Unable to access Azure VM

Question

Unable to access Azure VM

kinto 0

Hello.

I’ve a Windows Server 2019 VM on an Hyper-V Host and I have a daily image backup of this VM on an Azure Storage Account (software used MSP360).

I’ve performed a restore on Azure of this VM with no problem I can also reach the shared folder on the VM using the Public IP assigned on Azure).

When I try to connect using RDP I’ve the error “The number of connections to this computer is limited and all connections are in use right now”.

The Azure Agent is installed (i’ve installed it on the VM present on the Hyper-V host) and I can run commands on the restored Azure VM.

The following items were already configured correctly on the VM OnPrem:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Session Time Limits

Before I ran the last backup from which I then restored I made sure that all remote sessions were disconnected.

On the Azure VM I have:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\ MaxInstanceCount is set to a value of 0xffffffff (the maximum value possible) 

qwinsta show
>services 0 Disc console 1 Conn 31c5ce94259d4... 65536 Listen rdp-tcp 65537 Listen

I’ve tried also to reset NIC and to Redeploy the VM.

Some ideas?

Thank you.

Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco 1,046 Reputation points

2025-04-17T13:51:58.8966667+00:00
Hello,

I hope you are doing well,

Did you try to close all the connection running;

query session | foreach { if ($_ -match "rdp-tcp") { $parts = $_.Split() logoff $parts[2] } }

Try too using mstsc/admin normally works when there not available sessions to connect

mstsc /v:<PublicIP> /admin

😊 If my answer helped you resolve your issue, please consider marking it as the correct answer. This helps others in the community find solutions more easily. Thanks!
Dharani Reguri 345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-04-17T17:13:04.9366667+00:00
Hi kinto,

In addition to Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco, can you please check if the "Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session" is Disabled in Group policy? If not, please try to Disable it and reboot the machine.

Also, please check the UserSessionLimit. This key does not exist by default. If this value is set, this means that this was done manually by the you at some point in time by manipulating the registry. If this registry value is set, it limits the number of concurrent user sessions.

To check the UserSessionLimit, try running the command below.

reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit

If it shows a value, then that is the limit set.

As this value is not a default configuration, you can opt out to either remove the quota by deleting this value or increasing the quota to a higher value or unlimited.

Option to remove the quota
reg delete "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit

Option to set the quota to unlimited
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit /d 0xffffffff /f

Option to set the quota to a higher value. This ilustrates how to add a limit to a 100 (64 in hexadecimal) connections
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit /d 0x00000064 /f

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

1 answer

Your answer

Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco 1,046 Reputation points

2025-04-17T13:51:58.8966667+00:00

Hello,

I hope you are doing well,

Did you try to close all the connection running;

query session | foreach { if ($_ -match "rdp-tcp") { $parts = $_.Split() logoff $parts[2] } }

Try too using mstsc/admin normally works when there not available sessions to connect

mstsc /v:<PublicIP> /admin

😊 If my answer helped you resolve your issue, please consider marking it as the correct answer. This helps others in the community find solutions more easily. Thanks!
Dharani Reguri 345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-04-17T17:13:04.9366667+00:00

Hi kinto,

In addition to Jose Benjamin Solis Nolasco, can you please check if the "Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session" is Disabled in Group policy? If not, please try to Disable it and reboot the machine.

Also, please check the UserSessionLimit. This key does not exist by default. If this value is set, this means that this was done manually by the you at some point in time by manipulating the registry. If this registry value is set, it limits the number of concurrent user sessions.

To check the UserSessionLimit, try running the command below.

reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit

If it shows a value, then that is the limit set.

As this value is not a default configuration, you can opt out to either remove the quota by deleting this value or increasing the quota to a higher value or unlimited.

Option to remove the quota
reg delete "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit

Option to set the quota to unlimited
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit /d 0xffffffff /f

Option to set the quota to a higher value. This ilustrates how to add a limit to a 100 (64 in hexadecimal) connections
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v UserSessionLimit /d 0x00000064 /f

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Answer 1

I supplement the information given above:

In Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections

the "Restrict Remote Desktop Services users to a single Remote Desktop Services session" item is Disabled

the "UserSessionLimit" item is enabled and set to 999999

In Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Session Time Limits

the "Set time limit for disconnected session" item is enabled and set to 2 hours

the "Set time limit for active but idle Remote Desktop Services sessions" item is enabled and set to 2 hours

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\MaxInstanceCount is set to a value of 0xffffffff (the maximum value possible). I've tried also with the default value (not configured).

On the Azure VM I've not lunched "query session" but I've lunched "qwinsta show" which should provide equivalent information. Right?
I remember that before launching the backup and then restoring to the cloud, I performed a reboot (shutdown -r -f -t 0) precisely to close any connections that might be idle or inactive.

I tried connecting with “mstsc /admin” and also with Azure Bastion but with the usual problem.

Thank you.

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Unable to access Azure VM

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