manager, Azure Front Door, Azure Internet Analyzer, Azure Private Link, Content Delivery Network, Load Balancer, Network Watcher, Traffic Manager, Virtual Network, Virtual WAN, VPN Gateway, Web Application Firewall

• The Azure Updates Team announces General availability: Domain fronting update on Azure Front Door and Azure CDN and General availability: Gateway Load Balancer IPv6 Support
• Felipe Binotto provides Azure Firewall Tips from the Field
• George Bittencourt walks through Optimizing Azure Firewall logging costs
• Danidu Weerasinghe writes Ever Been Baffled About How to Auto-Cleanup AzureBastionSharable Links.

Security

Covering: Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Information Protection, Azure Sentinel, Key Vault, Security Center

• Mariano Titanti writes about New Tools to Elevate Video Security
• Sean Wesonga blogs about Enriching Anomali and Other TIPS with MDTI Feeds
• On episode 205 of the Ctrl+Alt+Azure podcast, Tobias Zimmergren & Jussi Roine (@CtrlAltAzure) refelect on relevant skills to work with security in Azure

Storage

Covering: Archive Storage, Avere vFXT for Azure, Azure Data Lake Store, Azure FXT Edge Filer, Azure HPC Cache, Azure NetApp Files, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, File Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, Storage Accounts, Storage Explorer, StorSimple

• The Azure Updates Team writes about Generally available: Zone Redundant Storage for Azure Disks is now available in more regions
• Charbel Nemnom (@charbelnemnom) proivdes an Azure Storage Mover Comprehensive Guide – A New Way To Migrate To Azure File Shares

Web

Covering: API apps, API Management, App Service (Web), Azure Cognitive Search, Azure SignalR Service, Azure Spring Cloud, Web apps

• The Azure Updates Team announces Ungated Public Preview: Azure API Center
• Hang Wang explains how to Build and deploy your full-stack Spring app with JHipster Azure Spring Apps
• Denver Brittain writes about Recently Announced: Advanced Clustering Features for JBoss EAP on Azure App Service
• On Code Project, Nish Nishant explains Exiting an Azure WebJob programmatically and describes How to get Azure WebJobs logging to Application Insights

Azure Virtual Desktop

Covering: Azure Virtual Desktop

• Derek Liu discusses Windows 365 Boot is now generally available
• Ben Murphy talks about Azure Virtual Desktop Insights Powered by the Azure Monitor Agent

Useful Links

• Azure Resource Inventory - Azure Resource Inventory - It's a Powerful tool to create EXCEL inventory from Azure Resources with low effort
• Azure Quick Review (azqr) - A command-line interface (CLI) tool specifically designed to analyze Azure resources and identify whether they comply with Azure's best practices and recommendations.
• AzSaveMoney - Clean-up and save money by identifying and marking unused Azure resources/groups as subject for deletion by tagging.
• Azure Cost CLI - CLI tool to perform cost analysis on your Azure subscription
• Azure Code Samples - Explore Microsoft's samples and discover the things you can build.
• Azure Resource Inventory - Azure Resource Inventory is a powerful script written in PowerShell to generate an Excel report of any Azure Environment you have read access
• Azure Quickstart Templates - Learn how to deploy to Azure using ARM Templates. Over 850 examples in this repo.
• Azure CNAB Quickstarts Library - You can deploy to the Cloud, on Prem and on the Edge using CNAB & Porter. This library provides a number of quickstart templates to help you get started, fast!
• Power BI Weekly - Interested in Power BI? Sign up to our sister newsletter Power BI Weekly to receive all the week's Power BI news.
• Azure Resources - A fantastic collection of resources contained in this repo. Issue a PR if you have resources to share. Managed by Azure MVP Gregor Suttie.
• Azure Charts - Azure Charts is a set of auto-rebuilt charts to keep you updated on Azure changes, news, stats. Public updates, RSS channels and web pages are used as data sources
• The Developer’s Guide to Microsoft Azure (2nd Edition) - ebook from Microsoft showcasing architectural approaches and common design patterns you face when building modern applications.
• Cyber Security Demystified - ebook from Microsoft describing how to keep your organisation safe.
• Azure Resource Center - Whitepapers, code samples, solution architectures
• Azure Architecture Center - guidance from the Patterns & Practices team covering API Design, API implementation, Autoscaling, Background jobs, CDN, Caching, Data partitioning, Monitoring and diagnostics, Retry, Scalability and availability.
• Design scalable and performant tables - a guide from the storage team.
• Azure Speed Test 2.0 - a simple web tool that measures the latency between you and Azure Datacenters to suggest which might be fastest for you location.
• Microsoft Azure Symbol/Icon Set - a set of Visio and PowerPoint shapes for use in architecture diagrams / presentations.
• Service Bus Explorer - a free and open source tool for managing and exploring Azure Service Bus(including Event Hubs).
• Microsoft cloud for IT architects illustrations - These cloud architecture posters give you information about Microsoft cloud services, including Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and hybrid on-premises and cloud solutions.
• Whitepapers for Power BI - numerous whitepapers ranging various Power BI topics
• Farmer - This is a DSL for ARM template creation - "Making repeatable Azure deployments easy"!