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Understand and resolve Azure IoT Hub errors

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This article describes the causes and solutions for common error codes that you might encounter while using IoT Hub.

400027 Connection forcefully closed on new connection

You may see the 400027 ConnectionForcefullyClosedOnNewConnection error if your device disconnects and reports Communication_Error as the ConnectionStatusChangeReason using .NET SDK and MQTT transport type. Or, your device-to-cloud twin operation (such as read or patch reported properties) or direct method invocation fails with the error code 400027.

This error occurs when another client creates a new connection to IoT Hub using the same identity, so IoT Hub closes the previous connection. IoT Hub doesn't allow more than one client to connect using the same identity.

To resolve this error, ensure that each client connects to IoT Hub using its own identity.

401003 IoT Hub unauthorized

In logs, you may see a pattern of devices disconnecting with 401003 IoTHubUnauthorized, followed by 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely, and then successfully connecting shortly after.

Or, requests to IoT Hub fail with one of the following error messages:

  • Authorization header missing
  • IotHub '*' does not contain the specified device '*'
  • Authorization rule '*' does not allow access for '*'
  • Authentication failed for this device, renew token or certificate and reconnect
  • Thumbprint does not match configuration: Thumbprint: SHA1Hash=*, SHA2Hash=*; Configuration: PrimaryThumbprint=*, SecondaryThumbprint=*
  • Principal user@example.com is not authorized for GET on /exampleOperation due to no assigned permissions

This error occurs because, for MQTT, some SDKs rely on IoT Hub to issue the disconnect when the SAS token expires to know when to refresh it. So,

  1. The SAS token expires
  2. IoT Hub notices the expiration, and disconnects the device with 401003 IoTHubUnauthorized
  3. The device completes the disconnection with 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely
  4. The IoT SDK generates a new SAS token
  5. The device reconnects with IoT Hub successfully

Or, IoT Hub couldn't authenticate the auth header, rule, or key. This could be due to any of the reasons cited in the symptoms.

To resolve this error, no action is needed if using IoT SDK for connection using the device connection string. IoT SDK regenerates the new token to reconnect on SAS token expiration.

The default token lifespan is 60 minutes across SDKs; however, for some SDKs the token lifespan and the token renewal threshold is configurable. Additionally, the errors generated when a device disconnects and reconnects on token renewal differs for each SDK. To learn more, and for information about how to determine which SDK your device is using in logs, see MQTT device disconnect behavior with Azure IoT SDKs.

For device developers, if the volume of errors is a concern, switch to the C SDK, which renews the SAS token before expiration. For AMQP, the SAS token can refresh without disconnection.

In general, the error message presented should explain how to fix the error. If for some reason you don't have access to the error message detail, make sure:

  • The SAS or other security token you use isn't expired.
  • For X.509 certificate authentication, the device certificate or the CA certificate associated with the device isn't expired. To learn how to register X.509 CA certificates with IoT Hub, see Tutorial: Create and upload certificates for testing.
  • For X.509 certificate thumbprint authentication, the thumbprint of the device certificate is registered with IoT Hub.
  • The authorization credential is well formed for the protocol that you use. To learn more, see Control access to IoT Hub.
  • The authorization rule used has the permission for the operation requested.
  • For the last error messages beginning with "principal...", this error can be resolved by assigning the correct level of Azure RBAC permission to the user. For example, an Owner on the IoT Hub can assign the "IoT Hub Data Owner" role, which gives all permissions. Try this role to resolve the lack of permission issue.

Note

Some devices may experience a time drift issue when the device time has a greater than five minute difference from the server. This error can occur when a device has been connecting to an IoT hub without issues for weeks or even months but then starts to continually have its connection refused. The error can also be specific to a subset of devices connected to the IoT hub, since the time drift can happen at different rates depending upon when a device is first connected or turned on.

Often, performing a time sync using NTP or rebooting the device (which can automatically perform a time sync during the boot sequence) fixes the issue and allows the device to connect again. To avoid this error, configure the device to perform a periodic time sync using NTP. You can schedule the sync for daily, weekly or monthly depending on the amount of drift the device experiences. If you can't configure a periodic NTP sync on your device, then schedule a periodic reboot.

403002 IoT Hub quota exceeded

You may see requests to IoT Hub fail with the error 403002 IoTHubQuotaExceeded. And in Azure portal, the IoT hub device list doesn't load.

This error typically occurs when the daily message quota for the IoT hub is exceeded. To resolve this error:

This error may also be returned by a bulk import job when the number of devices registered to your IoT hub approaches or exceeds the quota limit for an IoT hub. To learn more, see Troubleshoot import jobs.

403004 Device maximum queue depth exceeded

When trying to send a cloud-to-device message, you may see that the request fails with the error 403004 or DeviceMaximumQueueDepthExceeded.

The underlying cause of this error is that the number of messages enqueued for the device exceeds the queue limit.

The most likely reason that you're running into this limit is because you're using HTTPS to receive the message, which leads to continuous polling using ReceiveAsync, resulting in IoT Hub throttling the request.

The supported pattern for cloud-to-device messages with HTTPS is intermittently connected devices that check for messages infrequently (less than every 25 minutes). To reduce the likelihood of running into the queue limit, switch to AMQP or MQTT for cloud-to-device messages.

Alternatively, enhance device side logic to complete, reject, or abandon queued messages quickly, shorten the time to live, or consider sending fewer messages. See C2D message time to live.

Lastly, consider using the Purge Queue API to periodically clean up pending messages before the limit is reached.

403006 Device maximum active file upload limit exceeded

You may see that your file upload request fails with the error code 403006 DeviceMaximumActiveFileUploadLimitExceeded and a message "Number of active file upload requests cannot exceed 10".

This error occurs because each device client is limited for concurrent file uploads. You can easily exceed the limit if your device doesn't notify IoT Hub when file uploads are completed. This problem is commonly caused by an unreliable device side network.

To resolve this error, ensure that the device can promptly notify IoT Hub file upload completion. Then, try reducing the SAS token TTL for file upload configuration.

404001 Device not found

During a cloud-to-device (C2D) communication, such as C2D message, twin update, or direct method, you may see that the operation fails with error 404001 DeviceNotFound.

The operation failed because IoT Hub can't find the device. The device either isn't registered or is disabled.

To resolve this error, register the device ID that you used, then try again.

404103 Device not online

You may see that a direct method to a device fails with the error 404103 DeviceNotOnline even if the device is online.

If you know that the device is online and still get the error, then the error likely occurred because the direct method callback isn't registered on the device.

To configure your device properly for direct method callbacks, see Handle a direct method on a device.

404104 Device connection closed remotely

You may see that devices disconnect at a regular interval (every 65 minutes, for example) and you see 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely in IoT Hub resource logs. Sometimes, you also see 401003 IoTHubUnauthorized and a successful device connection event less than a minute later.

Or, devices disconnect randomly, and you see 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely in IoT Hub resource logs.

Or, many devices disconnect at once, you see a dip in the Connected devices (connectedDeviceCount) metric, and there are more 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely and 500xxx Internal errors in Azure Monitor Logs than usual.

This error can occur because the SAS token used to connect to IoT Hub expired, which causes IoT Hub to disconnect the device. The connection is re-established when the token is refreshed by the device. For example, the SAS token expires every hour by default for C SDK, which can lead to regular disconnects. To learn more, see 401003 IoTHubUnauthorized.

Some other possibilities include:

  • The device lost underlying network connectivity longer than the MQTT keep-alive, resulting in a remote idle timeout. The MQTT keep-alive setting can be different per device.
  • The device sent a TCP/IP-level reset but didn't send an application-level MQTT DISCONNECT. Basically, the device abruptly closed the underlying socket connection. Sometimes, this issue is caused by bugs in older versions of the Azure IoT SDK.
  • The device side application crashed.

Or, IoT Hub might be experiencing a transient issue. See IoT Hub internal server error.

To resolve this error:

We recommend using Azure IoT device SDKs to manage connections reliably. To learn more, see Manage connectivity and reliable messaging by using Azure IoT Hub device SDKs

409001 Device already exists

When trying to register a device in IoT Hub, you may see that the request fails with the error 409001 DeviceAlreadyExists.

This error occurs because there's already a device with the same device ID in the IoT hub.

To resolve this error, use a different device ID and try again.

You may see the error 409002 LinkCreationConflict in logs along with device disconnection or cloud-to-device message failure.

Generally, this error happens when IoT Hub detects a client has more than one connection. In fact, when a new connection request arrives for a device with an existing connection, IoT Hub closes the existing connection with this error.

In the most common case, a separate issue (such as 404104 DeviceConnectionClosedRemotely) causes the device to disconnect. The device tries to reestablish the connection immediately, but IoT Hub still considers the device connected. IoT Hub closes the previous connection and logs this error.

Or, faulty device-side logic causes the device to establish the connection when one is already open.

To resolve this error, look for other errors in the logs that you can troubleshoot because this error usually appears as a side effect of a different, transient issue. Otherwise, make sure to issue a new connection request only if the connection drops.

412002 Device message lock lost

When trying to send a cloud-to-device message, you may see that the request fails with the error 412002 DeviceMessageLockLost.

This error occurs because when a device receives a cloud-to-device message from the queue (for example, using ReceiveAsync()) the message is locked by IoT Hub for a lock timeout duration of one minute. If the device tries to complete the message after the lock timeout expires, IoT Hub throws this exception.

If IoT Hub doesn't get the notification within the one-minute lock timeout duration, it sets the message back to Enqueued state. The device can attempt to receive the message again. To prevent the error from happening in the future, implement device side logic to complete the message within one minute of receiving the message. This one-minute time-out can't be changed.

429001 Throttling exception

You may see that your requests to IoT Hub fail with the error 429001 ThrottlingException.

This error occurs when IoT Hub throttling limits have been exceeded for the requested operation.

To resolve this error, check if you're hitting the throttling limit by comparing your Telemetry message send attempts metric against the limits specified above. You can also check the Number of throttling errors metric. For information about these metrics, see Device telemetry metrics. For information about how use metrics to help you monitor your IoT hub, see Monitor IoT Hub.

IoT Hub returns 429 ThrottlingException only after the limit has been violated for too long a period. This is done so that your messages aren't dropped if your IoT hub gets burst traffic. In the meantime, IoT Hub processes the messages at the operation throttle rate, which might be slow if there's too much traffic in the backlog. To learn more, see IoT Hub traffic shaping.

Consider scaling up your IoT Hub if you're running into quota or throttling limits.

500xxx Internal errors

You may see that your request to IoT Hub fails with an error that begins with 500 and/or some sort of "server error." Some possibilities are:

  • 500001 ServerError: IoT Hub ran into a server-side issue.

  • 500008 GenericTimeout: IoT Hub couldn't complete the connection request before timing out.

  • ServiceUnavailable (no error code): IoT Hub encountered an internal error.

  • InternalServerError (no error code): IoT Hub encountered an internal error.

There can be many causes for a 500xxx error response. In all cases, the issue is most likely transient. While the IoT Hub team works hard to maintain the SLA, small subsets of IoT Hub nodes can occasionally experience transient faults. When your device tries to connect to a node that's having issues, you receive this error.

To mitigate 500xxx errors, issue a retry from the device. To automatically manage retries, make sure you use the latest version of the Azure IoT SDKs. For best practice on transient fault handling and retries, see Transient fault handling.

If the problem persists, check Resource Health and Azure Status to see if IoT Hub has a known problem. You can also use the manual failover feature.

If there are no known problems and the issue continues, contact support for further investigation.

503003 Partition not found

You may see that requests to IoT Hub fail with the error 503003 PartitionNotFound.

This error is internal to IoT Hub and is likely transient. See IoT Hub internal server errors.

To resolve this error, see IoT Hub internal server errors.

504101 Gateway timeout

When trying to invoke a direct method from IoT Hub to a device, you may see that the request fails with the error 504101 GatewayTimeout.

This error occurs because IoT Hub encountered an error and couldn't confirm if the direct method completed before timing out. Or, when using an earlier version of the Azure IoT C# SDK (<1.19.0), the AMQP link between the device and IoT Hub can be dropped silently because of a bug.

To resolve this error, issue a retry or upgrade to the latest version of the Azure IOT C# SDK.