Update Rollup 12 for Windows Azure Pack Web Sites v2

This article describes the issues that are fixed in Update Rollup 12 for Windows Azure Pack Web Sites version 2 (v2). It also contains the installation instructions for this update rollup.

Important notice

• Windows Azure Pack Web Sites v2 will enter Extended Support on July 12, 2017, as discussed at https://aka.ms/wapwebsiteslifecycle.

Important changes

• If the base operating system is Windows Server 2012 R2, there's now a prerequisite requirement to install the Windows April 2014 Rollup Update (2919355).  If this update is not installed, Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 and targeted packages, MS Build Tools 2015, and Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistribution Packages will not be installed.
• In a case where more than one site is running under the same application pool identity and running a PHP Application that uses Zend Opcache, only the first site requested will successfully respond to requests. All other applications will return 500 Status responses. This occurs because of an issue in Zend Opcache. To work around this issue, deploy a custom php.ini file that uses your application and then disable “zend_extension=php_opcache.dll.”

This update fixes the following issues:

• Issue 1: Metering Improvements.
  
  This update contains several performance improvements to the Metering Engine that calculates the monitoring metrics in Windows Azure Pack Web Sites. Specifically, the metering jobs are optimized to reduce CPU usage and to run the jobs faster.
  
  
• Issue 2: No way to dump or clear the Data Service Cache.
  
  This update adds PowerShell support. To dump the data service cache, use the Get-WebSitesDataServiceCache cmdlet. To clear the data service cache, use the Clear-WebSitesDataServiceCache cmdlet.
  
  
• Issue 3: All sites in a subscription return "503 Service Unavailable" when sites are using more than 2,147,483,648 bytes of storage.
• Issue 4: No support for changing CloudAdminCredentials in the Web Cloud Management Console.
  
  Support added to the Web Cloud Management Console to make password changes.
  
  
• Issue 5: Fixed AutoHeal support in Set-WebSitesSiteConfig cmdlet.
• Issue 6: Tenant Uploaded certificates are not deployed to Front End and Worker roles when they run in an Active Directory-joined environment.
• Issue 7: Webjobs that use SQL Integrated Authentication do not connect to SQL when they run under a domain account.
• Issue 8: Sites deployed in an Active Directory-joined Windows Azure Pack Web Sites environment don't scale to a reserved instance.
• Issue 9:  Improved error logging of Availability Checks by excluding transient errors.
• Issue 10: You can't set PHP version to OFF; it's always set to PHP version 5.4.
• Issue 11: When you upgrade from Update Rollup 6 for Windows Azure Pack Web Sites v2, MSDeploy through SCM deletes files in environments that have been upgraded.
• Issue 12: When you try to create an offline installation package, the operation fails with a "path too long" error message.
• Issue 13: Improvements made to storage quota implementation:
• Guarantee that only one worker is scanning a webspace folder.
• No method to set the scanning timer and no method to disable feature.
• Can be updated in the Web Cloud Management Console under File Server Options and by using the Set-WebSitesConfig cmdlet.
  
• Issue 14: Sites that are running in Shared workers cannot load certificates for use in applications.
  
  Administrators can set this option by using the following PowerShell cmdlet:
  
  Set-WebSitesPolicy-PlanName plan -ComputeMode mode -SiteMode siteMode -LoadCertificatesOnSharedWorkerEnabled
  
  Note Set LoadCertificatesOnSharedWorkerEnabled to 1 to turn on, or set it to 0 to turn off.
  
  This feature is not suitable for Public hosting environments and should be enabled only in Enterprise environments. Administrators should assess the impact of enabling this feature before applying the change in any production environment. This may also affect the density with which sites can be deployed on Shared Workers because of additional load of User Profiles on Shared Workers.
  
  
• Issue 15: As a Service Administrator, you can't update core application stacks without a Windows Azure Pack Web Sites Release.
• Issue 16: Stopping a website causes the SCM site to also stop.
• Issue 17: An upgrade from Windows Azure Pack Web Sites v2 Update Rollup 4 and 7 causes all sites to return "404 Not Found" status codes.
• Issue 18: You can't deploy ASP.NET Core applications.
  
  Tenants can now deploy Self-Contained ASP.NET Core Applications. For more information about Self-Contained Deployments, see the .NET Core Application Deployment topic.
  
  Self-Contained .NET Core Applications do not rely on shared components being deployed on Windows Azure Pack Web Sites. All the components, including .NET Core Libraries and the .NET Core runtime, are included with the application. Kudu git-based building of .NET core applications is not possible with self-contained deployments. Applications must be built before deployment on Windows Azure Pack Web Sites.
  

• .NET Framework 4.6.2 Developer Pack (KB3151934)
• .NET Framework 4.6.1 Developer Pack (KB3105179)

PHP updated versions and new versions installed

• PHP 5.3.29
• PHP 5.5.38
• PHP 5.6.24
• PHP 7.0.9 x86 and x64

Python

• Python 2.7 updated to 2.7.8

Git

• Git updated to 2.8.1

MSODBC

• MSODBC13 (Microsoft ODBC Driver 13 for SQL Server) updates to 13.0.811.168
  

Update packages for Windows Azure Pack Web Sites version 2 are available from Windows Update or by manual download.

Note If the target operating system is Windows Server 2012 R2, there is a requirement for all Web Worker roles to have the April 2014 Rollout Upgrade Package in order to support Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable. If this is not installed, the Web Worker roles will not be marked ready and the Web Worker logs in the Web Management Console will indicate that dependency failed.

Method 1: Windows Update

To obtain and install an update package from Microsoft Update, follow these steps on a computer that has a Windows Azure component installed:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Windows Update.
3. In the Windows Update window, click Check Online for updates from Microsoft Update.
4. Click Important updates are available.
5. Select the update rollup package that you want, and then click OK.
6. Click Install updates to install the update package.
7. Wait for the Web Sites Management Console snap-in to appear on the desktop. (This is also searchable through the Start menu.) Then, follow these steps:
1. Open the console.
2. Start the Web Sites controller.
3. Monitor the roles upgrade process.

Method 2: Microsoft Update Catalog

Update packages are available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Update Catalog:

 Download the Windows Azure Pack update package now.

Installation and upgrade instructions are documented in the Start the installation of Windows Azure Pack: Web Sites topic on TechNet. These instructions describe how to upgrade to Update Rollup 12 for Windows Azure Pack Web Sites version 2.

Notice that the installation and upgrade process changed significantly in Update Rollup 6. Therefore, please take the time to review the documentation.

There is additional guidance provided at this link to monitor the upgrade and to check the upgrade status.

Because of the changes that were made to the data stores in addition to the executable, this update cannot be rolled back.