I can’t connect to my Azure VM

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Tim Tetrick

 

Last week I talked about How do I configure my security system with an Azure VPN as one of the most common Azure Support scenarios that we get.  Another big driver of Azure Support volumes is issues around not being able to connect to your VM running in Azure. 

For Windows VMs, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is the proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft that is commonly used to connect from your local machine to the Windows VM running in Azure.  When it comes to VM RDP errors, the most common and generic error reported is "remote desktop can't find the computer computername”. This might mean that computername does not belong to the specified network, so first verify the computer name and domain that you are trying to connect to.

Next, ensure that the VM's status is Running and restart the VM using the Azure Management Portal. Then try connecting again.

If you’re still having issues, take a look at Troubleshoot Remote Desktop connections to an Azure virtual machine running Windows as well as How to reset the Remote Desktop service or its login password in a Windows VM.

If all else fails, create a Technical Support case.  In the new Azure Portal, click on the Help + support tile and then click on New support request.

While troubleshooting the issue, be sure to distinguish between Classic VMs (v1) and Resource Manager (ARM or v2) VMs, as there are additional options in the new Azure Portal for Classic VMs that are not yet available for ARM VMs.

Below are some additional resources and information to help you with troubleshooting and resolving these issues connecting to both Windows VMs as well as Linux-based VMs.

Troubleshooting guides:

Additional information: