abbottkarl explains changes coming to Azure billing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, describing the shift to new meter IDs, how it affects customers, and the steps required to update your reports and tools.

Azure Red Hat Enterprise Linux Billing Meter ID Updates

Background

Red Hat adopted a scalable vCPU-based pricing model for RHEL in early 2024. To support this, Microsoft Azure is updating billing meter IDs for RHEL services. This helps align Azure’s billing infrastructure to the latest pricing standards and ensures accurate reporting for customers.

What’s Changing

New Meter IDs: Azure will migrate RHEL services to new billing meter IDs reflecting Red Hat’s vCPU-based pricing.
Effective Dates: The migration starts October 2–8, 2025, with gradual rollout.
Pay-As-You-Go: No service interruption. New meter IDs will show in your usage and cost management reports from October 2–8, 2025. Historical data remains available.
No Pricing Impact: Billing meter changes do not affect RHEL pricing. Pricing changes were implemented earlier in 2024.

Action Required

To ensure smooth cost tracking and automation, you may need to:

1. Update Billing Reports and Dashboards

Adjust custom reports filtering by RHEL meter IDs.
Refresh and update Power BI dashboard data connections and filters.
Verify third-party cost management tools for recognition of new meter IDs.

2. Review Budget Alerts and Monitoring

Update budgets that rely on specific RHEL meter IDs.
Make sure cost alerts include both old and new meter IDs through the transition.
Review and update any spending thresholds relying on meter identification.

3. Modify Automated Tools and Scripts

Change API calls referencing specific RHEL meter IDs.
Adapt automation scripts that process billing data.
Confirm that integrations with third-party tools are updated for the new meter ID mappings.

Transition Period

Oct 2–8, 2025: New meter IDs start to appear for Pay-As-You-Go RHEL resources.
Transition: Both old and new meter IDs might appear in statements during migration.
Completion: All regions and services will be updated.

Affected RHEL Meters

Meter names tied to vCPU counts (not VM family) are being updated. Example:

1 vCPU VM License, 2 vCPU VM License, …, 420 vCPU VM License

Support and Resources

Azure Support: Contact support for questions or help during this migration.
Account Team: Reach out for guidance on updating enterprise billing processes.
Additional Resources:
- RHEL pricing update details
- Azure cost optimization resources

FAQ

Q: Will this affect my RHEL VM operations?
A: No, operations and performance are unchanged—only billing IDs are updated.

Q: How do I track new meter IDs? A: These will show up in your Cost Management portal and usage/cost statements from October 2–8, 2025.

Q: What if automation breaks? A: Update your scripts or contact Azure Support for guidance.

Posted by abbottkarl on the Linux and Open Source Blog, Microsoft Tech Community, August 28, 2025.

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