Azure cloud services (classic) no longer start up

Greg S 50

Starting last week around 3/7, cloud services (classic) no longer start correctly. Some existing instances have fallen into "Starting" or "Failed starting VM" mode. When trying to start new "ExtraSmall" instances and they either are stuck in "Starting" or say "Failed starting VM". Reimaging and rebooting do not help. Scaling to more instances - the new instances don't start. Starting more than one doesn't seem to help. Starting in different regions doesn't help. Starting on a different subscription or account doesn't help. Starting larger instances DOES seems to help. But A1v2 is 3 times more expensive.

It used to be when I encountered a startup error or cycling, an error message would be displayed when clicking on the instance - or I could remote desktop into it to see errors - but these messages prevent me from connecting or seeing any additional error information.

Instances that are stuck in "Starting" cannot be swapped with existing instances either.

When I go through troubleshooting, it tries to run diagnostics and that fails too - and tells me to try again later - but it has been 5 days now. Operation log (classic) shows "Succeeded" but the instance is unresponsive and still shows "Starting".

Yes, I am aware that cloud services (classic) is going away in August 2024.

Anyone know what is going on? And why is there no way to get support involved without paying? If it is a real problem and not something I did, do I get a refund of my support fee?

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Andy Santoro 15 Reputation points

2024-03-13T21:01:03.3266667+00:00

I'm running into this as well. Fortunately, it's on my QA instance, but I'm concerned about what I'll do if production gets hit the same way.
CityLightsRBrite 11 Reputation points

2024-03-13T22:56:52.2733333+00:00

We seem to be seeing this problem as well (or a similar one) on a Cloud Service (classic) WebRole instance. The portal last showed activity on Mar 6, then it is flat-lined after that. The state is now "Failed starting VM".

The ServiceConfiguration.csdef specifies vmsize="ExtraSmall" for the WebRole. The ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg specifies osFamily="4" and osVersion="*".

This Cloud Service also has a WorkerRole that is the same size, but the WorkerRole still shows as running.
Andy Santoro 15 Reputation points

2024-03-14T17:51:50.5033333+00:00

I've tried changing the OS version in my .cscfg to osFamily="4" osVersion="WA-GUEST-OS-4.127_202401-01" and now my service starts up as ExtraSmall for the vmsize.

I'd rather use the latest OS, but having something running is better than nothing.

The weird thing is of the two instances I have across two subscriptions, only the QA one has been affected so far.
Greg S 50 Reputation points

2024-03-14T19:35:41.4366667+00:00

I think they have fixed (or are actively fixing something) - note the edit in the answer below. 20 minutes ago, I was able to spin up a new ExtraSmall instance in South Central US region with no changes and no problems. New instances in East US and North Central US still "Starting" or "Failed starting VM". I tried changing the osVersion to what you used and it didn't help me (in East US region anyway). Hopefully they are actively fixing it and we're not just getting lucky once in a while.
Andy Santoro 15 Reputation points

2024-03-14T21:38:36.02+00:00

I'm using West US and West US 2 regions, so that might cover why it didn't work for you. I am hoping that they've got a fix that they are rolling out as well.
James Thorpe 0 Reputation points

2024-03-19T05:45:18.5933333+00:00

Same issue for me, I'm afraid, still persisting since Thurs 14th.

I can deploy Medium or larger Cloud Services webroles to South Central US and they deploy and start with no issues but as soon as I deploy my usual "Small" webrole it fails. Well, to be accurate, it spends ages alternating between the "Starting" status and the "Unknown" status and, if left long enough (6+ hours) ends up as "Failed".

Please resolve this rapidly MS! We cannot be using resources at twice the cost that we required.
kobulloc-MSFT 23,416 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-04-01T18:46:31.1733333+00:00

Hello, @Greg S ! Please take a moment to let us know that your issue has been resolved by accepting an answer.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so we can address it. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!
Greg S 50 Reputation points

2024-04-01T19:26:55.9866667+00:00

Reverting to a prior OS did resolve the issue, though instances seem to take quite a bit longer to start now. Not sure how it was different than the OS I tried earlier - but they are working now. I will mark the answer.
kobulloc-MSFT 23,416 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-04-01T20:30:30.5066667+00:00

Thank you very much for following up, @Greg S !

Accepted answer

kobulloc-MSFT 23,416 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-13T20:15:57.5966667+00:00
Hello, @Greg S !

I've tried troubleshooting and going through logs, but Azure Cloud Services (Classic) will no longer start up. What should I do?

Update: We've received several overlapping reports. This is currently being identified as a known issue with recent OS versions. As a temporary workaround, you can revert the OS version.

It looks like you've already done quite a bit of troubleshooting, but if Azure Cloud Services (Classic) but these would be the checklists for allocation failures and for a role failing to start:

Troubleshooting allocation failure when you deploy Cloud Services (classic) in Azure

Troubleshoot Azure Cloud Services (Classic) deployment problems

Troubleshoot Azure Cloud Service (classic) roles that fail to start

If you've already gone through those steps, then we may need to take a closer look at those resources. I'll reach out to you directly with additional information.

I hope this has been helpful! Your feedback is important so please take a moment to accept answers.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!
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Greg S 50 Reputation points

2024-03-13T21:40:59.1366667+00:00

I have tried most of these suggestions - but I don't think its something on my end because A) it happens on multiple subscriptions, regions, new and old cloud services and B) doesn't happen on other sizes besides ExtraSmall. It behaves as though you massively dropped the capacity for ExtraSmall (A0) instances and now nothing new can start. Maybe someone thought this made sense with classic going away - but it doesn't because you still need new instances for scaling and pushing changes to staging and swapping. But even so, it even has impacted existing instances that have been running fine for months.

Greg S 50 Reputation points

2024-03-13T21:54:36.44+00:00

If needed, I can provide examples on 5 different subscriptions, 3 different regions.

CityLightsRBrite 11 Reputation points

2024-03-28T23:18:08.8266667+00:00

@kobulloc-MSFT

The last edit to the answer seemed to be "We're currently investigating and will provide updates as we learn more."

Can you provide any more information? Was really just hoping to test a Cloud Service (classic) one more time before attempting migration to Cloud Services (extended support).

kobulloc-MSFT 23,416 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-29T21:31:31.02+00:00

Hello @CityLightsRBrite!

I made an update today to the answer. This is related to a known issue with recent OS versions. As a temporary workaround, you can revert the OS. Thank you for being patient!
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Azure cloud services (classic) no longer start up

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