How to install .net 4.6.1 on compute node in azure batch

Question

I am stuck on creating azure batch pool with .net 4.6.1.

I went through those very good resources:

• Compute Node - Install .NET 4.6.1

• How to get the Windows 2016 Preview OS

and I found out that there is a way to use .net 4.6.1 without installing it manually on a node. There is a programmatic way to set up Windows Ghost image with the latest .net version which is .net 4.6.1 but my node is defined in advance.

I need to have .net 4.6.1 because we use Data Factory and custom activities which are run on azure batch nodes. We upgraded .net version manually on that node but Microsoft doesn't guarantee that the state will preserve and we noticed a few times that node was reset to its original state.

My questions are:

• do you know if there is any way on azure portal to choose OS family set to Windows Server 2016 with installed .net 4.6.1 version already?

• does anybody know when there will be any os with .net 4.6.1 available?

• or should I go with StartTask feature and try to install .net 4.6.1 manually? However, that option sounds like some workaround and not the correct solution.

Answer 1

There is not. They have said that when server 2016 releases on azure, it will be available on batch. Until then, the 4.6.1 install as a startup task is your only option. They also will, at some point, allow us to use custom images, rather than their pre-made images.

Answer 2

Updated 2016-02-07:

You can now deploy OS Family 5 under Cloud Services Configuration in Azure Batch, which is equivalent to Windows Server 2016 (as Marketplace/VM image).

Previous answer:

Answers to your questions:

do you know if there is any way on azure portal to choose OS family set to Windows Server 2016 with installed .net 4.6.1 version already?

Yes, you can change the "Image Type" to Marketplace and select 2016-Datacenter which is Windows Server 2016.

does anybody know when there will be any os with .net 4.6.1 available?

As per above, it's available now for Marketplace (IaaS) under 2016-Datacenter. The Batch team is currently working to support OS Family 5 as a guest OS for Cloud Services.

or should I go with StartTask feature and try to install .net 4.6.1 manually? However, that option sounds like some workaround and not the correct solution.

You can always install it as part of a start task and is considered the proper solution for Azure Batch proper for compute nodes with Windows Server < 2016.