Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Support for Amazon Linux 2 (ARM64) retiring October 31, 2026

Updated September 23, 2026: We have updated this post as a reminder. Thank you for your patience.

What and why

We are retiring support for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) on Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) running on ARM64 architecture, effective October 31, 2026.

Schedule

• Retirement effective: October 31, 2026
• After this date, support and updates will no longer be available.

Impact on your organization

Who is affected

• Organizations using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Amazon Linux 2 (ARM64)
• Organizations using AL2 on AMD64/x86_64 are not affected

Platforms/Services

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
• Amazon Linux 2 (ARM64)

What will happen

• Defender versions released after this build will not install on AL2 (ARM64) due to platform incompatibility.
• Version 101.25122.0004 is the last supported version for this platform.
• After October 31, 2026:
  • No security updates
  • No bug fixes
  • No technical support
• Devices remaining on this platform may:
  • Miss new features, detection improvements, and protection enhancements
  • Be exposed to increased security and stability risks over time

Action Required / Recommendations

Action required by October 31, 2026.

Admins should:

• Identify devices running Amazon Linux 2 (ARM64) with Defender for Endpoint.
• Prevent upgrades beyond version 101.25122.0004 on those devices.
• Plan migration to a supported Linux distribution for MDE.
• Complete migration before October 31, 2026.

No action is required for devices running Amazon Linux 2 on AMD64/x86_64 architectures.

Learn more: Prerequisites for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux | Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Defender | Microsoft Learn

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.