Some patches will be installed without rebooting the server
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‘Hotpatching’ – the ability to install important patches without needing to restart the endpoint – is coming to Windows Server 2025.
The news was confirmed on the Windows blog late last week, when Windows Server Director of Product, Hari Pulapaka, announced the feature in preview.
“You asked and we delivered: Standard and Datacenter edition server hotpatching – security updates without reboots – is ready for your evaluation in Windows Server 2025 Azure Arc-enabled Hotpatch public preview,” the blog states. “This feature will revolutionize how updates are managed; easier change control, reduced patching time, streamlined orchestration… and your weekends might just become free again.”
Being able to apply critical updates without restarting servers is significant, as patches can be implemented more swiftly and efficiently. Additionally, minimizing restarts reduces operational disruptions and enhances security.
“Rather than the standard 12 restarts a year on ‘Patch Tuesday,’ we are moving to just quarterly reboots, with only an occasional reboot potentially needed in a standard Hotpatch month,” Pulapaka said.
This capability will be facilitated through Azure Arc, enabling the management of the Windows Server internal licensing service for Hotpatch to execute and distribute updates efficiently to users.
“When Windows Server 2025 becomes generally available, you will be able to run the edition you want, where you want – whether on-prem, in Azure, or elsewhere,” Pulapaka concluded.
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“You’ll have an option to hotpatch Windows Server 2025 physical servers or virtual machines, and those VMs can run on Hyper-V, VMware, or anywhere else that supports Microsoft‘s protection-focused Virtualization Based Security standard.”
Those interested in enabling the Hotpatching feature on their Windows Server 2025 Datacenter and Standard edition evaluation machines should activate the service through the built-in Azure Arc agent setup. They also need to run Windows Server 2025 Datacenter evaluation, Virtualization Based Security, have the KB5040435 July Security update installed, and connected to Azure Arc.
Sead, a seasoned freelance journalist from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has extensive experience covering topics like IT—including cloud technologies, IoT, 5G, and VPNs—as well as issues in cybersecurity such as ransomware, data breaches, and pertinent laws and regulations. With a career that covers over a decade, Sead has contributed to several noteworthy publications including Al Jazeera Balkans and has delivered content writing modules for Represent Communications.
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