Microsoft recently announced that several older virtual machine (VM) series — F, Fs, Fsv2, Lsv2, G, Gs, Av2, Amv2, and B-series — are scheduled for retirement. This change has raised concern among Azure users who rely on these VM families for development and production workloads. Here’s what you need to know, especially if you’re running Standard B2s or B1s instances.
According to Microsoft’s official notice, these VM series will be retired on November 15, 2028 (not 2025 as many users misunderstood).
The affected series include:
- F, Fs, Fsv2 (Compute-optimized)
- Lsv2 (Storage-optimized)
- G, Gs (Memory-optimized)
- Av2, Amv2 (General-purpose)
- B-series v1 (Burstable)
The announcement primarily targets older hardware generations. Microsoft plans to transition users toward newer, more efficient VM families that run on the latest AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon processors.
Are B2s and B1s Affected by the Azure VM Retirement?
- B2s and B2ms (V2 generation) → Not retiring yet.
- B1s (V1 generation) → Included in the retirement list.
If your subscription shows “Standard B2s” or “B2ms” in the VM size column, you’re already on the newer B-series v2 line, so you are safe for now.
If you still have older B1s or any “classic B-series” instance, you’ll need to plan a migration before 2028.
What Happens If You Don’t Migrate Your Azure VMs
If you continue using a VM family that reaches retirement:
- You may no longer be able to start or redeploy those VMs after the deadline.
- The VM will be deallocated, though your disks and data remain intact.
- Any un-migrated production workloads may experience downtime or loss of availability.
This is similar to previous Azure hardware retirements: compute stops working, but storage remains recoverable.
Best Azure VM Replacements for Retiring Series
When migrating, Microsoft recommends switching to equivalent next-generation families for similar performance:
| Retiring Series | Suggested Replacement |
|---|---|
| F / Fs / Fsv2 | Fasv6, Fsv6, Dsv5 |
| Lsv2 | Lsv3 |
| G / Gs | Esv5 / Ev5 |
| Av2 / Amv2 | Dsv5, Dasv5 |
| B-series v1 | Bsv2, Bpsv2, Basv2 |
For small Linux or Windows dev/test VMs (like B1s or B2s), the Bsv2 family provides the closest configuration and pricing.
Azure VM Migration Strategy: From Dev to Production
Migrating Azure VMs is straightforward but requires planning to avoid downtime.
- Assessment
- Identify all affected VMs using the Azure Portal > Virtual Machines > Size column.
- Note the CPU/RAM/storage usage.
- Choose Target Size
- Use Azure’s VM Size Selector to find a new family matching your needs.
- Backup / Snapshot
- Take snapshots of OS and data disks before resizing.
- Dev Migration (Testing)
- Stop one Dev VM and resize to a new family.
- Validate app functionality and network settings.
- Production Migration
- Schedule maintenance downtime.
- Resize or redeploy VM into the new family.
- Verify monitoring, backups, and performance.
- Cleanup
- Once the new VM works properly, deallocate the old instance.
Will IP and SSH Keys Change?
- Static IPs: If your VM’s NIC is assigned a static IP, it remains unchanged when you resize.
- Dynamic IPs: Dynamic public IPs may change after a restart or resize. Convert them to static before migrating.
- SSH Keys & Credentials: These remain the same unless you create a brand-new VM instead of resizing.
How to Keep Your Disk Data
- When you resize an existing VM, all attached managed disks (OS and data) remain intact.
- If you create a new VM from scratch:
- Detach the disks from the old VM.
- Attach them to the new instance.
- Ensure the disk generation (Gen 1 vs Gen 2) is compatible with the target VM.
Always verify snapshots before deleting old VMs.
Best Practices to Avoid Issues During Migration
- Confirm whether your VMs are v1 or v2 generation.
- Reserve static IPs to prevent address changes.
- Migrate Dev first, validate, then move Prod.
- Maintain snapshots until you confirm full stability.
- Review your Reserved Instances and adjust to new VM families if needed.
- Check vCPU quotas for new families before migrating.
If you’re running B2s v2 VMs, you’re not affected by this retirement yet — but B1s and other v1 families are scheduled for phase-out.
Start planning migration early to avoid surprises, maintain uptime, and leverage better performance from Azure’s newer hardware lines.
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