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SDN installation simplified: VHDX download is finally here, ISO troubles removed!

AnirbanPaul's avatar
AnirbanPaul
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
May 31, 2023

Forget about having to download the Azure Stack HCI ISO file and having to convert it to VHDto use for Software Defined Networking (SDN) deployment, you can now directly download the Azure Stack HCI VHDX file from the Azure Stack HCI software download site: Azure Stack HCI Registration | Microsoft Azure. Once you fill in your details and click on Submit, you will see an option to download the Azure Stack HCI software. In the “Choose language” dropdown menu, select “English – VHDX” and click on “Download Azure Stack HCI” to download the VHDX file.

 

 

For context, SDN in Azure Stack HCI uses a VHDX file containing the Azure Stack HCI operating system (OS) as a source for creating the SDN infrastructure virtual machines (VMs). The version of the OS in your VHDX should match the version used by the Azure Stack HCI Hyper-V hosts. This VHDX file is used by all SDN infrastructure components (Network Controller, Software Load Balancer and Gateways). 

 

Official documentation for this change can be found here: Deploy SDN using Windows Admin Center - Azure Stack HCI | Microsoft Learn

 

Thanks

Anirban

Updated May 31, 2023
Version 1.0
  • xzrian's avatar
    xzrian
    Copper Contributor

    Good initiative.

    looking forward for the SDN improvement :smile:

  • binarydreams's avatar
    binarydreams
    Copper Contributor

    This link just goes to the documentation, there is no way to download the VHDX, even though it's mentioned in the documentation.

  • Hi binarydreams . On Azure portal, when you go to Azure Stack HCI page, you should see a link for "Download Azure Stack HCI". When you click on that link and then select "Azure Stack HCI, version 23H2", you should see an option for "English VHDX". If you want to deploy Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2, you should also see an option for "English VHDX".