Few days ago, Microsoft released the Azure Virtual machine Serial Console feature in public preview. Thanks to this feature, you will be able to easily troubleshoot your Virtual Machine. Newer Windows Server images on Azure will have SAC enabled by default. SAC is supported on server versions of Windows but is not available on client versions at this time.
Let’s try to use the serial console on your existing Virtual Machine:
I got an error because my Windows Server is not configured to communicate with SAC. To enable Serial console on my Windows Server VM, I will need to create a Storage Account:
I can use this storage account to store the diagnostics logs:
Now, I can connect to the Windows Virtual Machine via Remote Desktop and open an administrative command prompt:
Run the following commands:
bcdedit /ems {current} on
bcdedit /emssettings EMSPORT:1 EMSBAUDRATE:115200
Reboot the system for the SAC console to be enabled. I can check the VM during the boot:
Once the VM is up and running, go to the serial console. The following prompt confirm that SAC is enabled:
Type the following command:
cmd
It will create a new channel called “Cmd0001“. Now I can enter to this channel using the following command:
ch -si 0001
Press any key and enter the login credentials:
You can now type a PowerShell command:
Done! Thanks to Azure Serial Console, we can now easily troubleshoot without network considerations!
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