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Expert knowledge for Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment.
Passed 16 of 19 test cases with the skill, and 17 of 19 without it.
2 fixed17 passed either way0 still failing3 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
This benchmark measured an earlier version of the skill.
One of 2 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
We are deploying a production Azure Virtual Machine Scale Set application that requires updates to be applied automatically in batches across instances to prevent downtime, without requiring manual trigger per VM. Which upgrade policy mode and rolling update configuration should be specified?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Specify the Rolling upgrade policy mode for the scale set model. | Passed | Passed |
| Configure MaxSurge to maintain extra capacity during the batch update process. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.
IMPORTANT for Agent: Use the Category Index below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g.,
L35-L120), useread_filewith the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g.,[security.md](security.md)), useread_fileon the linked reference file
IMPORTANT for Agent: If
metadata.generated_atis more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. Ifmcp_microsoftdocstools are not available, suggest the user install it: Installation Guide
This skill requires network access to fetch documentation content:
mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch with query string from=learn-agent-skill. Returns Markdown.fetch_webpage with query string from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown. Returns Markdown.| Category | Lines | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Troubleshooting | L37-L43 | Diagnosing and fixing issues with VMSS instance mix, standby pools behavior, and autoscale (rules, scaling delays, capacity mismatches, and common error scenarios). |
| Best Practices | L44-L49 | Configuring rolling upgrades for VM scale sets, tuning MaxSurge settings, and strategies to minimize downtime and maintain high availability during production updates. |
| Decision Making | L50-L67 | Guidance on choosing VM scale set modes, availability, upgrade and autoscale strategies, Spot/Hybrid benefits, and cost/performance tradeoffs for different deployment scenarios. |
| Architecture & Design Patterns | L68-L72 | Designing scale sets with proximity placement groups to minimize latency, improve performance, and ensure VMs are co-located for tightly coupled or high-performance workloads |
| Limits & Quotas | L73-L78 | Scale set capacity, instance, and resource limits; placement group behavior; scaling constraints; and how limits affect deployment, availability, and distribution of VMs. |
| Security | L79-L90 | Encrypting VMSS disks (CLI, PowerShell, ARM), configuring Azure Disk Encryption with Key Vault and extensions, and securing scale sets via Azure Policy and RBAC for standby pools. |
| Configuration | L91-L135 | Configuring VM scale sets: templates, networking, disks, zones, upgrades, autoscale, standby pools, instance mix/protection, health/maintenance, and CLI/PowerShell/API management. |
| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L136-L141 | Configuring VM scale set standby pools with Log Analytics for monitoring and integrating scale sets with Azure DSC extension for automated configuration management. |
| Deployment | L142-L148 | Creating VM scale sets from generalized/specialized Shared Image Gallery images, migrating flexible sets to zonal, and deploying/rolling out applications to scale set instances |
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| FAQ and troubleshooting for VM scale set instance mix | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/instance-mix-faq-troubleshooting |
| FAQ and troubleshooting for VM scale set standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/standby-pools-faq |
| Troubleshoot autoscale issues in Azure VM scale sets | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-troubleshoot |
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Configure rolling upgrades for production scale sets | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-configure-rolling-upgrades |
| Use MaxSurge rolling upgrades to improve uptime | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machine-scale-sets/virtual-machine-scale-sets-maxsurge |
test cases passed, vs 17 / 19 without
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