Merge pull request #4997 from MicrosoftDocs/main

Auto Publish – main to live - 2026-05-17 11:00 UTC

Author: learn-build-service-prod[bot]

articles/mysql/TOC.yml

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@
           items:
             - name: Release notes index
               href: flexible-server/release-notes/release-notes-index.md
+            - name: May 2026
+              href: flexible-server/release-notes/may-2026.md
             - name: March 2026
               href: flexible-server/release-notes/march-2026.md              
             - name: January 2026

articles/mysql/flexible-server/release-notes/may-2026.md

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+---
+title: Release Notes for Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server - May 2026
+description: Learn about the release notes for Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server May 2026.
+author: hariramt
+ms.author: hariramt
+ms.reviewer: maghan
+ms.date: 05/15/2026
+ms.service: azure-database-mysql
+ms.topic: release-notes
+ai-usage: ai-assisted
+---
+
+# Azure Database for MySQL May 2026 version release notes
+
+The May 2026 version of Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server is available. Beginning May 19, 2026, all new servers automatically use this version. Existing servers upgrade during their next scheduled maintenance. To upgrade your servers earlier, enroll in the [Virtual Canary Program](https://aka.ms/mysql/virtual-canary).
+
+This version introduces enhancements, resolves known problems, and includes important security patches to ensure optimal performance and security.
+
+## Maintenance scheduling considerations
+
+The maintenance reschedule window can be extended up to June 21, 2026.
+Some servers with CMW enabled might be assigned a maintenance date outside of their preferred window. You can still reschedule the maintenance in the Azure portal to better align with your original CMW preference.
+
+## Engine version changes
+
+This version doesn't include any engine version changes.
+
+## Features
+
+- You can now use HSM-backed key vaults at the ProtectedSubscription level when configuring customer-managed keys (CMK), giving you stronger key isolation for regulated and compliance-sensitive workloads.
+- You can now add availability zones to an existing server without recreating it, making it easier to improve resiliency as your workload evolves.
+- List APIs for databases and servers now support pagination, providing faster and more reliable responses when you manage a large number of resources.
+
+## Improvements
+
+- TLS certificates are now automatically renewed earlier in their lifecycle (at 84% of validity) and all certificates follow the same renewal schedule, reducing the chance of connection issues caused by certificate expiry.
+
+- During this scheduled maintenance window, a few servers migrate from the current architecture to a dedicated Standard Load Balancer (SLB) - based architecture. The candidate servers are communicated through the usual maintenance notifications. This enhancement adds a dedicated SLB to HA configurations for servers created with public access or private endpoints. By managing the MySQL data traffic path, the SLB eliminates the need for DNS changes during failovers, significantly reducing failover time. There's a brief extra downtime (of around 30 seconds) while this migration is performed. This feature isn't supported by servers using private access with a virtual network integration.
+
+## Known issues fixes
+
+- Resolved an intermittent connectivity issue that could affect servers configured with private access (virtual network integration), by reverting a recent change to the underlying networking stack.
+- Resolved an issue where binlog copy operations could fail when an expected binlog file was missing. The service now handles this case gracefully without interrupting the operation.
+
+## Related content
+
+- [What's new in Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server](../whats-new.md)
+- [Azure Database for MySQL - Flexible Server service tiers](../concepts-service-tiers-storage.md)

articles/mysql/flexible-server/release-notes/release-notes-index.md

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ Welcome to the centralized index of release notes for **Azure Database for MySQL
 ## Release notes by year
 
 ### 2026
+- [May-2026](./may-2026.md)
 - [March-2026](./march-2026.md)
 - [January-2026](./january-2026.md)