The VM agent is either unavailable, or not installed, which may prevent VMAccess from running.

Question

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 2:23 AM | 1 vote}

I have a VM running in Azure that has worked great for the past year or so.  I forgot the password and went to reset it and now I get the following error:

The VM agent is either unavailable, or not installed, which may prevent VMAccess from running.

I have tried the following fix to no avail:

/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/troubleshooting/reset-local-password-without-agent?toc=/azure/virtual-machines/windows/toc.json

I also tried creating a snapshot and attaching the snapshot to a new VM and the issue persists.

How does this problem occur out of no where?  How do I resolve the issue?  

Bill Greer

*************** UPDATE *****************

I was able to sucessfully mount the OS disk to another machine.  The disk was hit with a version of cryptolock.  As I have about 5 servers what is my best (poor mans) defense to be hitting by such ransomware or at least protecting the data that I deem important.  Daily snapshots/backups in Azure?

All replies (11)

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 7:10 AM}

Hi Bill,

Can you provide more information on the issue:

What OS is the VM running?

Is the image a standard image or a custom image?

Did you try rebooting the VM, while trying the password reset? 

Is the Automatic update for ProvisionVMAgent enabled? You can check this with below commands.

Example for Windows OS:

$VM = Get-AzVm -Name <vm-name> -ResourceGroupName <rg-name>
​$VM.OSProfile
$VM.OSProfile.WindowsConfiguration

Can you please provide the output of the above command.

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 7:12 AM}

What is the server role of the problematic VM ? you may not be able to reset password for a Domain controller from Azure portal as it doesn't have the local accounts.

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 7:27 AM}

Did you tried to copy this VM by making its VHD, is there a similar VM running which is made out of the VHD of this VM. See similar Issue

Cheers,

Shashank

Please mark this reply as answer if it solved your issue or vote as helpful if it helped so that other forum members can benefit from it

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_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 1:18 PM}

It is not a domain controller nor is it on a domain.  I have reset the password many times in the past.

Bill Greer

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 1:20 PM}

There is no other VM running with a VHD made from problem VM.

Bill Greer

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 1:37 PM}

1. The OS is either Server 2012-R2 or 2016.  I do not recall as I have several VMs.  I really think it is 2012.

2. The image is standard

3. I did try rebooting the VM and I tried resetting the password several times.  If you are asking if I did this at the same time (i.e. restart while resetting password) the answer is I do not think so but it is possible.

4. Yes.  Automatic updates is enabled.

   Below is the output from the commands:

ComputerName             : SigmaSouth4
AdminUsername            : bgreer985634
AdminPassword            :
CustomData               :
WindowsConfiguration     : Microsoft.Azure.Management.Compute.Models.WindowsConfiguration
LinuxConfiguration       :
Secrets                  : {}
AllowExtensionOperations :

ProvisionVMAgent          : True
EnableAutomaticUpdates    : True
TimeZone                  :
AdditionalUnattendContent :
WinRM                     :

Bill Greer

_{Tuesday, May 7, 2019 6:20 PM}

Update Added to Original Question

Bill Greer

_{Wednesday, May 8, 2019 4:38 AM}

Hello Bill,

This issue needs live troubleshooting, Please send an email to [email protected] with your Subscription ID. We will enable one time free support for you, so that case will be looked by a support engineer.

Once the issue is resolved, post the resolution here so that other community members can benefit from it. 

Thanks.

_{Thursday, May 9, 2019 12:30 PM}

VikasPullagura-MSFT,

The VM was hit by ransomware.  I sucessfully mounted the os drive to a new VM and found the files were corrupted.  I wish I knew what the vulnerability was.  I'd like to secure my VMs in Azure a little better against this.

Bill Greer

_{Tuesday, May 14, 2019 7:08 AM}

Hi Bill,

Sorry to hear that its a ransomware. I would like to suggest some basic security best practices for VM that can help avoid these situations in future. Feel free to reach us if you are looking for any help.

Thanks.

_{Friday, May 17, 2019 8:13 PM}

Any update on this issue? 

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