Trying to utilize Windows Admin Center

Question

Set up Windows Admin Center for two remote servers (Azure VMs). Cannot connect to or manage either one, connection error with each one.

Connection error
Connecting to remote server xx.xxx.xxx.xx failed with the following error message : WinRM cannot complete the operation. Verify that the specified computer name is valid, that the computer is accessible over the network, and that a firewall exception for the WinRM service is enabled and allows access from this computer. By default, the WinRM firewall exception for public profiles limits access to remote computers within the same local subnet. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.

Tried suggestions of allows IPs in Windows Firewall, tried the settings for a different subnet (found at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/manage/windows-admin-center/support/troubleshooting). Nothing works.

Anyone have other suggestions? I'd like to use Windows Admin Center for managing my Azure VMs, but Microsoft does not make it easy.

Answer 1

Hi,
Thank you for posting your query. According to your description, here are some hints for you.
WinRM cannot complete the operation during open the exchange management shell
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/65654/winrm-cannot-complete-the-operation-during-open-th.html
WinRM cannot complete the operation. Verify that the specified computer name is valid
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39917027/winrm-cannot-complete-the-operation-verify-that-the-specified-computer-name-is

Best Regards,
Grace

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Answer 2

@Pflipper Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A. We apologize for the delay in response to your question.

I understand that you are using Windows Admin Center to connect to your remote VMs in Azure and are getting errors when doing the same. Could you confirm if the network security group for these VMs are allowing traffic on WinRM ports (5985/5986)? Please check the effective security rules to determine the same. If you don't have these ports open, please open up these ports by adding a rule to allow the same. Please follow instructions to create a security rule here. Thank you!