Usually, Azure gives meaningful messages when a VM creation fails. However, for a while, I was getting a non-descript error message

Failed to Create Virtual Machine xyz…(clicking on details also gave the same message)

This happened whether I tried creating from the Gallery or using QuickCreate. When I showed it to a microsoft Azure specialist, his response was ‘Never seen THAT before…’. In other words, he was expecting more detail – but unable to find it.

We went through a lot of standard troubleshooting…nothing worked.  

What WAS the problem ? (The Admin username)

When provisioning a VM, you are prompted for an Admin username and a password. While the password is super fast about informing you of invalid characters, the admin username does not give any warnings or errors – regardless of what you type in. It turns out, the admin username needs to be somewhat secure (inspite of the missing warnings). When I tried it with a 10 character username, it finally worked ! 

Summary

If you are convinced all your steps (during provisioning a VM) are correct, and are still encountering the error ‘Failed to create Virtual Machine…’, try fixing the admin username on the VM. az 

 

 

Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.

Initial Consultation

Anuj Varma – who has written posts on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.