The Virtual Machine is stopping as requested by an authorized user or process, or due to a guest activity from within the Virtual Machine. No other action is required at this time.

Question

The Virtual Machine is stopping as requested by an authorized user or process, or due to a guest activity from within the Virtual Machine. No other action is required at this time.

Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan 0 Reputation points

2025-06-19T06:27:42.5133333+00:00

We had enabled auto-shutdown, so automatically system got shutdown.

As you have mentioned, we dont need to take any action. So you mean automatically this VM gets resolved on its own without any action ?
Sudheer Reddy 2,055 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-20T05:58:32.2+00:00

Hi Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan,

Yes, this is known and expected information. When you enable auto-shutdown on an Azure Virtual Machine, the system will automatically shut down the VM at the configured time. The message you received as you shared above is a standard notification indicating that the shutdown was triggered by your auto-shutdown configuration, not by an error or unexpected event.

Hope it helps! If the information is helpful, please click on "Accept Answer" and "Upvote"

If you have any queries, please do let us know, we will help you.
Alex Burlachenko 11,035 Reputation points

2025-06-20T07:23:27.9866667+00:00

Dear Somanahali, aha, so auto-shutdown was the culprit )) yes yes, u got it right, this is totally normal behavior and the VM will sort itself out without any action needed from u.

when u set up auto-shutdown in Azure, it’s like giving the system a bedtime alarm clock )) the VM shuts down cleanly, saves its state, and chills until u decide to wake it up again. no resolution needed because... well, it’s working exactly as designed )))))))))))))

u might wanna check the shutdown time in ur auto-shutdown settings. sometimes we set it for 7pm but actually needed 9pm, ya know?

this might help in other tools too... whether it’s AWS, GCP, or any cloud, auto-shutdown features usually follow the same principle. just remember, it’s not an error, it’s a feature ;D

if u ever want to prevent this, u can either disable auto-shutdown or configure exceptions for specific days. super flexible!

ps: if u notice the VM shutting down at weird times, check for any Azure Policies or management groups that might be overriding ur settings. happens sometimes! :)

rgds,

Alex
Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan 0 Reputation points

2025-06-23T12:22:32.1633333+00:00
Hi Sudheer and Alex,

Thanks for your response!

We have enabled auto shutdown for this VM and also 60+ VM's from past 5 years. We had not faced this issue before anytime. This is the first time we are seeing this issue.

And as you all mentioned about VM will sort on its own no action to be taken, but its been almost 5-6days issue we are facing. Still this VM issue is not resolved on its own.

After starting the VM:

Observe Status still shows as 'Stopped' even when activity shows as 'Started virtual machine'

After refreshing the browser:

Observe Start button is still enabled and there is warning message displayed.

Even on RDP this VM is not getting connected.
Sudheer Reddy 2,055 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-24T05:11:33.2633333+00:00

Hi Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan,

If you have Azure Serial Console access, try restarting the VM agent service: Restart the WindowsAzureGuestAgent service.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-azure-guest-agent

In the VM's menu, click Help then select Resource health, check the status for any platform-initiated events, outages, or maintenance that could be affecting your VM.

In the VM's menu, click Help then select Boot diagnostics, review screenshot and serial log to check for any errors, boot errors, service failures etc.

If the issue persists, please check with below following recommendations:

Resize the VM which changes the VM size forces it onto new hardware and can resolve stuck states. Ensure back up your data before resizing.

Redeploy the VM which will move your VM to a new Azure host, which can resolve platform-level issues.

Recreate the VM**:** As a last step, try to delete the VM (keep the disks) and create a new VM using the existing OS disk.

If you have any queries, please do let us know, we will help you.

1 answer

Your answer

Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan 0 Reputation points

2025-06-19T06:27:42.5133333+00:00

We had enabled auto-shutdown, so automatically system got shutdown.

As you have mentioned, we dont need to take any action. So you mean automatically this VM gets resolved on its own without any action ?
Sudheer Reddy 2,055 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-20T05:58:32.2+00:00

Hi Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan,

Yes, this is known and expected information. When you enable auto-shutdown on an Azure Virtual Machine, the system will automatically shut down the VM at the configured time. The message you received as you shared above is a standard notification indicating that the shutdown was triggered by your auto-shutdown configuration, not by an error or unexpected event.

Hope it helps! If the information is helpful, please click on "Accept Answer" and "Upvote"

If you have any queries, please do let us know, we will help you.
Alex Burlachenko 11,035 Reputation points

2025-06-20T07:23:27.9866667+00:00

Dear Somanahali, aha, so auto-shutdown was the culprit )) yes yes, u got it right, this is totally normal behavior and the VM will sort itself out without any action needed from u.

when u set up auto-shutdown in Azure, it’s like giving the system a bedtime alarm clock )) the VM shuts down cleanly, saves its state, and chills until u decide to wake it up again. no resolution needed because... well, it’s working exactly as designed )))))))))))))

u might wanna check the shutdown time in ur auto-shutdown settings. sometimes we set it for 7pm but actually needed 9pm, ya know?

this might help in other tools too... whether it’s AWS, GCP, or any cloud, auto-shutdown features usually follow the same principle. just remember, it’s not an error, it’s a feature ;D

if u ever want to prevent this, u can either disable auto-shutdown or configure exceptions for specific days. super flexible!

ps: if u notice the VM shutting down at weird times, check for any Azure Policies or management groups that might be overriding ur settings. happens sometimes! :)

rgds,

Alex
Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan 0 Reputation points

2025-06-23T12:22:32.1633333+00:00

Hi Sudheer and Alex,

Thanks for your response!

We have enabled auto shutdown for this VM and also 60+ VM's from past 5 years. We had not faced this issue before anytime. This is the first time we are seeing this issue.

And as you all mentioned about VM will sort on its own no action to be taken, but its been almost 5-6days issue we are facing. Still this VM issue is not resolved on its own.

After starting the VM:

Observe Status still shows as 'Stopped' even when activity shows as 'Started virtual machine'

After refreshing the browser:

Observe Start button is still enabled and there is warning message displayed.

Even on RDP this VM is not getting connected.
Sudheer Reddy 2,055 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-24T05:11:33.2633333+00:00

Hi Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan,

If you have Azure Serial Console access, try restarting the VM agent service: Restart the WindowsAzureGuestAgent service.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-azure-guest-agent

In the VM's menu, click Help then select Resource health, check the status for any platform-initiated events, outages, or maintenance that could be affecting your VM.

In the VM's menu, click Help then select Boot diagnostics, review screenshot and serial log to check for any errors, boot errors, service failures etc.

If the issue persists, please check with below following recommendations:

Resize the VM which changes the VM size forces it onto new hardware and can resolve stuck states. Ensure back up your data before resizing.

Redeploy the VM which will move your VM to a new Azure host, which can resolve platform-level issues.

Recreate the VM**:** As a last step, try to delete the VM (keep the disks) and create a new VM using the existing OS disk.

If you have any queries, please do let us know, we will help you.

Answer 1

Hi Somanahali Keshavamurthy, Darshan,

User's image

The virtual machine (VM) was intentionally stopped, either by an authorized user issuing a stop or shutdown or a process or automation script with the necessary permissions.

This is an informational event, not an error or warning, and no action is required unless you did not intend for the VM to stop.

Please check below documentation for more information:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-health/resource-health-vm-annotation

Hope it helps!

If the information is helpful, please click on "Upvote"

If you have any queries, please do let us know, we will help you.

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The Virtual Machine is stopping as requested by an authorized user or process, or due to a guest activity from within the Virtual Machine. No other action is required at this time.

1 answer

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