Virtual Machine Clouds troubleshooting
Applies To: Windows Azure Pack
This topic describes troubleshooting issues that pertains to provisioning virtual machine clouds and virtual machine roles in Windows Azure Pack for Windows Server. Recommendations are provided for issues in the following areas:
Virtual machine troubleshooting
If you are not seeing clouds that were defined in Service Provider Foundation, see the Credentials checklist in Security Troubleshooting for any authentication issues. Also see Service Provider Foundation troubleshooting. Another way to debug is to test the functionality and operations in the Virtual Machine Manager console.
Can’t log in to a virtual machine using the administrator account
Access a profile setting when creating a VM from a template
Access a virtual machine with remote desktop from the tenant portal
Add a second NIC card to VM template using Service Provider Foundation
Get the error of failure to load virtual machine templates
Configure a tenant to use an existing virtual machine
Specify a computer name for virtual machine
VM Roles and gallery troubleshooting
Access or create gallery items
Add an existing virtual machine to a subscription
Add gallery items to a plan
Create a gallery item for a standalone virtual machine
Deploy a highly available VM role
Deploy a VM role
Get a VM role to stop continuous suspending and repairing
Use a generation 2 virtual machine as a gallery item
Specify a product key when deploying a gallery item
Also see the following blog posts:
Windows Azure Pack–Gallery Item VM Role–References for Creation, Configuration, and Automation
Troubleshooting Windows Azure Pack and Gallery Items Part 1 and Part 2.
For gallery tools, see Automation and tools troubleshooting.
Remote Console troubleshooting
Access a virtual machine with Remote Console and only get JSON data
Configure Remote Console without using a Remote Desktop Gateway
Connect to the console of a virtual machine
Determine which URLs to use for HTTP actions in Remote Console
Pass Ctrl-Alt-Delete to virtual machine console using Remote Console
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Did you know that Microsoft Azure provides similar functionality in the cloud? Learn more about Microsoft Azure virtualization solutions. Create a hybrid virtualization solution in Microsoft Azure: |
Virtual machine troubleshooting
If you are not seeing clouds that were defined in Service Provider Foundation, see the Credentials checklist in Security Troubleshooting for any authentication issues. Also see Service Provider Foundation troubleshooting. Another way to debug is to test the functionality and operations in the Virtual Machine Manager console.
Also see the topic Known issues with Virtual Machine Clouds.
Can’t log in to a virtual machine using the administrator account
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
“Account is disabled” message is displayed when trying to log in to a virtual machine as an administrator.
Recommendation
If the tenant created the virtual machine from a Windows 8 template, it is possible that the administrator account was disabled. To fix this issue, enable the administrator account and republish the VHD and/or template. To enable this administrator account, follow the steps in Enable and Disable the Built-in Administrator Account.
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Access a profile setting when creating a VM from a template
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
After adding a hardware profile on the Windows Azure Pack management portal for administrators, the profile can't be selected for a virtual machine created on the management portal for tenants.
Recommendation
Hardware profiles are not supported when you create a virtual machine from a template. Instead, create the virtual machine from a disk.
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Access a virtual machine with remote desktop from the tenant portal
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
An error message displays in the management portal for tenants when accessing a virtual machine using RDP (Connect->Desktop on the command bar), that Remote desktop can't connect to the remote computer for one of these reasons:
The access to the server is not enabled.
The remote server is turned off.
The remote computer is not available on the network.
Recommendation
You may need to include the public profile in the setting that allows Remote Desktop through the virtual machine's firewall. You will need to adjust the firewall setting in the Control Panel of the tenant's virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager. Perform the following procedure:
In Virtual Machine Manager on the VMs and Services tab, find the cloud that is hosting the tenant's virtual machine, and select that virtual machine.
On the ribbon, click Connect or View->Connect via Desktop.
Sign on with the computer's Administrator password the tenant set when the virtual machine was created.
In Control Panel, click System and Security->Windows Firewall->Allow an App or Feature through Windows Firewall.
Scroll down to Remote Desktop and make sure the Public profile is checked. By default it is not.
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Add a second NIC card to VM template using Service Provider Foundation
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Service Provider Foundation does not support adding a second NIC card to a virtual machine template.
Recommendation
If you want to add a second NIC card to a virtual machine template, you must use Virtual Machine Manager.
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Get the error of failure to load virtual machine templates
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Getting the error "Failed to load virtual machine templates in tenant portal" when creating a virtual machine in the management portal for tenants.
Recommendation
When a tenant is unable to access a virtual machine template in the tenant portal, this error may occur especially if the browser session had timed out.
Log on to management portal for tenants, and sync the plan that has the template that was having trouble. For more information see the forum Failed to load virtual machine templates.
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Configure a tenant to use an existing virtual machine
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Need to associate an existing virtual machine with a tenant's subscription.
Recommendation
See the blog post Adding an already running VM in Virtual Machine Manager to a Windows Azure Pack Subscription.
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Specify a computer name for virtual machine
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Different tenants (and different users in the same tenant network) can easily choose the same computer name and introduce non-unique values on the network. To prevent such name collisions in multi-tenant environments, Windows Azure Pack generates a random computer name for each computer. The Name field is consistent across Windows Azure Pack, VMM, and Hyper-V and should be the primary criterion used to identify a computer.
Recommendation
If you can guarantee unique naming conventions or isolation between virtual machines, you may modify computer names after installation. This can be done manually or in an automated fashion using Service Management Automation.
To have the computer name that was specified in the VM template for a virtual machine to be used by Windows Azure Pack, in the management portal for administrators in Virtual Machine Clouds you must choose Use template to define computer name under custom settings.
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VM Roles and gallery troubleshooting
See the following blog posts:
Windows Azure Pack–Gallery Item VM Role–References for Creation, Configuration, and Automation
Troubleshooting Windows Azure Pack and Gallery Items Part 1 and Part 2.
For gallery tools, see Automation and tools troubleshooting.
Access or create gallery items
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
During deployment of gallery item, such as with the Create VM from Gallery wizard, you get an unexpected error.
Recommendation
You might have an error in a Virtual Machine Manager setting. Ensure that the following are true:
The list of read-only shares in the Cloud Properties includes the library share hosting the virtual hard drive.
The virtual hard drive familyname is set.
The virtual hard drive release is in the format n.n.n.n (for example, 1.0.0.0).
The virtual hard drive operating system property is set.
All tags required by the gallery item are set for the virtual hard drive. These are found in the gallery item’s readme and can only be set using the Set-SCVirtualHardDisk cmdlet.
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Add an existing virtual machine to a subscription
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
A tenant migrated a virtual machine from an on-premise environment to a service provider environment and now wants to assign that virtual machine to his subscription.
Recommendation
Follow the steps outlined in Adding an already running VM in Virtual Machine Manager to a Windows Azure Pack.
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Add gallery items to a plan
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
The gallery does not show the expected items to add to a plan.
Recommendation
Make sure you have imported the gallery item correctly. Follow the procedures in Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds.
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Create a gallery item for a standalone virtual machine
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Need to have a gallery item for a standalone virtual machine.
Recommendation
Standalone virtual machines are Virtual Machine Manager templates. To create one follow these steps:
In Virtual Machine Manager, create a virtual machine template.
In Window Azure Pack, add the template to a plan. It will then show up in the gallery.
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Deploy a highly available VM role
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
How do I deploy a highly available VM role?
Recommendation
To deploy a highly available virtual machine role, follow these steps:
Ensure that you have one or more clusters backing the cloud.
In Virtual Machine Manager, open the Properties for the cloud.
Click the Custom Properties tab, and then click Manage Custom Properties.
Make sure the object type is set to Cloud.
Create a new custom property and name it CreateHighlyAvailableVmRoles.
Add the new property to the Assigned properties list, and then click OK.
On the cloud, set the property to true, and then click OK.
Refresh the browser, and then deploy.
Alternatively, you can use the following commands:
$customProperty = New-SCCustomProperty -Name "CreateHighlyAvailableVmRoles" -Description "Create Highly Available Virtual Machine Roles" -AddMember @("Cloud")
$cloud = Get-SCCloud –Name "CloudName"
Set-SCCustomPropertyValue -CustomProperty $customProperty -InputObject $cloud -Value "true"
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Deploy a VM role
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
You get the following Virtual Machine Manager error (or something similar): VM Role resource (name) was not successfully deployed in the Cloud Service.
Recommendation
Make sure that you selected the Cloud capabilities option instead of the Hyper-V option.
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Get a VM role to stop continuous suspending and repairing
Pertains to: Administer Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
A virtual machine gets stuck in a continuous loop of suspending and resuming. This might be the result of one of the following.
A physical failure of the CPU.
The BIOS power saving option on the host was enabled, which turned a CPU off.
Recommendation
Try one of the following:
Replace the faulty CPU.
Disable the BIOS power saving option.
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Use a generation 2 virtual machine as a gallery item
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
Want to deploy a generation 2 virtual machine as an item in the gallery.
Recommendation
You can use Generation 2 virtual machines as standalones for a plan, but Windows Azure Pack does not support for deploying Virtual Machine Manager services or VM roles. Also see the blog post, Details on Generation 2 virtual machines and using them in VMM 2012 R2.
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Specify a product key when deploying a gallery item
Pertains to: Using gallery items in Virtual Machine Clouds
Problem
When deploying a gallery item, a product key must be manually entered or the operating system deployment can't continue.
Recommendation
There are two options to address this issue.
Before deploying the gallery item, ensure that the sysprep disk is a volume license disk.
Before deploying the gallery item, set a product key on the virtual disk using the following cmdlet:
Set-scvirtualharddisk –virtualharddisk $vhd –productkey <product key>
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Remote Console troubleshooting
Access a virtual machine with Remote Console and only get JSON data
Pertains to: Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2
Problem
When accessing a virtual machine with Remote Console all that is returned is JSON data.
Recommendation
Verify that you configured the RD Gateway and required certificates as described in Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2.
Also, make sure the Hyper-V hosts are running on a server running Windows Server 2012 R2.
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Configure Remote Console without using a Remote Desktop Gateway
Pertains to: Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2
Problem
Want to configure Remote Console without using a Remote Desktop Gateway (RDGW).
Recommendation
The RDGW is optional and you can skip that configuration. Not having the RDGW assumes that you want to connect directly to System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager or other Hyper-V hosts such as for a demo environment. The RDGW allows clients to connect to the hosts without the hosts being exposed to the internet.
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Connect to the console of a virtual machine
Pertains to: Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2
Problem
Receive an error when attempting to connect to a virtual machine.
Recommendation
Run the Configuration Analyzer for System Center 2012 R2 on System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, Remote Desktop Gateway, and Service Provider Foundation to determine any missing configurations.
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Determine which URLs to use for HTTP actions in Remote Console
Pertains to: Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2
Problem
When submitting an HTTP Get action using Remote Console, unable to determine the URL of how to send the request.
Recommendation
Use the Service Provider Foundation Virtual Machine Manager Service to get the RDP file and then send the RDP file to the tenant. The RDP file is in the VMConnection property obtained by performing a GET operation on the virtual machine. The contents of the VMConnection property need to be built into an HTTP document with ContentType = "application/x-rdp" and sent to the browser.
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Pass Ctrl-Alt-Delete to virtual machine console using Remote Console
Pertains to: Remote Console in System Center 2012 R2
Problem
Unable to pass a Cltr-Alt-Delete for signing on to a virtual machine.
Recommendation
Try Ctrl-Alt-End. If you use Remote Console from the client computer to virtual machine A, and then use Remote Console to virtual machine B, you will probably have to use the on-screen keyboard to do a Ctrl-Alt-End to sign on to virtual machine B.
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