Can't connect Linux VM

Karying Tam 0

Hi,

My Linux VM can't be accessed in power on status.

Tried Support suggestions as below but still can't work.

Root Cause Analysis Summary: The VM xxx is currently in a stopped and deallocated state. This power status indicates that the VM is effectively powered off and thus not accessible for connections.

Recommendation:

Start the VM xxx either from the Azure portal or using the following Azure CLI command:

az vm start --resource-group xxx --name xxx --subscription 1af6208f-1da0-4a6a-8d92-795ab6536

Azure CLI command (Manual)

You can copy and run the following Azure CLI command(s) in the cloud shell:

az account set --subscription 1af6208f-1da0-4a6a-8d92-795ab6536 az vm start --resource-group xxx --name xxx --subscription 1af6208f-1da0-4a6a-8d92-795ab6536

Anusree Nashetty 6,715 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-15T04:18:32.2833333+00:00
Hello @Karying Tam

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform. Thank you for posting your query here.

The Root Cause Analysis you shared indicates that the VM was in a Stopped (Deallocated) state and recommends starting the VM. However, from your latest update, we understand that the Linux VM is currently showing a Running/Powered On status but remains inaccessible.

To investigate further, could you please provide the following details:

What is the exact error message when attempting to connect (for example: Connection timed out, Connection refused, Permission denied, etc.)?

Please share a screenshot of the VM Overview page showing the current power state.

From the Azure portal, please provide the results of:

Boot Diagnostics screenshot/serial log

Resource Health status

Has any recent change been made to the VM, NSG, route table, firewall, SSH configuration, or operating system?

You can share the requested details in private chat.

1 answer

AI answer

2026-08-14T02:39:28+00:00
If the VM is still not accessible, verify the actual power state first, then use the next recovery actions based on that result.

Check the VM power state in Azure CLI:

az vm get-instance-view \ --name <vm-name> \ --resource-group <resource-group> \ --query instanceView.statuses[1] --output table

Expected result:

VM running means the guest OS has started from the hypervisor perspective.

VM stopped still incurs compute charges.

VM deallocated does not incur compute charges and cannot accept connections.

If the VM is Deallocated or Stopped, start it:

az vm start -g <resource-group> -n <vm-name>

Then wait 1–2 minutes and check the power state again. Azure Bastion guidance requires the VM to be in the Running power state before it can accept connections.

If the VM shows Running but SSH still fails, restart the VM to clear underlying compute issues:

az vm restart --resource-group <resource-group> --name <vm-name>

Portal path:

VM > Restart

If restart does not help, redeploy the VM to a new Azure host:

az vm redeploy --resource-group <resource-group> --name <vm-name>

Portal path:

VM > Help > Redeploy

Warning:

Redeploy can cause loss of ephemeral disk data.

Dynamic public IP addresses associated with the VM are updated.

If the VM is stuck in Failed state in the portal, run reapply:

az vm reapply -g <resource-group> -n <vm-name>

Portal path:

VM > Support + troubleshooting > Redeploy + reapply > Reapply

If the VM is Running but Linux is still unreachable, check whether SSH permissions or ownership are broken. If the Azure Linux VM Agent is Ready, use:

VM > Operations > Run Command > RunShellScript

For Ubuntu:

#!/bin/bash mkdir -p /var/run/sshd;chmod 755 /var/run/sshd;chown root:root /var/run/sshd

For RHEL:

#!/bin/bash mkdir -p /var/empty/sshd;chmod 755 /var/empty/sshd;chown root:root /var/empty/sshd

For SUSE:

#!/bin/bash mkdir -p /var/lib/empty;chmod 755 /var/lib/empty;chown root:root /var/lib/empty

If the VM Agent is not ready, use the Serial Console instead and run the same OS-specific commands there.

References:

Tutorial: Create and Manage Linux VMs with the Azure CLI

Troubleshoot SSH connections to an Azure Linux VM that fails, errors out, or is refused

Troubleshoot Azure Bastion session failures due to unhealthy target VMs

Virtual machine stuck in a failed state

Troubleshoot SSH connection issues in Azure Linux VM due to permission and ownership issues
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