---
ms.service: azure-kubernetes-service
ms.topic: include
ms.date: 02/23/2026
author: schaffererin
ms.author: schaffererin
---

> [!IMPORTANT]
>
> Starting on **June 8, 2026**, AKS no longer supports Flatcar Container Linux for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (preview). At that point, AKS will no longer produce new Flatcar Container Linux node images or provide security patches, and you'll be unable to create new node pools with Flatcar Container Linux. On **September 8, 2026**, AKS will remove all existing Flatcar Container Linux node images, causing scaling and remediation (reimage and redeploy) operations to fail.  
>
> To avoid disruption, we recommend migrating to a supported Linux OS, such as [Azure Linux](/azure/azure-linux/intro-azure-linux) or [Ubuntu](/azure/aks/concepts-clusters-workloads#nodes-and-node-pools). For more information on this retirement, see the [Retirement GitHub issue](https://aka.ms/aks/flatcar-preview-retirement-github) and the [Azure Updates retirement announcement](https://azure.microsoft.com/updates/). To stay informed on announcements and updates, follow the [AKS release notes](https://github.com/Azure/AKS/releases).