Hello Azure Community,
I wanted to share a useful enhancement now available in public preview — especially for those of us who spend way too much time digging into VM connectivity issues. Microsoft has introduced a VM Network Troubleshooter directly in the Azure Portal.
This update brings a lightweight but effective diagnostic tool to the VM Overview blade, helping us quickly identify blocked network ports. It’s a great improvement that makes those “why can’t I connect to my VM?” moments far less frustrating.
What It Does
With the new built-in troubleshooter, you can:
- Instantly run network diagnostics from the Azure Portal
- Identify common blocked ports without diving into NSGs, firewalls, or guessing which hop is misbehaving
- Reduce the effort needed to detect basic misconfigurations or connectivity gaps
This is particularly useful when dealing with deployments involving NSGs, load balancers, or custom network setups where troubleshooting can become time-consuming.
Why I Like It
Let’s be honest — blocked ports are among the most common causes of VM communication issues, and they often slip through basic validation steps. Having this check built into the Azure Portal not only saves time but also helps teams move faster when deploying or testing new environments.
And the best part? No need to write scripts or use external tools — it’s all baked into the portal experience.
If you’re working in infrastructure, DevOps, or cloud governance, this is a feature you’ll probably end up using more than you expect. Definitely worth checking out if you’re managing virtual networks or building automation around VM lifecycle.
Let me know if you’ve tried it already — I’m curious to hear if it helped in any tricky scenarios.
All the best,
Eduardo