Merge branch 'main' of https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/azure-docs-pr into esanrefreshp2

Author: roygara

.openpublishing.redirection.json

@@ -6659,6 +6659,11 @@
       "source_path": "articles/reliability/migrate-load-balancer.md",
       "redirect_url": "/azure/reliability/reliability-load-balancer",
       "redirect_document_id": false
+    },
+    {
+      "source_path": "articles/nat-gateway/nat-availability-zones.md",
+      "redirect_url": "/azure/reliability/reliability-nat-gateway",
+      "redirect_document_id": false
     }
   ]
 }

articles/app-service/includes/configure-azure-storage/azure-storage-linux-container-pivot.md

@@ -203,6 +203,46 @@ To validate that the Azure Storage is mounted successfully for the app:
    tcpping Storageaccount.file.core.windows.net 
    ```
 
+### Storage mount health checks and auto‑recovery
+
+Azure App Service includes a built‑in health‑check mechanism to ensure that mounted Azure Storage volumes (Azure Files or Azure Blob) remain accessible and responsive. This system helps prevent application hangs caused by stale or disconnected storage mounts.
+
+#### How the health check works
+
+1. **Periodic I/O test**  
+   App Service periodically performs file I/O on a marker file named `__lastCheckTime.txt`.  
+   - **Location:** A `LogFiles` subdirectory under the mounted path (for example, `/mount/path/LogFiles/__lastCheckTime.txt`).  
+   - **Behavior:**  
+     - A read operation is attempted on this file.  
+     - The file does *not* need to exist—“file not found” is treated as a successful check.
+
+2. **Frequency**  
+   The check runs every **5 seconds** by default.
+
+3. **Failure handling**  
+   - Each failed or timed‑out check increments a *failed ping counter*.  
+   - When failures exceed the configured threshold:  
+     - **Azure Files:** 18 failed pings  
+     - **Azure Blob:** 15 failed pings  
+   - The mount is marked **Faulted**, and **App Service automatically restarts the app** to restore connectivity to the share.
+
+#### Configuration via App Settings
+
+You can customize health‑check behavior using the following app settings.
+
+| Storage type | Setting name | Default value | Description |
+|--------------|--------------|---------------|-------------|
+| Azure Files | `WEBSITE_BYOS_FILES_HEALTH_CHECK_FREQUENCY` | `5` | Interval in seconds between health checks. |
+| Azure Files | `WEBSITE_BYOS_FILES_MAX_FAILED_PINGS` | `18` | Number of consecutive failures before marking the volume as faulted. |
+| Azure Files | `WEBSITE_BYOS_FILES_AUTO_RECOVERY_ENABLED` | `true` | Set to `false` to disable auto‑recovery logic. |
+| Azure Blob | `WEBSITE_BYOS_BLOB_HEALTH_CHECK_FREQUENCY` | `5` | Interval in seconds between health checks. |
+| Azure Blob | `WEBSITE_BYOS_BLOB_MAX_FAILED_PINGS` | `15` | Number of consecutive failures before marking the volume as faulted. |
+| Azure Blob | `WEBSITE_BYOS_BLOB_AUTO_RECOVERY_ENABLED` | `true` | Set to `false` to disable auto‑recovery logic. |
+
+#### Notes
+- Auto‑recovery helps prevent long‑running application hangs caused by unresponsive storage paths.  
+- Disabling auto‑recovery is not recommended unless troubleshooting specific mount behavior.
+
 ## Best practices
 
 ### Performance

articles/app-service/manage-automatic-scaling.md

@@ -4,32 +4,50 @@ description: Learn how to scale automatically in Azure App Service with no confi
 author: msangapu-msft
 ms.author: msangapu
 ms.topic: how-to
-ms.date: 04/18/2025
+ms.date: 01/09/2026
 ms.custom: devx-track-azurecli
-
 ms.service: azure-app-service
 ---
 
 # Automatic scaling in Azure App Service
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> Automatic scaling is available for all app types: Windows and Linux (deploy as code and container). Automatic scaling isn't supported for deployment slot traffic.
->
+> [!NOTE]  
+> Automatic scaling is available for all app types: Windows and Linux (deploy as code or container).  
+> Automatic scaling isn't supported for deployment slot traffic.
+
+Automatic scaling is a scale-out option that automatically handles scaling decisions for your web apps and App Service plans. It's different from [Azure autoscale](/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-overview), which lets you define scaling rules based on metrics and schedules.
+
+With automatic scaling, you can adjust scaling settings to improve performance and reduce cold-start delays. The platform prewarms instances to act as a buffer, ensuring smooth scaling transitions. You're billed per second for every instance, including prewarmed instances.
 
-Automatic scaling is a scale-out option that automatically handles scaling decisions for your web apps and App Service plans. It's different from **[Azure autoscale](/azure/azure-monitor/autoscale/autoscale-overview)**, which lets you define scaling rules based on schedules and resources.
+## Before you begin
 
-With automatic scaling, you can adjust scaling settings to improve your app's performance and avoid cold start issues. The platform prewarms instances to act as a buffer when scaling out, ensuring smooth performance transitions. You're charged per second for every instance, including prewarmed instances.
+Automatic scaling in App Service is different from autoscale.  
+Use automatic scaling when you want App Service to handle scaling automatically based on HTTP traffic, without creating rules or schedules.
 
-The following table compares scale-out and scale-in options available on App Service:
+**Automatic scaling (this article):**
+- Scales automatically based on incoming HTTP traffic  
+- Configured per app  
+- Supports Always ready, per-app limits, Maximum burst, and prewarmed instances  
 
-| | **Manual** | **Autoscale** | **Automatic scaling** |
-| --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| Available pricing tiers | Basic and up | Standard and up | Premium V2 (P1V2, P2V2, and P3V2) pricing tiers. Premium V3 (P0V3, P1V3, P2V3, P3V3, P1MV3, P2MV3, P3MV3, P4MV3, and P5MV3) pricing tiers.|
-|Rule-based scaling |No |Yes   |No, the platform manages the scale-out and scale-in based on HTTP traffic. |
-|Schedule-based scaling |No |Yes |No |
-|Always-ready instances | No, your web app runs on the number of manually scaled instances. | No, your web app runs on other instances available during the scale-out operation, based on the threshold defined for autoscale rules. | Yes (minimum 1) |
-|Prewarmed instances |No |No |Yes (default 1) |
-|Per-app maximum |No |No |Yes |
+**Autoscale:**
+- Uses metrics (CPU, memory, queue length, custom metrics)  
+- Supports schedule-based scaling  
+- Applies to the entire App Service plan  
+
+If you need CPU-, memory-, or time-based scaling, use autoscale instead.  
+Only one scaling method should be active for an App Service plan.
+
+## Scale-out options available in App Service
+
+|   | **Manual** | **Autoscale** | **Automatic scaling** |
+|--------|------------|---------------|------------------------|
+| Available tiers | Basic and up | Standard and up | Premium v2 and Premium v3 |
+| Rule-based scaling | No | Yes | No (traffic-based) |
+| Schedule-based scaling | No | Yes | No |
+| Always-ready instances | No | No | Yes (minimum 1) |
+| Prewarmed instances | No | No | Yes (default 1) |
+| Per-app maximum | No | No | Yes |
+| ARR affinity behavior | On by default | On unless manually disabled | [Should be disabled manually](#arr-affinity) |
 
 ## How automatic scaling works
 
@@ -175,7 +193,7 @@ If your web app returns a 5xx status, these endpoint pings might result in inter
 ### How do I track the number of scaled-out instances during the automatic scaling event?
 
 The `AutomaticScalingInstanceCount` metric reports the number of virtual machines on which the app is running, including the prewarmed instance if it's deployed. This metric can also be used to track the maximum number of instances your web app scaled out during an automatic scaling event. This metric is available only for the apps that have **Automatic Scaling** enabled.
-
+<a name='arr-affinity'></a>
 ### How does ARR Affinity affect automatic scaling?
 
 > [!NOTE]

articles/app-service/overview-managed-instance.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Managed Instance on App Service overview (preview)
 description: Managed Instance on Azure App Service is a specialized hosting option that provides isolation, customization, and secure integration with Azure resources, ideal for legacy, and infrastructure-dependent web apps.
 keywords: app service, azure app service, managed instance, isolation, vnet integration, registry, COM, RDP, installation scripts, key vault, pv4, pmv4, windows services, GAC, third-party dependencies
 ms.topic: overview
-ms.date: 11/08/2025
+ms.date: 01/09/2026
 ms.author: msangapu
 author: msangapu-msft
 ms.service: azure-app-service
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ Managed Instance provides plan-level configuration through:
 |-----------|---------|
 | **Platform** | • Windows only (no Linux/containers)<br>• Not available in ASE |
 | **SKUs** | Pv4 and Pmv4 only |
-| **Regions** | East Asia, West Central US, North Europe, East US |
+| **Regions** | East Asia, West Central US, North Europe, East US, Australia East |
 | **Authentication** | Entra ID and Managed Identity only (no domain join/NTLM/Kerberos) |
 | **Workloads** | Web apps only (no WebJobs, TCP/NetPipes) |
 | **Configuration** | Persistent changes require scripts (RDP is diagnostics-only) |
@@ -114,4 +114,4 @@ Managed Instance provides plan-level configuration through:
 - [Managed Instance Quickstart](quickstart-managed-instance.md)
 - [App Service overview](overview.md)
 - [Configure Managed Instance](configure-managed-instance.md)
-- [App Service Environment comparison](./environment/overview.md)
+- [App Service Environment comparison](./environment/overview.md)

articles/application-gateway/application-gateway-ssl-policy-overview.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ services: application gateway
 author: mbender-ms
 ms.service: azure-application-gateway
 ms.topic: concept-article
-ms.date: 07/23/2025
+ms.date: 01/12/2026
 ms.author: mbender
 #customer intent: As an IT administrator, I want to configure a TLS policy for the Application Gateway, so that I can centralize certificate management and ensure compliance with security standards while optimizing backend performance.
 ---
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ The following table shows the list of cipher suites and minimum protocol version
 | **Minimum Protocol Version** | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
 | **Enabled protocol versions** | 1.0<br/>1.1<br/>1.2 | 1.1<br/>1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2<br/>1.3 | 1.2<br/>1.3 |
 | **Default** | True<br/>(for API version < 2023-02-01) | False | False | True<br/>(for API version >= 2023-02-01) | False |
-| TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 | &cross; | &cross; | &cross; | &check; | &check; |
 | TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 | &cross; | &cross; | &cross; | &check; | &check; |
+| TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 | &cross; | &cross; | &cross; | &check; | &check; |
 | TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 | &check; | &check; | &check; | &check; | &check; |
 | TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 | &check; | &check; | &check; | &check; | &check; |
 | TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384 | &check; | &cross; | &cross; | &check; | &cross; |

articles/azure-app-configuration/concept-snapshot-references.md

@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ A snapshot reference is stored as a key-value whose value contains the name of t
 > [!NOTE]
 > You don't have to call a specialized API to opt into snapshot references. If you select the key-value that is a snapshot reference, resolution is automatic.
 
+## Creating a snapshot reference
+
+1. Open your App Configuration store in the Azure portal.
+2. Select **Configuration Explorer**.
+3. Choose **Create**.
+4. Select **Snapshot reference**.
+5. Enter a key for the reference. Optionally set a label.
+6. Choose the target snapshot name from the list (or enter it).
+7. Select **Create**.
+
+Once created, the snapshot reference appears alongside other key-values in Configuration Explorer.
+
 ## Consuming snapshot references
 
 No new code is required to use a snapshot reference. If the key for a snapshot reference is part of the selected key-values when building configuration, the provider automatically resolves and loads the referenced snapshot's key-values. Compare this to direct snapshot usage where you explicitly call an API such as `SelectSnapshot("SnapshotName")`, fixing the snapshot choice at startup so switching later requires a code change or redeployment.