"NotAvailableForSubscription" for reserved instance

Question

I have purchased and paid for a reserved instance, but when I attempt to deploy it I get the message "This size is currently unavailable in eastus for this subscription: NotAvailableForSubscription." I attempted to contact support but my request was automatically closed by the AI. Did Azure sell me a "reserved" instance they don't actually have? Is this a problem with my account? This is a paid account (not a trial).

Answer 1

Hi Jon,

Unfortunately it will sell you a reservation for a VM series that your subscription doesn't have access to due to lack of quota and/or subscription block (similar to quota limit) and/or capacity limitation. You would think they would make it smart enough to block (or at least warn) you from purchasing, but currently it doesn't do that for all scenarios.

In regards to your support request, did you set it to Issue type: Service and subscription limits (quotas)? If you set it to Billing the AI may have gotten confused and replied back that (paid) Technical support plan is required, when it isn't. Similar thing has happened to other people lately. It can be frustrating.

Bottom line is, you need to get them to remove the (NotAvailableForSubscription) block for Bsv2 series in East US and grant you at least quantity:2 quota for Standard Bsv2 Family vCPUs in East US. The only way to do this is via Service and subscription limits (quotas) request.

IMPORTANT: They may deny your request due to capacity limitations in East US. If they do then you will need to return your Reserved Instance for refund since you cannot use it.

Please reply back with more details in comment below.

Thanks.

-TP

Answer 2

A reserved instance does not guarantee deployment capacity for a VM size in a region. It applies discounted billing to matching usage, but SKU availability and regional capacity restrictions can still block deployment.

NotAvailableForSubscription for a VM size in eastus means that SKU is currently not available for that subscription in that region. This is typically due to regional capacity or subscription-level SKU restrictions, not because the account is a trial account.

What this means in this case:

1. The reservation purchase and VM deployment are separate.
   • The reservation gives a pricing benefit for eligible matching compute usage.
   • It does not reserve hardware capacity for a VM deployment.
2. The error is about the VM SKU availability in eastus.
   • Azure documents that a requested VM size can be unavailable in a subscription’s region or zones.
   • The portal activity log for this type of issue commonly shows SkuNotAvailable or InvalidTemplateDeployment.
3. The most practical workaround is to either:
   • deploy a different VM size that is available in eastus, or
   • deploy the same size in a different region where it is available.
4. If the reservation was purchased for a specific VM size/region combination, the deployment failure is still consistent with Azure behavior.
   • Azure can sell a reservation discount while deployment of a matching VM is blocked by current SKU availability or capacity conditions.
5. For reservation purchase availability issues, Azure also documents that some products are unavailable in some regions and that capacity restrictions can apply. For VM deployment issues, the documented resolution is to try another size or another location.

If troubleshooting in the portal, use this path:

1. Go to the VM deployment and note the exact size and region.
2. In Azure portal, check the deployment failure or Activity log for SkuNotAvailable or InvalidTemplateDeployment.
3. Try a different VM size in eastus.
4. If that specific size is required, try another region.
5. If the reservation itself showed a product-unavailable message during purchase, use the Contact support link from that reservation error flow to request an exception. Azure notes that exceptions are not always granted.

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