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Azure is retiring the nested confidential cc_v5 virtual machine series on 1 September 2026. After that date the cc_v5 series is no longer available for use or purchase, and any affected VM that has not been resized before the cutoff will be deallocated. The impacted VM sizes are DCas_cc_v5, DCads_cc_v5, ECas_cc_v5, and ECads_cc_v5.
left 1 Sept 2026
Quick answers
- Is it true that Azure retires the nested confidential (cc_v5) VM series on 1 September 2026 — resize before then or your VMs are deallocated?
- Yes — and the date has already passed (1 Sept 2026). The cc_v5 series is Azure's nested confidential virtual machines — VMs that run inside a confidential host, used for confidential-computing workloads that keep data encrypted in memory.
- When did it take effect?
- 1 Sept 2026 (already passed). Verified against the vendor's own announcement.
- What should I use instead?
- Resize every VM on a cc_v5 size to a supported VM series before 1 September 2026 — resizing before the date is the explicit action the notice calls out to avoid deallocation.
What this means for you
The cc_v5 series is Azure's nested confidential virtual machines — VMs that run inside a confidential host, used for confidential-computing workloads that keep data encrypted in memory. Microsoft's retirement notice states that "on September 1, 2026, the cc_v5 confidential VM series will be retired and will no longer be available for use or purchase," and — the part that bites — "any affected VM that has not been resized before that date will [be] deallocated." So this is not a soft deprecation you can ignore until convenient: a running DCas_cc_v5, DCads_cc_v5, ECas_cc_v5, or ECads_cc_v5 VM that is still on the retired size on 1 September stops. Deallocation means the VM is powered off and its compute released; anything not persisted to managed disks or external storage, and any workload expecting the machine to stay up, is affected. The blast radius is narrow — only subscriptions running these specific nested-confidential sizes — but for those, an unactioned VM is a stopped VM on the date, not merely an unsupported one.
Where to go
Resize every VM on a cc_v5 size to a supported VM series before 1 September 2026 — resizing before the date is the explicit action the notice calls out to avoid deallocation. Identify affected machines by their size (DCas_cc_v5, DCads_cc_v5, ECas_cc_v5, ECads_cc_v5) across your subscriptions, then move each to a current confidential-computing VM series that meets your requirements (check the Azure confidential computing VM options for the current generation, and validate that your workload's memory-encryption and attestation needs are met on the target size). Treat any VM you cannot resize in time as one that will be stopped on the date, and plan for the downtime and data-persistence implications accordingly rather than being surprised by a deallocation.
- A current-generation Azure confidential-computing VM series that meets your workload's requirements, chosen from the Azure confidential computing VM options
- Resizing to a supported general-purpose or memory-optimized series if the workload no longer requires nested confidential computing
Azure is retiring its nested confidential (cc_v5) virtual machine series on 1 September 2026. These are VMs used for confidential-computing workloads — the kind that keep data encrypted in memory on a confidential host. Microsoft’s retirement notice is short and specific about both the date and the consequence.
What the notice says
On September 1, 2026, the cc_v5 confidential VM series will be retired and will no longer be available for use or purchase. Any affected VM that has not been resized before that date will [be] deallocated.
The impacted sizes are DCas_cc_v5, DCads_cc_v5, ECas_cc_v5, and ECads_cc_v5.
Why this one has teeth
Many Azure retirements block new deployments while leaving running resources alone for a while. This one doesn’t: an affected VM that is still on a cc_v5 size on 1 September gets deallocated — powered off, its compute released. For a confidential workload expecting the machine to stay up, that’s an outage on the date, not a gradual loss of support.
The affected population is narrow — only subscriptions running these specific nested-confidential sizes — but if you’re in it, the deadline is real.
What to do
Resize every cc_v5 VM to a supported series before 1 September 2026. Find affected machines by their size across your subscriptions, then move each to a current Azure confidential-computing VM series that meets your memory-encryption and attestation requirements. Any VM you can’t resize in time should be treated as one that will be stopped on the date — plan for the downtime and make sure nothing important lives only on that machine’s ephemeral state.
Entry changelog
- — last reviewed.
- — Retirement date reached. The cc_v5 confidential VM series retirement (1 September 2026) came due; status moved to passed. Re-confirmed against Microsoft's release-communications API (id 568661) that the date is unchanged before marking it.
- — Entry created as archive backfill from Microsoft's official Azure Updates retirement notice (id 568661), verified against Microsoft's release-communications API since the Azure Updates page is JavaScript-rendered. The API text states the retirement date (1 September 2026), that the series is no longer available for use or purchase after it, that any affected VM not resized before the date is deallocated, and names the impacted sizes (DCas_cc_v5, DCads_cc_v5, ECas_cc_v5, ECads_cc_v5). Not machine-detectable from the primary source: it names VM size families, not the concrete "Standard_*_cc_v5" identifiers an ARM/Bicep/Terraform template contains, and the CLI's boundary matching would not fire on a family substring — so no detect fingerprint was added rather than guess one.
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