My subscription cannot deploy even small standard VM

Question

My subscription cannot deploy even small standard VM sizes such as B1ms, B2s, and F1s across multiple regions (Central India, West US 2, East US, etc.). These sizes show “Size not available” and require quota requests. I am using Azure startup credits and need to deploy a small Linux VM for development/testing. Please review and increase compute vCPU quota for common VM families (B-series, Dv5-series, Fsv2-series) so I can create standard virtual machines.

Answer 1

Hello Shaikh, it sounds like you’re running into the default vCPU quota limits on your subscription—especially for the B-series, Dv5-series, and Fsv2-series VM families. By default, free or startup-credit subscriptions have fairly low per-series vCPU caps, and once you hit that limit you’ll see “Size not available” or be prompted to file a quota request.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Check your current quotas – In the Azure portal go to Subscriptions > [Your Subscription] > Usage + quotas. – Filter for “Compute” > “vCPUs” and look at each VM family (e.g. B-series, Dv5, Fsv2) in the regions you care about.
2. File a quota increase request – Still under Usage + quotas, select the vCPU line for each VM family/region that shows 0 or a low limit. – Click “Request increase” and specify the new vCPU quota you need for development/testing. – Fill in the details and submit. Quota increases typically process within a few hours to a day.
3. Verify region support and capacity – Some sizes truly aren’t available in every region. You can verify using Azure CLI: az vm list-skus --location centralindia --size B1ms --output table – If a SKU isn’t in the list, try a nearby region or pick a different size in the same family.
4. If you’re on a free-trial or student-credit subscription – Note there’s a hard cap you can’t exceed unless you upgrade to pay-as-you-go. – To upgrade, go to Subscriptions > [Your free/trial subscription] > Upgrade subscription.
5. Redeploy once quotas are increased – After your quota request is approved, retry creating your B1ms, B2s, or F1s VMs.

Follow-up questions (if you still hit walls):

• Which subscription type are you using (Free Trial, Pay-as-you-go, Student)?

• Which exact quotas do you see today for B-series, Dv5, and Fsv2 in each region?

• Are you seeing any specific error codes (SkuNotAvailable vs. QuotaLimitExceeded)?

Reference list

1. Increase quotas by VM series
2. Azure subscription and service limits, quotas, and constraints
3. Quota increase requests in the portal
4. Check available VM sizes via CLI
5. Upgrade your Azure free or student subscription

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any of those details or if you run into other errors.

If the provided answer was helpful, please click Accept the Answer and upvote if the above was helpful.

Thanks

Answer 2

The behavior is caused by vCPU quotas on the subscription and region, not by the VM sizes themselves.

To unblock deployments:

1. Check current vCPU quotas
   • In the Azure portal, search for Quotas.
   • Open Quotas → Compute.
   • Check both:
     • Total Regional vCPUs for the target region.
     • VM-family quotas such as B-series, D-series, F-series vCPUs for that region.
   • If the quota for a family (for example, B-series) is 0, any B-series size (B1ms, B2s, etc.) will show as unavailable even if it is technically offered in that region.
2. Understand how quotas block deployment
   • Azure enforces quotas at two tiers per subscription and region:
     • Total regional vCPU quota.
     • VM-family vCPU quota (for example, D-series vCPUs).
   • A VM deployment must fit both the total regional vCPU quota and the specific VM-family quota. If either is exceeded, deployment is blocked and the size may appear as unavailable or require a quota request.
   • Quota is calculated on all cores in use, including deallocated VMs.
   References:
   • Quota model and checks: Check vCPU quotas
   • VM-family quota details: Increase VM-family vCPU quotas
3. Request quota increases for common VM families For startup-credit subscriptions, quotas are often set very low or to 0 for many VM families. A quota increase request is required. a. For adjustable quotas (most VM-family vCPU quotas):
   • Go to Quotas in the Azure portal.
   • Select Compute.
   • Locate the VM-family quota to increase (for example, Standard B Family vCPUs, Standard Dv5 Family vCPUs, Standard Fsv2 Family vCPUs) in the target region.
   • If it is adjustable, use the inline quota increase flow from My quotas / Quotas page and specify the desired vCPU limit (for example, 4–8 vCPUs for initial dev/test use).
   b. For non-adjustable quotas:
   • If the quota is marked non-adjustable, submit a support request:
     1. In the Azure portal, search for Quotas and open Quotas.
     2. Select Compute.
     3. Find the quota to increase and select the support icon.
     4. In the New support request form:
        • Confirm the pre-filled subscription/region.
        • For Quota type, select Other Requests and continue.
        • In Additional details, specify the VM families and new limits requested (for example, B-series, Dv5-series, Fsv2-series; 4–8 vCPUs each) and that the purpose is small Linux dev/test VMs under startup credits.
     5. Complete and submit the request.
   This is the supported path to have Microsoft review and increase the compute vCPU quota on the subscription. Reference: Increase VM-family vCPU quotas
4. Verify capacity vs quota
   • Even with sufficient quota, deployments can fail if the region or zone is temporarily out of capacity for that size.
   • If a size still cannot be deployed after quota is increased, try:
     • A different VM size in the same family.
     • A different availability zone in the same region.
     • A different region.
   Reference: Check vCPU quotas
5. After quota approval
   • Once the quota increase is approved and visible under Quotas → Compute, retry creating a small Linux VM (for example, B1ms or D2_v5) in a region where both:
     • Total Regional vCPUs > 0 and sufficient for the VM.
     • The corresponding VM-family vCPU quota > 0 and sufficient for the VM.

This process will enable deployment of standard B-series, Dv5-series, or Fsv2-series VMs on the startup-credit subscription.

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References:

• Check vCPU quotas
• Increase VM-family vCPU quotas
• Request an increase for non-adjustable quotas
• Dv5 sizes series
• Bv1 sizes series