Cloud Services (extended support) will be retired on 31 March 2027

Question

Cloud Services (extended support) will be retired on 31 March 2027

Nischay 125

Got this notification from Azure:-

Cloud Services (extended support) will be retired on 31 March 2027

You're receiving this notification because you're associated with one or more Azure subscriptions that use Cloud Services (extended support). Cloud Services (extended support) will be retired on 31 March 2027, please transition to Service Fabric managed cluster by that date. Migrating from Cloud Services (Extended Support) to Service Fabric managed cluster enhances the scalability, flexibility, and reliability of your Azure deployments. From now to 31 March 2027, you can continue to use Cloud Services (extended support) without disruption. To avoid service disruption, migrate workloads running Cloud Services (extended support) to Service Fabric managed clusters by 31 March 2027.

Migration to Fabric seems to be complex as a lot of changes will be required and majority of our backend will have to be redone. We were looking to migrate to App Service or VM.

Here is some additional information about our Cloud Service (Extended Support):-

Legacy enterprise backend built on the classic Microsoft stack.

Core type: Monolithic backend solution for content, licensing, and campaign/submission workflows.
Tech stack: C# / .NET Framework 4.8, ASP.NET MVC 5 + Web API 2, Entity Framework 6, 1 Web role, 0 Worker role
Data layer: SQL Server via old Entity Framework (EDMX/EF CaDb context and related entities).
Platform integrations: Azure Blob Storage, Notification Hubs/Service Bus-era libraries, Cloud Services (extended support) deployment model.

Please share any recommended steps/solutions to migrate to App Service & VM?

Manish Deshpande 5,095 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-31T02:05:09.0966667+00:00
Hello Nischay

Thank you for reaching out Q/A. If Cloud Services (Extended Support) are not migrated by March 31, 2027, the service will be fully retired. Below are the key details regarding what this means:

1.What happens after March 31, 2027?

Microsoft has announced that Cloud Services (Extended Support) will be retired on this date. After retirement:

The service will no longer be supported by Microsoft.

There will be no SLA, security updates, or technical support. Microsoft does not guarantee continued service operation after the retirement date. 2. Will existing deployments continue running?

Microsoft has not stated that existing deployments will continue running after March 31, 2027. Once the service is retired, workloads will be in an unsupported state, and Microsoft Support will not assist with issues related to this service.

3. Is there a grace period?

Microsoft has not announced any grace period or extension beyond the retirement date. Extension requests are not supported, so customers are expected to complete their migration before March 31, 2027.

4. Risks of not migrating before retirement

If Cloud Services (Extended Support) are not migrated in time, customers may face:

Availability risks: No guaranteed service continuity after retirement. Security risks: No security updates or patches will be provided. Compliance risks: Running unsupported services may not meet regulatory or internal compliance requirements. Operational risks: Microsoft Support will no longer provide assistance for this service.

References:

Retirement Accountment

Frequently asked questions for Azure Cloud Services (extended support)

Migrating from Azure Cloud Services to Service Fabric

Technical details of migrating to Azure Cloud Services (extended support)
Nischay 125 Reputation points

2026-04-01T22:23:32.7766667+00:00

Hi Manish,

Could we please get some guidance on our original question? The details shared so far don’t seem to be related to what we were asking.

We had provided information about our current tech stack running on Cloud Service (Extended Support), and we are looking for recommended steps & solutions to migrate to either App Service or Virtual Machines. As mentioned earlier, migrating to Service Fabric appears to be quite complex for our setup and would likely require significant changes and a large portion of our backend to be redeveloped.

We would really appreciate it if you or one of your colleagues could guide us on the best approach for this type of migration.

Best regards,

Nischay