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.NET v6 deprecation and Windows Server 2022 images

Teresa Appelgate (Aquent LLC) 1 Reputation point Microsoft External Staff
2026-05-19T00:54:38.3266667+00:00

I created a new Windows Server 2022 VM to replace my old Windows Server VM. However, when I ran dotnet --info on the new VM, it said that it had .NET 6:

C:\Users\DCAdmin>dotnet --info

global.json file:

Not found

Host:

Version: 6.0.42

Architecture: x64

Commit: 400f1906d9

.NET SDKs installed:

No SDKs were found.

.NET runtimes installed:

Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 6.0.42 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]

Microsoft.NETCore.App 6.0.42 [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]

I followed the instructions in https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azurecompute/incoming-changes-for-window-server-2022-marketplace-image-users/4262423 that states that updated marketplace images would be available on March 9th 2025.

Developer technologies | .NET | Other

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  1. Damien Pham (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 1,755 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-19T06:58:09.8133333+00:00

    Hello @Teresa Appelgate (Aquent LLC) ,

    Per the Azure Compute guidance, the March 9, 2025 change introduced a new Azure Marketplace offer, windowsserver2022, whose Windows Server 2022 images exclude .NET 6. That new offer does not automatically replace the legacy windowsserver offer, so a newly created VM can still include .NET 6 if it was deployed from the older offer or from automation that still references it.

    That same guidance also states that the legacy Windows Server 2022 images that pre-installed .NET 6 will begin deprecation after June 9, 2026, and that .NET 6 will not be automatically removed from those legacy images. Instead, those legacy images will be deprecated, which gives organizations time to plan their migration.

    You can check is the VM image reference. If the VM was created from publisher=microsoftwindowsserver and offer=windowsserver, it is using the legacy image line. To get an image without .NET 6 preinstalled, you need to deploy or reimage from the windowsserver2022 offer instead. Microsoft also lists .NET 6 as out of support as of November 12, 2024 in the .NET support policy, so moving to .NET 8 or later is the supported path.

    I hope this clarifies. If you found my response helpful or informative, I would greatly appreciate it if you could follow this guidance or provide feedback.  

    Thank you.  

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