In this Azure tutorial, we will discuss how to fix the error the virtual machine must be running before using vmaccess. That I got while I was trying to change Azure VM Password.
Table of Contents
The virtual machine must be running before using vmaccess.
Below are the steps that I followed to change Azure VM Password in Azure Portal, and I got this error.
You can follow the below steps to reset the password for the virtual machine
1. Login to https://portal.azure.com/
2. Search for Virtual machines there.
3. You will see the list of VMs created in your Azure subscription. It will show the VM name, Type, Status, ResourceGroup, Location, etc.
4. Now click on the VM name. “MyNewVM” in my case. You can see the details of your virtual machine like Public IP address, status, Computer name, Operating system, Size, etc.
5. Select the Reset Password option under support + troubleshooting from the left side menu.
6. As you will see in the screenshot below, the Reset password option is disabled. It does not allow me to change the password and says, “The virtual machine must be running before using VMAccess.”
This is because my VM’s status may be Stopped (deallocated) or not running. Let’s check that.
Below, the VM status is Stopped (deallocated). To fix the error “the virtual machine must be running before using vmaccess,” click the start button. After that, the VM status will be Running.
7. Now, if you click on the Reset Password option again, you will see that it is enabled.
Choose the Mode as Reset password.
Enter the username and password, confirm the password, and click the Update button.
This is how you can reset your VM password from the Azure portal.
Change Azure VM Password using PowerShell
Well, let’s discuss how to reset Azure VM password using PowerShell.
1. First, connect to the Azure account using the below command.
Connect-AzAccount
2. Select the Azure subscription ID
$MySubID = "<Mention Your Subscription ID>"
Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId $MySubID
3. Set the Set-AzVMAccessExtension to reset the username or password.
$MyResourceGroup = "<Mention your Resource group name>"
$MyVmName = "<Mention your VM name>"
$MyLocation = "<Mention your VM Location>"
Set-AzVMAccessExtension -ResourceGroupName $MyResourceGroup -Location $MyLocation -VMName $MyVmName -Credential (get-credential) -typeHandlerVersion "2.0" -Name VMAccessAgent
Now, below is the complete Powershell script
$MySubID = "<Mention Your Subscription ID>"
$MyResourceGroup = "<Mention your Resource group name>"
$MyVmName = "<Mention your VM name>"
$MyLocation = "<Mention your VM Location>"
Connect-AzAccount
Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId $MySubID
Set-AzVMAccessExtension -ResourceGroupName $MyResourceGroup -Location $MyLocation -VMName $MyVmName -Credential (get-credential) -typeHandlerVersion "2.0" -Name VMAccessAgent
Change Azure VM Password using Azure CLI
We have discussed above how to reset passwords for Azure VM using Azure Portal and PowerShell. You can also reset the password for your Azure Virtual machine using Azure CLI using the below quick steps.
- Open the Azure CLI from the Azure Portal.
- Run the below cmdlt to reset or change the password using Azure CLI.
az vm user update
-n {Your Virtual Machine name}
-g {Name of your resource group}
-u {Your username}
-p {Your password}
Example:
az vm user update
-n TSINFOVM
-g Demo12
-u User1 -p Password@12345
If are you facing any issues while resetting the password of your Azure VM, then check out Azure VM Password Reset Not Working to get a solution.
Change / Reset Password of Virtual machine (VM) – Video Tutorial
FAQs
How To Find Azure VM Username And Password
No need to worry if you have missed your Azure virtual machine username and password. You can able to reset the username and password using the below steps:
Follow Steps 1 to 7 to reset the username and password from the “How to reset password in Azure virtual machine” section above.
You may like the following Azure tutorials:
- Azure virtual machine DNS (FQDN)
- How to Create Azure VM (Virtual Machine)
- How to access Azure VM (Virtual Machine)
- Cannot Update Remote Desktop Connection Settings For Administrator Account
Conclusion
In this Azure tutorial, We discussed the quick steps to change Azure VM Password. I hope you have enjoyed this article !!!
I am Bijay, a Microsoft MVP (10 times) having more than 17 years of experience in the software industry. During my IT career, I got a chance to share my expertise in SharePoint and Microsoft Azure, like Azure VM, Azure Active Directory, Azure PowerShell, etc. I hope you will learn from these Azure tutorials. Read more