Virtual machine not starting

Question

Virtual machine not starting

ramez elkhouri 0

Failed to start virtual machine

Failed to start virtual machine 'TradeFinance'. Error: An unexpected error occured while processing the network profile of the VM. Please retry later.

Manish Deshpande 6,995 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-15T18:47:54.2433333+00:00
Hello @ramez elkhouri ,

Thank you for reaching out and sharing the error details.

The message “An unexpected error occurred while processing the network profile of the VM” usually indicates that Azure is unable to properly allocate or update the VM’s networking resources (such as the NIC, virtual network, or IP configuration). This can place the VM in a failed state.

Recommended steps

Please try the following steps, which typically resolve this condition:

Reapply the VM state (recommended first step)

Go to the Azure portal → Virtual Machine → Support + Troubleshooting → Redeploy + Reapply → Reapply

This action refreshes the VM configuration and retries provisioning.

Stop (deallocate) and start the VM again

Fully deallocate the VM and start it again to force Azure to recreate the network profile.

Validate the network configuration

Ensure the Network Interface (NIC) is correctly attached

Verify the Virtual Network and Subnet still exist and are not modified or deleted

Confirm there are no pending changes or warnings in the NIC configuration

If the issue persists, redeploy the VM

This moves the VM to a different Azure host and often resolves underlying platform issues.

Microsoft documentation

You can refer to the following official guidance:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-machines/windows/restart-resize-error-troubleshooting

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/azure/virtual-network/troubleshoot-vm-connectivity

This issue is generally related to temporary or configuration-level network provisioning failures, and in most cases is resolved by reapplying or redeploying the VM after validating the network configuration.

If you’re still seeing the error after the above steps, feel free to share the VM details or Activity Log output — I’ll be happy to help you investigate further.

Thanks,
Manish.

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Answer 1

Hello ramez elkhouri,

Greetings! Thanks for raising this question in Q&A forum.

The error you're seeing "An unexpected error occurred while processing the network profile of the VM" — typically happens when Azure has a temporary issue resolving or applying the network configuration (like the NIC or Virtual Network settings) attached to your VM. This is often a platform-side hiccup, but there are a few things you can try to get your VM back up and running.

Here's what I'd suggest, step by step:

Step 1: Simply retry starting the VM Sometimes this is a transient Azure platform issue. Go to the Azure Portal, navigate to your VM "TradeFinance", and click Start again. Wait a couple of minutes and try once more.

Step 2: Stop (Deallocate) and Start the VM Rather than just restarting, fully deallocate it first.

In the Azure Portal, go to your VM
Click Stop and wait until the status shows Stopped (deallocated)
Then click Start again this forces Azure to re-provision the network profile fresh

Step 3: Check the NIC (Network Interface Card)

In your VM's page, go to Networking on the left menu
Make sure the Network Interface is properly attached and there are no warning icons
If the NIC looks healthy, confirm the Virtual Network and Subnet it's connected to still exist and haven't been accidentally deleted or modified

Step 4: Check for Azure Service Health issues

In the portal, search for "Service Health"
Filter by your region and check if there are any active incidents affecting Virtual Machines or Networking in your area — this error sometimes reflects a regional platform issue

Step 5: Detach and Re-attach the NIC (if above steps fail)

Go to your VM > Networking > and note down the NIC details
Stop (deallocate) the VM
Detach the existing NIC and re-attach it
Start the VM again

Step 6: Open a Support Request If none of the above works, it's best to raise a support ticket directly from the Azure Portal. Go to Help + Support > New Support Request, and include the error message and VM name. The Azure backend team can investigate any platform-level issues with your VM's network profile.

If this answer helps you kindly accept the answer which will help others who have similar questions.

Best Regards,

Jerald Felix.

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Virtual machine not starting

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