Stefan Schackow delivers a deep dive into the latest innovations in Azure App Service from Microsoft Ignite 2025, highlighting modernization with Managed Instance, Aspire enhancements, AI agent integration, and developer-centric platform updates.

What’s New in Azure App Service at MS Ignite 2025

Modernize ASP.NET and .NET Web Apps with Managed Instance on Azure App Service

Azure App Service now features Managed Instance, a new public preview enabling organizations to migrate classic ASP.NET and .NET apps (including those with custom Windows dependencies) to Azure’s managed PaaS with minimal code changes. This service supports scenarios such as COM/COM+ integration, Windows registry access, custom server-side PDF rendering (GDI+), and installation of custom software.

Premium v4 SKU and Hyper-V Nested Virtualization: Managed Instance leverages Hyper-V nested virtualization to run custom scripts and dependencies during VM startup. Developers can maintain and update both .NET and Windows OS components automatically, access IIS Manager, and securely connect via RDP.

Related Sessions at Ignite 2025:
- Technical deep dive BRK102 (details)
- Hands-on migration labs LAB501
- Conversation Corners for Q&A
- Public preview of Managed Instance is now open in select regions

Enhanced Aspire Support for .NET Developers on Linux

App Service continues to support and evolve the Aspire platform, now offering deep integration for the Aspire developer dashboard on Azure App Service for Linux. Developers can:

Access application logs and metrics
Visualize project topology and drill down into Aspire web components
Watch demos from .NET Conf 2025 and explore Aspire samples on GitHub

Building AI-Integrated Web Applications

Azure App Service is positioned as a premier platform for creating intelligent applications and integrating AI agents. Recent advancements include:

AI Integration landing page with usage samples
Direct integration examples using Foundry Agent Service and Microsoft Agent Framework
Orchestrating multi-agent workflows (sample) both on Foundry Agent Service and directly inside applications
Utilizing web/API apps as external agent tools via OpenAPI endpoints and Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Explore related samples (e-commerce scenario) and Azure Friday deep dives

Platform and Language Runtime Updates

Recent improvements across Azure App Service include:

Support for LTS releases like Python 3.14, Node.js 24, PHP 8.4, and .NET 10 GA (on Ubuntu images)
New developer features: deployment via pyproject+uv+Poetry, enhanced bash shell, ever-growing Python AI sample collection
General Availability of Custom Error Pages and major Log Stream updates for granular observability
SCM site UX revamp with a new AI Playground for small language models (SLMs)
Sidecar support for CI/CD (GitHub Actions/Azure Pipelines), and pre-built Open Telemetry extensions for telemetry streaming to Azure Monitor and Elastic APM

Scaling, Networking, and ASE (App Service Environment) Updates

Async scaling (public preview): enables reliable, repeatable resource scaling and rapid app service plan creation (docs)
IPv6 support: inbound traffic is GA; outbound traffic support rolling out
Private endpoints & custom domain binding: private DNS zone option entering preview
ASE v3 improvements: new root certificate API (GA), outbound network segmentation, and future Premium v4 hardware support

Next Steps and Resources

Getting started with Azure App Service
Stay updated via Azure Updates, Apps on Azure Blog, @AzAppService Twitter, and deep-dive technical article searches
Explore event session references and hands-on labs from Ignite 2025 for deeper learning opportunities

Session Reference: Microsoft Ignite 2025

BRK150: Modernizing .NET on Azure
BRK102: Managed Instance technical deep dive
LAB501: ASP.NET migration hands-on
BRK116: Apps, agents, and MCP AI innovation

Author: Stefan Schackow, Azure App Service Product Group

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