We're trying to create a template Windows 2012 R2 image for a virtual machine in Azure. Our goal is to clone it into several instances. Unfortunately, we aren't able to connect via RDP to any of the cloned images.
To narrow down a test, I've done these steps:
- Create the instance in the portal. (old portal)
- Use RDP to connect to the image.
- To keep my test simple, I'm creating a sample directory called C:\ImageTest.
- Run SysPrep.
- Inside the (old) Azure Portal, run capture on the machine image.
Those steps create an image and I am able to select the image when creating the next instance.
- For my test, I'm shutting down the first (base) instance. I've also tried leaving it running.
- Then we create another cloned instance from the image created in step 5.
- Wait for it to start up.
The new image appears as running in the portal - but we are unable to connect via RDP to the new image. We receive this error:
Additional troubleshooting steps we've tried:
A. Verified the RDP endpoint for the new instance. I've also removed and recreated the RDP endpoint for the new instance. Same message.
B. This article mentions a sysprep bug where the virtual machine may restart before the image capture, invalidating the image. But the workaround doesn't change anything for me. I've also tried every combination of options in SysPrep such as Reboot, Shutdown, Quit.
C. I've been trying to figure out how to do this in the new Azure portal, but so far (Oct 2015), I don't see an option to capture an image.
D. I've tried waiting a long time (days) for the new image to start up, just in case it needed more time.
My goal is to just set up a base image with 80% of our normal configuration, so we can easily create instances within a load balanced set. Am I missing an easier way to do this?
Thank you for any ideas or tips.