Microsoft BizTalk Server Product Lifecycle Update
For more than 25 years, Microsoft BizTalk Server has supported mission-critical integration workloads for organizations around the world. From business process automation and B2B messaging to connectivity across industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and government, BizTalk Server has played a foundational role in enterprise integration strategies. To help customers plan confidently for the future, Microsoft is sharing an update to the BizTalk Server product lifecycle and long-term support timelines. BizTalk Server 2020 will be the final version of BizTalk Server. Guidance to support long-term planning for mission-critical workloads This announcement does not change existing support commitments. Customers can continue to rely on BizTalk Server for many years ahead, with a clear and predictable runway to plan modernization at a pace that aligns with their business and regulatory needs. Lifecycle Phase End Date What’s Included Mainstream Support April 11, 2028 Security + non-security updates and Customer Service & Support (CSS) support Extended Support April 9, 2030 CSS support, Security updates, and paid support for fixes (*) End of Support April 10, 2030 No further updates or support (*) Paid Extended Support will be available for BizTalk Server 2020 between April 2028 and April 2030 for customers requiring hotfixes for non-security updates. CSS will continue providing their typical support. BizTalk Server 2016 is already out of mainstream support, and we recommend those customers evaluate a direct modernization path to Azure Logic Apps. Continued Commitment to Enterprise Integration Microsoft remains fully committed to supporting mission-critical integration, including hybrid connectivity, future-ready orchestration, and B2B/EDI modernization. Azure Logic Apps, part of Azure Integration Services — which includes API Management, Service Bus, and Event Grid — delivers the comprehensive integration platform for the next decade of enterprise connectivity. Host Integration Server: Continued Support for Mainframe Workloads Host Integration Server (HIS) has long provided essential connectivity for organizations with mainframe and midrange systems. To ensure continued support for those workloads, Host Integration Server 2028 will ship as a standalone product with its own lifecycle, decoupled from BizTalk Server. This provides customers with more flexibility and a longer planning horizon. Recognizing Mainframe modernization customers might be looking to integrate with their mainframes from Azure, Microsoft provides Logic Apps connectors for mainframe and midrange systems, and we are keen on adding more connectors in this space. Let us know about your HIS plans, and if you require specific features for Mainframe and midranges integration from Logic Apps at: https://aka.ms/lamainframe Azure Logic Apps: The Successor to BizTalk Server Azure Logic Apps, part of Azure Integration Services, is the modern integration platform that carries forward what customers value in BizTalk while unlocking new innovation, scale, and intelligence. With 1,400+ out-of-box connectors supporting enterprise, SaaS, legacy, and mainframe systems, organizations can reuse existing BizTalk maps, schemas, rules, and custom code to accelerate modernization while preserving prior investments including B2B/EDI and healthcare transactions. Logic Apps delivers elastic scalability, enterprise-grade security and compliance, and built-in cost efficiency without the overhead of managing infrastructure. Modern DevOps tooling, Visual Studio Code support, and infrastructure-as-code (ARM/Bicep) ensure consistent, governed deployments with end-to-end observability using Azure Monitor and OpenTelemetry. Modernizing Logic Apps also unlocks agentic business processes, enabling AI-driven routing, predictive insights, and context-aware automation without redesigning existing integrations. Logic Apps adapts to business and regulatory needs, running fully managed in Azure, hybrid via Arc-enabled Kubernetes, or evaluated for air-gapped environments. Throughout this lifecycle transition, customers can continue to rely on the BizTalk investments they have made while moving toward a platform ready for the next decade of integration and AI-driven business. Charting Your Modernization Path Microsoft remains fully committed to supporting customers through this transition. We recognize that BizTalk systems support highly customized and mission-critical business operations. Modernization requires time, planning, and precision. We hope to provide: Proven guidance and recommended design patterns A growing ecosystem of tooling supporting artifact reuse Unified Support engagements for deep migration assistance A strong partner ecosystem specializing in BizTalk modernization Potential incentive programs to help facilitate migration for eligible customers (details forthcoming) Customers can take a phased approach — starting with new workloads while incrementally modernizing existing BizTalk deployments. We’re Here to Help Migration resources are available today: Overview: https://aka.ms/btmig Best practices: https://aka.ms/BizTalkServerMigrationResources Video series: https://aka.ms/btmigvideo Feature request survey: https://aka.ms/logicappsneeds Reactor session: Modernizing BizTalk: Accelerate Migration with Logic Apps - YouTube We encourage customers to engage their Microsoft accounts team early to assess readiness, identify modernization opportunities, and explore assistance programs. Your Modernization Journey Starts Now BizTalk Server has played a foundational role in enterprise integration success for more than two decades. As you plan ahead, Microsoft is here to partner with you every step of the way, ensuring operational continuity today while unlocking innovation tomorrow. To begin your transition, please contact your Microsoft account team or visit our migration hub. Thank you for your continued trust in Microsoft and BizTalk Server. We look forward to partnering closely with you as you plan the future of your integration platforms. Frequently Asked Questions Do I need to migrate now? No. BizTalk Server 2020 is fully supported through April 11, 2028, with paid Extended Support available through April 9, 2030, for non-security hotfixes. CSS will continue providing their typical support. You have a long and predictable runway to plan your transition. Will there be a new BizTalk Server version? No. BizTalk Server 2020 is the final version of the product. What happens after April 9, 2030? BizTalk Server will reach End of Support, and security updates or technical assistance will no longer be provided. Workloads will continue running but without Microsoft servicing. Is paid support available past 2028? Yes. Paid extended support will be available through April 2030 for BizTalk Server 2020 customers looking for non-security hotfixes. CSS will continue to provide the typical support. What about BizTalk Server 2016 or earlier versions? Those versions are already out of mainstream support. We strongly encourage moving directly to Logic Apps rather than upgrading to BizTalk Server 2020. Will Host Integration Server continue? Yes. Host Integration Server (HIS) 2028 will be released as a standalone product with its own lifecycle and support commitments. Can I reuse BizTalk Server artifacts in Logic Apps? Yes. Most of BizTalk maps, schemas, rules, assemblies, and custom code can be reused with minimal effort using Microsoft and partner migration tooling. We welcome feature requests here: https://aka.ms/logicappsneeds Does modernization require moving fully to the cloud? No. Logic Apps supports hybrid deployments for scenarios requiring local processing or regulatory compliance, and fully disconnected environments are under evaluation. More information of the Hybrid deployment model here: https://aka.ms/lahybrid. Does modernization unlock AI capabilities? Yes. Logic Apps enables AI-driven automations through Agent Loop, improving routing, decisioning, and operational intelligence. Where do I get planning support? Your Microsoft account team can assist with assessment and planning. Migration resources are also linked in this announcement to help you get started. Microsoft CorporationLogic Apps Aviators Newsletter - January 2026
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month January's Ace Aviator: Sagar Sharma What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I’m a cross-domain Business Solution Architect specializing in delivering new business capabilities to customers. I design end-to-end architectures specially on Azure platforms and also in the Integration domain using azure integration services. My role involves marking architectural decisions, defining standards, ensuring platform reliability, guiding teams, and helping organizations transition from legacy integration systems to modern cloud-native patterns. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? My day usually blends architecture work with hands-on collaboration. I review integration designs, refine patterns, help teams troubleshoot integration flows, and ensure deployments run smoothly through DevOps pipelines. A good part of my time is spent translating business needs into integration patterns and making sure the overall platform stays secure, scalable, and maintainable. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community has shaped a big part of my career. Many of my early breakthroughs came from blogs, samples, and talks shared by others. Contributing back feels like closing the loop. I enjoy sharing real-world lessons, learning from peers, and helping others adopt integration patterns with confidence. The energy of the community and the conversations it creates keep me inspired. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Focus on core concepts—messaging, APIs, security, and distributed systems—because tools evolve, but fundamentals stay relevant. Share your learning early, even if it feels small. Be curious about the “why” behind patterns. Build side projects, not just follow tutorials. And don’t fear a nonlinear career path—diverse experience is an asset in technology. What has helped you grow professionally? Hands-on customer work, strong mentors, and consistent learning habits have been key. Community involvement—writing, speaking, and collaborating—has pushed me to structure my knowledge and stay current. And working in environments that encourage experimentation has helped me develop faster and with more confidence. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? I’d love to see a unified, out-of-the-box business transaction tracing experience across Logic Apps, Service Bus, APIM, Functions, and downstream services. Something that automatically correlates events, visualizes the full journey of a transaction, and simplifies root-cause analysis. This would make operational troubleshooting dramatically easier in enterprise environments. News from our product group Microsoft BizTalk Server Product Lifecycle Update BizTalk Server 2020 will be the final release, with support extending through 2030. Microsoft encourages a gradual transition to Azure Logic Apps, offering migration tooling, hybrid deployment options, and reuse of existing BizTalk artifacts. Customers can modernize at their own pace while maintaining operational continuity. Data Mapper Test Executor: A New Addition to Logic Apps Standard Test Framework The Data Mapper Test Executor adds native support for testing XSLT and Data Mapper transformations directly within the Logic Apps Standard test framework. It streamlines validation, improves feedback cycles, and integrates with the latest SDK to enable reliable, automated testing of map generation and execution. Announcing General Availability of AI & RAG Connectors in Logic Apps (Standard) Logic Apps Standard AI and RAG connectors are now GA333, enabling native document processing, semantic search, embeddings, and agentic workflows. These capabilities let teams build intelligent, context‑aware automations using their own data, reducing complexity and enhancing decisioning across enterprise integrations. Logic Apps Labs The Logic Apps Labs, which introduces Azure Logic Apps agentic workflows learning path, offering guided modules on building conversational and autonomous agents, extending capabilities with MCP tools, and orchestrating multi‑agent workflows. It serves as a starting point for hands‑on labs covering design, deployment, and advanced patterns for intelligent automation. News from our community Handling Empty SQL Query Results in Azure Logic Apps Post by Anitha Eswaran If a SQL stored procedure returns no rows, you can detect the empty result set in Logic Apps by checking whether the output’s ResultSets object is {}. When empty, the workflow can be cleanly terminated or used to trigger alerts, ensuring predictable behavior and more resilient integrations. Azure Logic Apps MCP Server Post by Laveesh Bansal Our own Laveesh Bansal spent some time creating an Azure Logic Apps MCP Server that enables natural‑language debugging, workflow inspection, and updates without using the portal. It supports both Standard and Consumption apps, integrates with AI clients like Copilot and Claude, and offers tools for local or cloud‑hosted setups, testing, and workflow lifecycle operations. Azure Logic Apps: Change Detection in JSON Objects and Arrays Post by Suraj Somani Logic Apps offers native functions to detect changes in JSON objects and arrays without worrying about field or item order. Using equals() for objects and intersection() for arrays, you can determine when data has truly changed and trigger workflows only when updates occur, improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary processing. Logic Apps Standard: A clever hack to use JSON schemas in your Artifacts folder for JSON message validation (Part 1) Post by Şahin Özdemir Şahin outlines a workaround for using JSON schemas stored in the Artifacts folder to validate messages in Logic Apps Standard. It revisits integration needs from BizTalk migrations and shows how to bring structured validation into modern workflows without relying on Integration Accounts. This is a two part series and you can find part two here. Let's integrate SAP with Microsoft Video by Sebastian Meyer Sebastian has a new video out, and in this episode he and Martin Pankraz break down SAP GROW and RISE for Microsoft integration developers, covering key differences and integration options across IDoc, RFC, BAPI, SOAP, HTTPS, and OData, giving a concise overview of today’s SAP landscape and what it means for building integrations on Azure. Logic Apps Initialize variables action has a max limit of 20 variables Post by Sandro Pereira Logic Apps allows only 20 variables per Initialize variables action, and exceeding it triggers a validation error. This limit applies per action, not per workflow. Using objects, parameters, or Compose actions often reduces the need for many scalars and leads to cleaner, more maintainable workflows. Did you know that? It is a Friday Fact!Announcing the BizTalk Server 2020 Cumulative Update 7
The BizTalk Server product team has released the Cumulative Update 7 for BizTalk Server 2020. The Cumulative Update 7 contains all released functional and security fixes for customer-reported issues for BizTalk Server 2020. Also, CU7 includes support for the following new Microsoft platforms: Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Microsoft Windows 11 BizTalk Server 2016 is currently out of support with its end of life in 2027. If you are running BizTalk 2016, or earlier versions of the product, you must upgrade to BizTalk Server 2020 CU6 or strongly consider migrating to Azure Logic Apps. Please fill this survey: https://aka.ms/biztalklogicapps. More Information about the CU7: This is an optional update only if you require VS 2022. If you don’t need VS2022, you can continue running on BizTalk Server CU6. CU7 requires that you re-create BizTalk groups for BizTalk Server instances that already were part of a BizTalk group before the installation. Existing BizTalk groups can't have different instances at different cumulative update level. We will provide support to our CU6 and CU7 customers. You can obtain the software from the Microsoft 365 admin center or the Visual Studio Subscriber site. For more information about the BizTalk Server 2020 CU7, read the Microsoft Knowledgebase article posted to https://aka.ms/BTS2020CU7KB .Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter - December 2025
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month December’s Ace Aviator: Daniel Jonathan What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I’m an Azure Integration Architect at Cnext, helping organizations modernize and migrate their integrations to Azure Integration Services. I design and build solutions using Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Service Bus, and API Management. I also work on AI solutions using Semantic Kernel and LangChain to bring intelligence into business processes. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? My day usually begins by attending customer requests and handling recent deployments. Most of my time goes into designing integration patterns, building Logic Apps, mentoring the team, and helping customers with technical solutions. Lately, I’ve also been integrating AI capabilities into workflows. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community is open, friendly, and full of knowledge. I enjoy sharing ideas, writing posts, and helping others solve real-world challenges. It’s great to learn and grow together. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Start small and stay consistent. Learn the basics well—like messaging, retries, and error handling—before diving into complex tools. Keep learning and share what you know. What has helped you grow professionally? Hands-on experience, teamwork, and continuous learning. Working across different projects taught me how to design reliable and scalable systems. Exploring AI with Semantic Kernel and LangChain has also helped me think beyond traditional integrations. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? I’d add an “Overview Page” in Logic Apps containing the HTTP URLs for each workflow, so developers can quickly access to test from one place. It would save time and make working with multiple workflows much easier. News from our product group Logic Apps Community Day 2025 Playlist Did you miss or want to catch up on individual sessions from Logic Apps Community Day 2025? Here is the full playlist – choose your favorite sessions and have fun! The future of integration is here and it's agentic Missed Kent Weare and Divya Swarnkar session at Ignite? It is here for you to watch on demand. Enterprise integration is being reimagined. It’s no longer just about connecting systems, but about enabling adaptive, agentic workflows that unify apps, data, and systems. In this session, discover how to modernize integration, migrate from BizTalk, and adopt AI-driven patterns that deliver agility and intelligence. Through customer stories and live demos, see how to bring these workflows to life with Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps. Public Preview: Azure Logic Apps Connectors as MCP Tools in Microsoft Foundry Unlock secure enterprise connectivity with Azure Logic Apps connectors as MCP tools in Microsoft Foundry. Agents can now use hundreds of connectors natively—no custom code required. Learn how to configure and register MCP servers for seamless integration. Announcing AI Foundry Agent Service Connector v2 (Preview) AI Foundry Agent Service Connector v2 (Preview) is here! Azure Logic Apps can now securely invoke Foundry agents, enabling low-code AI integration, multi-agent workflows, and faster time-to-value. Explore new operations for orchestration and monitoring. Announcing the General Availability of the XML Parse and Compose Actions in Azure Logic Apps XML Parse and Compose Actions are now GA in Azure Logic Apps! Easily handle XML with XSD schemas, streamline workflows, and support internationalization. Learn best practices for arrays, encoding, and safe transport of content. Clone a Consumption Logic App to a Standard Workflow Clone your Consumption Logic Apps into Standard workflows with ease! This new feature accelerates migration, preserves design, and unlocks advanced capabilities for modern integration solutions. Announcing the HL7 connector for Azure Logic Apps Standard and Hybrid (Public Preview) Connect healthcare systems effortlessly! The new HL7 connector for Azure Logic Apps (Standard & Hybrid) enables secure, standardized data exchange and automation using HL7 protocols—now in Public Preview. Announcing Foundry Control Plane support for Logic Apps Agent Loop (Preview) Foundry Control Plane now supports Logic Apps Agent Loop (Preview)! Manage, govern, and observe agents at scale with built-in integration—no extra steps required. Ensure trust, compliance, and scalability in the agentic era. Announcing General Availability of Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps Agent Loop transforms Logic Apps into a multi-agent automation platform, enabling AI agents to collaborate with workflows and humans. Build secure, enterprise-ready agentic solutions for business automation at scale. Agent Loop Ignite Update - New Set of AI Features Arrive in Public Preview We are releasing a broad set of Agent Loop new and powerful AI-first capabilities in Public Preview that dramatically expand what developers can build: run agents in the Consumption SKU ,bring your own models through APIM AI Gateway, call any tool through MCP, deploy agents directly into Teams, secure RAG with document-level permissions, onboard with Okta, and build in a completely redesigned workflow designer. Announcing MCP Server Support for Logic Apps Agent Loop Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling secure, standardized tool integration. Bring your own MCP connector, use Azure-managed servers, or build custom connectors for enterprise workflows. Enabling API Key Authentication for Logic Apps MCP Servers Logic Apps MCP Servers now support API Key authentication alongside OAuth2 and Anonymous options. Configure keys via host.json or Azure APIs, retrieve and regenerate keys easily, and connect MCP clients securely for agentic workflows. Announcing Public Preview of Agent Loop in Azure Logic Apps Consumption Agent Loop now brings AI-powered automation to Logic Apps Consumption with a frictionless, pay-as-you-go model. Build autonomous and conversational agents using 1,400+ connectors—no dedicated infrastructure required. Ideal for rapid prototyping and enterprise workflows. Moving the Logic Apps Designer Forward Major redesign of Azure Logic Apps designer enters Public Preview for Standard workflows. Phase I focuses on faster onboarding, unified views, draft mode with auto-save, improved search, and enhanced debugging. Feedback will shape future phases for a seamless development experience. Announcing the General Availability of the RabbitMQ Connector RabbitMQ Connector for Azure Logic Apps is now generally available, enabling reliable message exchange for Standard and Hybrid workflows. It supports triggers, publishing, and advanced routing, with global rollout underway for robust, scalable integration scenarios. Duplicate Detection in Logic App Trigger Prevent duplicate processing in Logic Apps triggers with a REST API-based solution. It checks recent runs using clientTrackingId to avoid reprocessing items caused by edits or webhook updates. Works with Logic App Standard and adaptable for Consumption or Power Automate. Announcing the BizTalk Server 2020 Cumulative Update 7 BizTalk Server 2020 Cumulative Update 7 is out, adding support for Visual Studio 2022, Windows Server 2022, SQL Server 2022, and Windows 11. Includes all prior fixes. Upgrade from older versions or consider migrating to Azure Logic Apps for modernization. News from our community Logic Apps Local Development Series Post by Daniel Jonathan Last month I shared an article from Daniel about debugging XSLT in VS Code. This month, I bumped into not one, but five articles in a series about Build, Test and Run Logic Apps Standard locally – definitely worth the read! Working with sessions in Agentic Workflows Post by Simon Stender Build AI-powered chat experiences with session-based agentic workflows in Azure Logic Apps. Learn how they enable dynamic, stateful interactions, integrate with APIs and apps, and avoid common pitfalls like workflows stuck in “running” forever. Integration Love Story with Mimmi Gullberg Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde Meet Mimmi Gullberg, Green Cargo’s new integration architect driving smarter, sustainable rail logistics. With experience from BizTalk to Azure, she blends tech and business insight to create real value. Her mantra: understand the problem first, then choose the right tools—Logic Apps, Functions, or AI. Integration Love Story with Jenny Andersson Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde Discover Jenny Andesson’s inspiring journey from skepticism to creativity in tech. In this episode, she shares insights on life as an integration architect, tackling system challenges, listening to customers, and how AI is shaping the future of integration. You Can Get an XPath value in Logic Apps without returning an array Post by Luis Rigueira Working with XML in Azure Logic Apps? The xpath() function always returns an array—even for a single node. Or does it? Found how to return just the values you want on this Friday Fact from Luis Rigueira. Set up Azure Standard Logic App Connectors as MCP Server Video by Srikanth Gunnala Expose your Azure Logic Apps integrations as secure tools for AI assistants. Learn how to turn connectors like SAP, SQL, and Jira into MCP tools, protect them with Entra ID/OAuth, and test in GitHub Copilot Chat for safe, action-ready AI workflows. Making Logic Apps Speak Business Post by Al Ghoniem Stop forcing Logic Apps to look like business diagrams. With Business Process Tracking, you can keep workflows technically sound while giving business users clear, stage-based visibility into processes—decoupled, visual, and KPI-driven.Hybrid Logic Apps deployment on Rancher K3s Kubernetes cluster
K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution, certified by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and originally developed by Rancher. It is optimized for on-premises environments with limited resources, making it ideal for edge computing and lightweight hybrid scenarios. Unlike a full Kubernetes distribution, K3s reduces overhead while maintaining full Kubernetes API compatibility. This makes K3s an ideal choice for hosting Logic Apps Standard near your data sources—such as on-premises SQL Server or local file shares—when you have lightweight workloads. There are 5 steps which are followed to setup the Hybrid Logic Apps including infrastructure which is illustrated in the following diagram. Most of these 5 steps are same as discussed in the Hybrid Logic Apps doc except the K3s Setup part Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn. Step 1: Prepare the K3s Cluster Docker desktop setup - In this case, the host machine is Windows 11 so decided to user Docker with WSL2 to setup the containers. Install the docker desktop using WSL2 Docker Desktop: The #1 Containerization Tool for Developers | Docker and make sure we select WSL2 Install K3s on your infrastructure and create single node cluster using k3d. #Install choco , kubectl and Helm Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1')) powershell choco install kubernetes-cli -y choco install kubernetes-helm -y choco install k3d -y k3d cluster create "k3d-rancher" # open in new powershell window powershell k3d cluster create # deleting the default load balancer Traefik as it conflicts with 80 and 443 port - we can configure the load balancer to other ports if needed kubectl delete svc traefik -n kube-system kubectl delete deployment traefik -n kube-system Next two steps are same as given Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn Step 2: Connect the Kubernetes cluster to Azure Arc Step 3: Setup the Azure Container Apps extension and environment You need to skip the core DNS setup required for Azure Local as given in Update CoreDNS Step 4: Conduct the Storage Configuration for SQL and SMB SQL Database (Runtime Store): Hybrid Logic Apps use SQL database for runtime operations and run history. In this scenario I used on-premise SQL server using SQL Authentication. I setup the SQL Server 2022 on the Windows host machine, enabled SQL server authentication and added new SQL admin user. Please follow the link for more details.. The SQL connection string can be validated using following PowerShell script $connectionString = "Server=<server IP address>;Initial Catalog=<databaseName>;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=<sqluser>;Password=<password>;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;Connection Timeout=30;" try { $connection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection $connection.ConnectionString = $connectionString $connection.Open() Write-Host "✅ Connection successful" $connection.Close() } catch { Write-Host "❌ Connection failed: $($_.Exception.Message)" } SMB is used as local file share on Windows host machine; it is advised to use a new user for the Windows SMB share $Username = "k3suser" $Password = ConvertTo-SecureString "<password complex>" -AsPlainText -Force $FullName = "K3s user" $Description = "Created via PowerShell" # Create the user New-LocalUser -Name $Username -Password $Password -FullName $FullName -Description $Description Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Users" -Member $Username Once the above user is created you can use Windows hosted machine to create Artifacts folder and allow read and write access. Please follow the link for more details Step 5: Create your Logic App (Hybrid) With all prerequisites and infrastructure in place for creating Hybrid Logic Apps, the next step is to build the Logic Apps using the specified connection string and SMB share path. This can be accomplished through the Azure Portal, as outlined below. Now you can create Logic Apps workflows using the designer and execute the Logic Apps workflow.Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter - October 25
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month October Ace Aviator: Robin Wilde Business and Marketing Manager @Contica What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? My role is Business and Marketing Manager at Contica. My main responsibility is helping our customers translate business challenges into technical solutions. I come from a technical background as a BizTalk and Azure developer and architect, so I have one foot in the technical world and the other in the business side. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? On any given day, I’m improving our customer offerings, diving into project challenges with colleagues, and exploring new technologies with Ahmed Bayoumy to find better ways of working. If I’m lucky, we’re recording a new episode of Integration Love Story with a community member/friend and learning from their life and tech experience. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? The community itself. Since I started working with integration, I’ve always felt that people genuinely want to share their knowledge and experience. The people behind the blog posts that helped me grow as a junior integration developer have turned out to be some of the most humble and generous individuals I’ve met. Everyone is open to sharing their experiences in a kind and respectful way, and that’s incredibly motivating. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Everyone has been a beginner. Don’t be afraid to reach out, ask for help and most importantly, stay curious and lean into new technology. “The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.” And that’s the beauty of it! What has helped you grow professionally? Curiosity and the drive to keep learning. I've been something of a "Yes man" when it comes to new challenges. And being in an environment where the people around you accept you for who you are, every day, that’s a recipe for real growth. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? A built-in AI-powered "next action suggestion” in your Logic App workflow based on other designs in your resource group or predefined business process in the same logic app standard that you are working one. A feature that would help me be more productivity! News from our product group Logic Apps Live September 2025 Missed Logic Apps Live in September? You can watch it here. We shared our latest updates in AI, including the latest refresh on Agent Loop and the introduction of Logic Apps MCP support. Logic Apps Community Day 2025 We are bringing Logic Apps Community Day again this year, on October 30, 2025 (Pacific Time) and we want you to join us as we host a full day of learning where you will be the star! Check the agenda register for this must watch event. Logic Apps - MCP Demos Explore how Azure Logic Apps and API Center simplify building MCP servers to integrate with Salesforce, Dataverse, SharePoint, ServiceNow, and even Copilot Studio. Introducing Logic Apps MCP servers (Public Preview) Microsoft has launched public preview support for building MCP servers using Azure Logic Apps (Standard). This enables developers to turn connectors into modular, reusable tools for scalable agent creation. Two approaches are supported: streamlined setup via Azure API Center and custom configuration for advanced control. Both methods simplify integration across enterprise systems. Announcement! Python Code Interpreter in Logic Apps is now in Public Preview Logic Apps now support Python code execution via Azure Container Apps, enabling users to analyze data, generate insights, and automate tasks using natural language. This feature empowers business users to explore data without writing code, streamlining workflows across sales, finance, and operations. Azure Logic Apps: Ushering in the Era of Multi-Agentic Business Process Automation Microsoft has transformed Azure Logic Apps into a multi-agentic automation platform, introducing features like Agent Loop for AI-driven workflows, Python Code Interpreter for custom logic, and Foundry Agent Service for model integration. These enhancements enable intelligent, collaborative automation with conversational agents, advanced orchestration, and enterprise-grade security and observability. Calling Logic Apps MCP Server from Copilot Studio Microsoft’s Azure Logic Apps now supports MCP Server integration with Copilot Studio, enabling secure and scalable access to enterprise data assets. Using API Center and Logic Apps Standard, developers can expose workflows and connectors as MCP tools, authenticated via Entra ID and Managed Identity. This setup allows conversational agents in Copilot Studio to interact with enterprise systems efficiently and securely. News from our community What Every Developer Needs to Know about AI! Post by Stephen W. Thomas AI is rapidly transforming integration development, and this guide offers a practical roadmap for developers to stay relevant. It emphasizes three focus areas: building foundational AI knowledge, boosting productivity with tools like GitHub Copilot, and mastering enterprise-ready skills through APIs, Microsoft tools, MCP, and agents. With curated resources and expert recommendations, developers can confidently navigate the evolving AI landscape and apply it effectively in business scenarios. BizTalk to Logic Apps with Harold Campos: Standard or Hybrid, what changes & what maps Video by Ahmed Bayoumy Migrating from BizTalk to Azure? In this conversation with Harold Campos, Principal PM - Azure Logic Apps at Microsoft, Ahmed unpacks Logic Apps Hybrid and Logic apps options. What it is, when to use it, and how it helps teams modernize without losing on-prem control. Determinism vs Nondeterminism Post by Håkan Åkerblom Determinism or nondeterminism, two concepts that shape everything from science to philosophy. But what do they mean for system integration? Track Down and Delete Unused Logic Apps in Azure Post by Dieter Gobeyn Azure Logic Apps (Consumption) charge per execution, but even inactive ones can still cost money. Triggers like polling or timers may continue to run, leading to hidden costs. Cleaning up unused Logic Apps improves governance and supports FinOps goals. Handling “When a Blob is Added or Modified” Trigger Limitation and Pick Files from Subfolders with File Extension Filters Post by Prashant Singh Learn how to overcome Logic Apps’ limitations with blob triggers in subfolders and file filters in this Post from Prashant, learn about trigger conditions and Event Grid options to make your workflows smarter and more scalable. Consume an MCP Endpoint from Azure Logic Apps — with an Agent Loop Post by Daniel Jonathan In this post, Daniel shows how to use Azure Logic Apps with an Agent Loop to discover MCP tools, select the right one, and invoke it—all in one flow. Perfect for building smart, dynamic integrations with MCP servers. Logic Apps ❤️ MCP — Expose Arithmetic Tools (Add & Subtract) Post by Daniel Jonathan And Daniel is in a roll. In this post, Daniel shows how to expose simple arithmetic operations—like add and subtract—as MCP tools using Logic Apps. With Postman support, testing these agent-ready workflows is now easier than ever. Logic Apps & MCP - Leverage Your Existing Integration Platform Post by Pim Simons and Michel Pauwels Learn how to turn existing Logic Apps into MCP servers, enabling secure access for AI agents to your APIs, workflows, and data—without changing your architecture. A smart way to future-proof your integrations. Building Approval Workflows with Logic Apps, Adaptive Cards, and Microsoft Teams Post by Saroj Kumar Learn how to build secure, reusable approval workflows using Azure Logic Apps, Adaptive Cards, and Microsoft Teams. Approvers stay in Teams, while automation handles the rest—fast, transparent, and scalable. Microsoft Introduces Logic Apps as MCP Servers in Public Preview Post by Steef-Jan Wiggers In this InfoQ article, Steef-Jan introduces the public preview support for Azure Logic Apps as MCP servers, enabling scalable, secure integration with AI agents and enterprise systems. Build reusable tools and workflows that agents can discover and invoke with ease. The 56 Resubmits Trap in Logic App Standard Post by Luis Rigueira Logic App Standard limits bulk resubmissions to 56 runs every 5 minutes. This post shows how to bypass that using callback URLs for faster, parallel recovery—ideal when dealing with thousands of failed runs. Stop Using Azure Logic Apps for Data Integration Post by Al Ghoniem Workflow tools like Azure Logic Apps aren’t built for heavy data processing. This post explains why ETL/ELT tools are better for data integration—and how to combine both for scalable, reliable pipelines. Integration Love Story with Tom Canter Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde In this episode of 'Integration Love Story,' Ahmed and Robin interview the legendary Tom Cantor. He discusses his early involvement and long-standing focus on integration, dating back to 1998. Tom emphasizes the community-centric nature of the integration field, recounting personal stories that highlight the value of trust and collaboration among peers.
🚀 General Availability: Enhanced Data Mapper Experience in Logic Apps (Standard)
We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of the redesigned Data Mapper UX in the Azure Logic Apps (Standard) extension for Visual Studio Code. This release marks a major milestone in our journey to modernize and streamline data transformation workflows for integration developer. What's new The new UX, previously available in public preview, is now the default experience in the Logic Apps Standard extension. This GA release reflects direct feedback from our integration developer community. We’ve resolved blockers that we heard from customers and usability issues that impacted performance and stability, including: Opening V1 maps in V2: Seamlessly open and edit existing maps you have already created with latest visual capabilities. Load schemas on Mac: Addressed schema-related crashes on macOS for a smoother experience. Function documentation updates: Improved guidance and examples for built-in collection functions that apply on repeating nodes. Stay connected We would love to hear your feedback. Please use this form link to let us know if there are any missing gaps or scenarios that are not yet coveredLogic Apps Aviators Newsletter - September 25
In this issue: Ace Aviator of the Month News from our product group Community Playbook News from our community Ace Aviator of the Month September’s Ace Aviator: Kritika Singh Integration Architect & Sr. Consultant at Capgemini Norge AS What's your role and title? What are your responsibilities? I work as an Integration Architect & Sr. Consultant at Capgemini Norge AS. In my role I assist clients in addressing a wide range of integration challenges, with a particular emphasis on modernizing legacy systems, such as BizTalk, by transitioning them to cloud-native Azure iPaaS solutions. I’m responsible for architecting secure and scalable integration landscapes, designing and developing solutions, mentoring team members, and engaging with stakeholders and cross-functional teams. I work extensively with technologies such as Azure Logic Apps, Azure Functions, API Management, Service Bus, App Service Environment(ASEv3), Virtual Networks and CI/CD pipelines using GitHub. One of my proudest achievements was successfully delivering a complex BizTalk modernization project to Azure that required deep technical expertise and strategic coordination. Can you give us some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like? As part of a distributed team across different locations and countries, my day starts with stand-ups involving both offshore and onshore team members to review progress and assign tasks. I spend time with developers, helping them navigate technical challenges and mentoring them through dedicated sessions—this has helped improve delivery quality and team confidence. I collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to align on requirements and solution design. Throughout the day, I work on resolving issues, improving existing solutions, work on innovation ideas and managing tasks. What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community? I am deeply passionate about technology—having worked with BizTalk throughout my career and, for the past 5+ years, diving into Azure iPaaS. Microsoft products evolve constantly, and that sparks my curiosity to explore, learn, and innovate every day. What truly drives me is the opportunity to give back to the community by sharing my learnings, challenges, and even failures. It’s all about growing together and inspiring others along the way. Looking back, what advice do you wish you had been given earlier that you'd now share with those looking to get into STEM/technology? Curiosity and consistency matter more than perfection. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, experiment, and fail, that’s where the real learning happens. Also, find a community that supports you; sharing your journey, both wins and setbacks, can inspire others and help you grow faster. What has helped you grow professionally? My professional growth has been shaped by a blend of curiosity, courage, and the right opportunities. Starting with BizTalk and evolving into Azure iPaaS, I’ve embraced every challenge as a chance to learn. What’s made the biggest difference is having the boldness to take on responsibility, the willingness to take risks, and the drive to keep growing. Sharing my journey with the community has not only helped others but also deepened my own learning. If you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps, what would it be and why? If I had a magic wand to enhance Logic Apps, I’d bring in three powerful features to supercharge developer productivity and solution resilience: Seamless Version Control & Rollback Having Git-like capabilities built into Logic Apps—track every change, compare versions, and roll back instantly when needed. This would empower teams to experiment confidently and collaborate more effectively without fear of breaking production workflows. Effortless Disaster Recovery Setup Setting up DR should be as simple as a few clicks. A built-in, automated DR configuration for AIS would ensure business continuity, reduce downtime, and give developers peace of mind—especially in mission-critical environments. Native JSON Mapper(Not Liquid) A visual, intuitive JSON mapping tool would simplify complex data transformations, reduce manual coding, and speed up development. This would be a game-changer for integration scenarios, especially when working with dynamic schemas and APIs. Simplified Authorization like ClaimChecks for Logic Apps Standard (Beyond EasyAuth) A more developer-friendly authorization setup that minimizes manual configurations and integrates seamlessly with identity providers. This would make securing Logic Apps faster, easier, and more consistent across environments. News from our product group Logic Apps Live August 2025 Missed Logic Apps Live in August? You can watch it here. We had a recap on Logic Apps Hybrid, our special guest Kritika Singh talking about her learnings with BizTalk Migration to AIS, and updates on Data Mapper GA and Logic Apps Standard Deployment Center. Logic Apps Community Day 2025 We are bringing Logic Apps Community Day again this year, on October 30, 2025 (Pacific Time) and we want you to join us as we host a full day of learning where you will be the star! Call for Speakers is still open until September 07, 2025 – so hurry and submit your session! General Availability: Enhanced Data Mapper Experience in Logic Apps (Standard) We’re excited to announce the General Availability (GA) of the redesigned Data Mapper UX in the Azure Logic Apps (Standard) extension for Visual Studio Code. This release marks a major milestone in our journey to modernize and streamline data transformation workflows for integration developer. Announcing: Setup CD in Azure Logic Apps Standard with Deployment Center Looking to automate your Azure Logic Apps code deploymentsin a faster way? Deployment Center - a built-in feature in Azure Logic Apps Standard - in now available, with built-in support on your VS Code projects, making it easier to deploy Logic Apps from your source control repository. Deployment Center is designed to make deploying, updating, and managing your Logic Apps workflows simple and straightforward. Hybrid Logic Apps deployment on Rancher K3s Kubernetes cluster Explore how Hybrid Logic Apps run effortlessly on K3s—delivering the power of Hybrid Logic Apps without the complexity and heavy infrastructure demands of a full Kubernetes cluster! News from our community What gets returned to the LLM by my Logic App Agent Loop tool? Video by Michael Stephenson Michael has been experimenting with Logic App Agent loop and, following a discussion with Kent Weare about the interaction between the workflow and the LLM, aimed to understand what data is returned to the model, since the number of tokens influences cost. He summarizes his findings from that conversation in this brief video. SOAP 1.2 Calls from Logic Apps – Fixing Unsupported Media & WS-Addressing Errors Post by Prashant Singh Struggling with SOAP 1.2 in Azure Logic Apps? Learn how to fix Unsupported Media errors, decode MTOM responses, and handle WS-Addressing headers for seamless integration in this post by Prashant. Demystifying AI Agent Loops in Logic Apps: The Future of Integration (But Not Everywhere) Post by Al Ghoniem Explore how AI Agent Loops enhance Azure Logic Apps for non-deterministic tasks like anomaly detection and IT Ops triage—while knowing when traditional workflows are the better fit. Can I use AI to create and deploy an Azure Logic Apps with Business Central connector? Post by Stefano Demiliani Stefano is testing the boundaries of what AI can do, so you don’t have to – he ran a blind test showing that AI can deploy Azure resources well—but struggles with external connectors like Business Central. Learn what worked, what didn’t, and why better prompts matter. How to use ChatGPT Agent Mode with Azure! Video by Stephen W. Thomas And looks like August was the month to experiment with Azure Resources. Stephen did some research too and shows you how easily ChatGPT-5 Agent Mode can auto-provision resources in Azure. This video demonstrates how to use a single prompt to build a logic app and create a resource group. Follow his video along to see how to get ChatGPT-5 agent working for you! Integration Love Story - Andrew Wilson Video by Ahmed Bayoumy and Robin Wilde In this special fast-paced episode recorded at INTEGRATE, Ahmed and Robin sit down with the brilliant Andrew, newly awarded Microsoft MVP and Logic Apps Ace Aviator, to talk about his journey, passions, and why integration is the powerhouse behind every digital experience. Tips for Migrating SAP IDoc Reception Workloads from BizTalk to Azure Logic Apps Post by Francois Malgreve Learn how to reuse BizTalk XSLTs in Azure Logic Apps! In this post by Francois, you will learn hot to configure the SAP trigger with the right IDoc format and namespace settings—minimizing code changes and easing migration. Query Azure DevOps work items with Logic App and Managed Identity Post by Michael Stephenson Learn how to use a reusable Logic App and a user-assigned managed identity to securely query Azure DevOps work items using WIQL—ideal for building scalable, secure workflows. Understand Agent Loops in Azure Logic Apps Video by Srikanth Gunnala In this video, Srikanth explore Azure Logic Apps AI Agents — also known as Agent Workflows or Agent Loops — and how they’re redefining workflow automation with Azure OpenAI. You’ll learn what an AI agent is in Azure Logic Apps, how it works, and see a live demo of building an AI-powered, adaptive workflow. Automate Microsoft Fabric Cost Savings with Logic Apps Post by Sherry L. Robinson Learn how to pause and resume Microsoft Fabric capacity using Azure Logic Apps—cutting costs during off-hours with minimal code and seamless integration via REST API or Resource Manager, in this insightful post by Sherry. Use Graph API to send Emails in Logic Apps Post by Şahin Özdemir In this post, Şahin shows your hot to use Microsoft Graph API with service principals to securely send emails from Logic Apps using app registrations and access policies. This will be quite useful in cases where you can’t associate the calls to a user account, which is a requirement for the Office 365 connector.Announcement: General Availability of Logic Apps Hybrid Deployment Model
We are thrilled to announce the General Availability of the Logic Apps Hybrid Deployment Model, a groundbreaking feature that offers unparalleled flexibility and control to our customers. This innovative deployment model allows you to run Logic Apps workloads on customer-managed infrastructure, providing you with the option to host your integration solutions on-premises, in a private cloud, or even in a third-party public cloud. With the Logic Apps Hybrid Deployment Model, you can tailor your integration solutions to meet your specific needs, whether it's for regulatory compliance, data privacy, or network restrictions. This model ensures that you have the freedom to choose the best environment for your workflows, while still leveraging the powerful capabilities of Azure Logic Apps. The Hybrid Deployment Model supports a semi-connected architecture, offering local processing of workflows, local storage, and local network access. This means that the data processed by the workflows remains in your local SQL Server, and you have the ability to connect to local networks. Additionally, the built-in connectors will execute in your local compute, giving you access to local data sources and higher throughput. Since we launched the public preview, we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from customers across various industries. Many customers, including those looking to migrate from BizTalk Server, have expressed interest in this offering due to its ability to co-locate integration platforms near key lines of business systems, avoiding dependencies on public internet to process transactions. Journey of the Hybrid Deployment Model Feature At the Integrate 2024 event, we announced the early access preview of the Hybrid Deployment model for Logic Apps Standard. This initial phase allowed interested parties to nominate themselves for early access and provided valuable feedback on the model's functionality and benefits. Following the private preview, we launched the public preview, which empowered our customers with additional flexibility and control. This phase allowed customers to build and deploy workflows on customer-managed infrastructure, offering the option to run Logic Apps on-premises, in a private cloud, or in a third-party public cloud. The public preview also introduced the semi-connected architecture, enabling local processing of workflows and access to local data sources. In October 2024, we refreshed the public preview and received an overwhelmingly positive response from customers across various industries. This feedback highlighted the model's ability to meet specific use cases, such as migrating from BizTalk Server and co-locating integration platforms near key lines of business systems. The public preview refresh also emphasized the model's alignment with our promise of providing customers with more options to meet their business needs. We are excited to see how our customers will leverage the Logic Apps Hybrid Deployment Model to meet their business needs and drive innovation. Thank you for your continued support and feedback. New features in the GA release: Open Telemetry support: Open telemetry is a vendor-neutral open-source Observability framework for instrumenting, generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data. The support for Open Telemetry in Hybrid deployment model ensures the seamless logging in the semi-connected scenarios and provides the ability to choose any observability platform as a telemetry endpoint. More details here. To set up Open Telemetry capability from Azure portal, follow these steps: Open the host.json in the root directory of SMB file share path configured in your logic app. In the host.json file, at the root level, add the following telemetryMode setting with the OpenTelemetry value, for example: { "version": "2.0", "extensionBundle": { "id": "Microsoft.Azure.Functions.ExtensionBundle.Workflows", "version": "[1.*, 2.0.0)" }, "telemetryMode": "OpenTelemetry" } When you enable Open Telemetry in the host.json file, your logic app exports telemetry based on the Open Telemetry-supported app settings that you define in the environment. Add below app settings from portal by navigating to Containers-->Environment variables-->edit and deploy. App setting Description OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT The online transaction processing (OTLP) exporter endpoint URL for where to send the telemetry data. OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS (optional) A list of headers to apply to all outgoing data. Commonly used to pass authentication keys or tokens to your observability backend. If your Open Telemetry endpoint requires other Open Telemetry related settings, include these settings in the app settings too. Support for Zip deployment through VSCode: The support for Zip deployment in VSCode deployment has enhanced the deployment experience with more reliability. This feature uses Azure Entra authentication for deployment, hence the VSCode machine doesn’t require to have permissions on the SMB share and the user need not to provide SMB credentials in subsequent deployments. To use Zip deployment, follow below steps: create an app registration. In the VSCode deployment, provide Client ID, Object ID and Client secret values. If there are any concerns with creating App registration, you can continue to use SMB deployment option by choosing "Use SMBDeployment For Hybrid" in the Extensions configuration of VSCode If you would like to use zip deployment in an existing Logic App, you will need to manually add the app settings as indicated here. The Zip deployment APIs can be used in CI/CD pipelines as well for DevOps deployment. We will be publishing another blog with detailed steps on the DevOps process. Support for more regions: We are pleased to announce the expansion of our hybrid deployment support to additional regions, in response to valuable customer feedback. This enhancement aims to better meet the diverse geographic and operational requirements of your businesses. The hybrid deployment is now available in the following regions: Central US, East Asia, East US, North Central US, Southeast Asia, Sweden Central, UK South, West Europe, and West US. Logic Apps Rules Engine Support on Linux containers: In this release, we have added support for Azure Logic Apps Rules Engine to run on Linux containers which enables customers to use the Rules Engine capabilities in Hybrid Logic Apps. Improvements for Effective Scaling and Performance: We have introduced few improvements in the runtime storage and the scaling behaviour aimed at improving the performance and achieving effective scaling. Please refer to the following articles: Scaling mechanism in hybrid deployment model for Azure Logic Apps Standard | Microsoft Community Hub Hybrid deployment model for Logic Apps- Performance Analysis and Optimization recommendations | Microsoft Community Hub Diagnostic tool: To assist with troubleshooting the environment configuration issues, we have created a troubleshooting tool, which will help you review the health of all the components of the hybrid deployment and provide insights. You can find the script in our GitHub repository. Select the troubleshoot.ps1 file and copy it to a folder and run the script using PowerShell. This script should be run where you have access to kubectl. References: Create Standard logic app workflows for hybrid deployment - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn Set up your own infrastructure for Standard logic app workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn Set up and view enhanced telemetry for Standard workflows - Azure Logic Apps | Microsoft Learn
Let your Biztalk host read config from different BTSNTSvc.exe.config
Please note that this solution has not been fully validated across all environments. It is not an officially supported approach and should be used only for testing or debugging purposes. This article does not differentiate between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of BizTalk. Please adjust the paths and executables according to your Host Instance's runtime architecture. Step 1: Create a New Host and Host Instance via the BizTalk Server Administration Console After creating the Host and Host Instance, you can find the new entry in the [BizTalkMgmtDb].[dbo].[adm_HostInstance] table. The system assigns it a unique ID, and the [InstallationContext] column indicates the registered executable path — but it does not determine the actual executable used at runtime. For example, in my setup I have two custom Host Instances: CustomHost: [InstallationContext] still points to the default path, but it runs a different BTSNTSvc.exe. Custom2: [InstallationContext] points to a different path, but it still runs the original BTSNTSvc.exe. Step 2: Copy the BizTalk Folder to a New Location The default BizTalk installation path is typically: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft BizTalk Server Make a complete copy of this folder. In my case, I copied it to: C:\Program Files (x86)\BizTalkCustomHostInstance This ensures I have an isolated version of BTSNTSvc.exe and its corresponding config file. Step 3: Modify the Windows Registry Open Registry Editor, and navigate to the newly created host instance key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BTSSvc$CustomHost Update the ImagePath value to point to the new folder, using the correct syntax and referencing the appropriate -btsapp GUID found in the adm_HostInstance table: "C:\Program Files (x86)\BizTalkCustomHostInstance\BTSNTSvc64.exe" -group "BizTalk Group" -name "CustomHost" -btsapp "{12FAF484-ACB4-4E25-93A1-36DFBC75B6C5}" Step 4: Restart the Host Instance Once the registry change is complete, restart the Host Instance. You should see that it now runs using the executable from the new location. Step 5: Verifying Whether It Loads a Different BTSNTSvc.exe.config A simple trick to verify whether the new Host Instance is loading the custom configuration file is to intentionally corrupt the copied BTSNTSvc.exe.config. For instance, remove the closing </configuration> tag to break the XML structure. If the Host Instance fails to start and throws a configuration-related error, it confirms that it is indeed using the config file from the new path. With this approach, you can create separate Host Instances that execute isolated BTSNTSvc.exe binaries and load custom BTSNTSvc.exe.config files. This enables scenarios such as loading different DLL versions or applying specific logging configurations, without impacting other running instances.
