Windows VMs won't start because the GuestAgent extension can't be found

Sergey Borovoy 541 Reputation points
2021-10-13T07:13:46.46+00:00

Hi, I have a bunch of Windows Server 2019 VMs and they were working fine just yesterday, but this morning none of them can be started. Provisioning state becomes "failed" and the error message is "No version found in the artifact repository that satisfies the requested version '' for VM extension with publisher 'Microsoft.WindowsAzure.GuestAgent' and type 'CRPProd'"

So I called a colleague who also has a bunch of similar Windows Server VMs in a different subscription (created independently, those are not copies of my VMs) and he has the same problem.

Looks like some kind of Azure outage, GuestAgent extension became inaccessible? On the other had, I'm worried about the fact that the requested version is shown as an empty string. If this is what my VM requests for some reason, no wonder it can't find it.

The region is Western Europe, in case it matters.

Tried googling the error message, nothing really useful.

I'll appreciate your help.

Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines

An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.

Windows for business | Windows Server | User experience | Other

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  1. Unknown_Beast 155 Reputation points
    2023-04-03T07:53:41.9133333+00:00

    If your Windows virtual machines in Azure won't start because the GuestAgent extension can't be found, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

    1. Verify that the GuestAgent extension is installed on the VM. You can check this in the Azure portal by navigating to the VM's "Extensions" section and checking if the "Microsoft.Compute.VMAccessAgent" extension is present and has a status of "Succeeded".
    2. If the extension is not present or has a status of "Failed", you can try re-installing the extension. To do this, navigate to the VM's "Extensions" section in the Azure portal and click "Add". Search for "Microsoft.Compute.VMAccessAgent" in the marketplace, select the latest version, and follow the prompts to install the extension.
    3. If re-installing the extension doesn't work, you can try resetting the VM's password through the Azure portal. This will reconfigure the GuestAgent with the new password and may resolve the issue. To reset the password, navigate to the VM's "Reset password" section in the Azure portal and follow the prompts.
    4. If none of the above steps work, you can try redeploying the VM from a backup or snapshot. This will create a new VM with a fresh copy of the GuestAgent extension installed.

    If you continue to have issues with the GuestAgent extension after trying these troubleshooting steps, you may need to contact Azure support for further assistance.

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  2. EdenAbuHamdan-2939 6 Reputation points
    2021-10-13T12:06:04.647+00:00

    RESOLVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!! THANKS AZURE SUPPORT =)

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  3. prmanhas-MSFT 17,976 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator
    2021-10-13T11:45:17.05+00:00

    As per the latest updates from various customers VMs have started running in West US 2,West Europe and East US. You can check at your end if it has started working for you or not.

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  4. Cor Sipma 6 Reputation points
    2021-10-13T11:41:51.287+00:00

    My devbox is working again, looks like it's time to give it another try

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  5. itmandan 31 Reputation points
    2021-10-13T11:22:56.263+00:00

    We are having this problem as well, UK South region.

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