ARM-based Windows 11 image for Azure Pipelines

[melanchall]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Actions Runner Image

Discussion Details

Are there plans on adding Win 11 ARM-based images for Azure Pipelines? Such images exist for GitHub Actions, so it looks reasonable to add them to Azure Pipelines.

[yahohulia]

While the actions/runner-images repository is shared between GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines, the deployment targets differ. Azure Pipelines Microsoft-hosted agents typically standardize on Windows Server versions (e.g., windows-2022, windows-2025) rather than Client OS versions like Windows 11, which are more common in GitHub Actions via partner images.

There hasn't been an official announcement for Windows 11 ARM availability on the standard hosted pool yet. Currently, the best path for Windows ARM64 workloads in Azure DevOps is using Managed DevOps Pools (which supports selecting specific Marketplace images, including Windows ARM) or setting up a self-hosted agent on an ARM64 VM.

[melanchall]

By the way, what is the schedule for updates delivery on windows-11-arm image on GitHub Actions? Updates are delivered as soon as they available for the system?

[Jayanthmurala]

To use Windows 11 ARM64 in Azure Pipelines right now, you must use Managed DevOps Pools. This allows you to select ARM64-based Azure VM sizes (like the Dpsv5 series) and a Windows 11 ARM64 image while maintaining a managed experience. Alternatively, you can use Self-Hosted Agents on ARM64 hardware, as the Azure Pipelines agent (v3/v4) already natively supports Windows ARM64.