
Troubleshooting Azure networking issues can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, you can quickly identify and resolve problems. Azure provides a robust network infrastructure, but even with its reliability, issues can still arise.
One common issue is network latency, which can be caused by a variety of factors, including network congestion, high packet loss, or poor network configuration. To troubleshoot latency issues, you can use Azure's built-in tools, such as the Azure Network Watcher.
Understanding Azure's network architecture is crucial for troubleshooting. Azure's network architecture is based on a hierarchical structure, with virtual networks (VNets) at the top level. Each VNet is a self-contained network that can be isolated from other VNets.
Network security groups (NSGs) are a key component of Azure's network architecture. NSGs are used to control inbound and outbound network traffic to and from virtual machines (VMs) and other resources. By configuring NSGs correctly, you can prevent unauthorized access to your Azure resources.
Curious to learn more? Check out: Azure Front Door Latency
Troubleshooting
Azure networking issues can be frustrating, but there are ways to troubleshoot them. Azure Front Door (AFD) components can perform below acceptable thresholds due to unexpected usage spikes, leading to intermittent errors, timeouts, and latency spikes.
To troubleshoot connection issues, you can run a connection troubleshoot, which provides a comprehensive analysis with several metrics and features. This includes checking connectivity between source and destination, identifying configuration issues, and providing hop-by-hop paths and latency metrics.
Some common symptoms of network issues include timeouts, which can be caused by firewalls blocking connectivity. You can rule out application layer issues by running a TCP connectivity test.
Here are some key things to check when troubleshooting network issues:
- Firewalls (NSG) and Azure Firewall settings
- Azure Network Virtual Appliances (NVA) and User-Defined Routes (UDR)
- Network configuration and failovers
By following these steps and checking these key areas, you can help identify and resolve Azure networking issues.
Packet Capture
Packet Capture is a powerful troubleshooting tool that can help you diagnose connectivity issues. It runs a packet capture on a VM for a specified amount of time.
Take a look at this: Azure Webapp Capture Requests Blocked by Network Rules
The captured packets are output as a .cap file to a pre-specified storage account. This file can then be downloaded and opened locally on an application like Wireshark to examine the output.
To run a packet capture, you'll need to specify the amount of time you want the capture to run for. This can be a useful tool for tracking down intermittent issues that are difficult to reproduce.
Here are the key features of the Packet Capture tool:
- Runs a packet capture on a VM for a specified amount of time
- Outputs the captured packets as a .cap file to a pre-specified storage account
- Can be downloaded and opened locally on an application like Wireshark
Troubleshooting Minecraft and MongoDB Cloud Issues
If you're experiencing issues with Minecraft and MongoDB Cloud, it's possible that the problem lies with Azure. An unexpected usage spike can cause Azure Front Door components to perform below acceptable thresholds, leading to intermittent errors, timeouts, and latency spikes.
Azure has implemented network configuration changes and performed failovers to provide alternate network paths for relief. However, these changes are causing some side effects to certain services.
To troubleshoot the issue, you can try running a connection troubleshoot, which can help identify configuration issues and provide hop-by-hop paths from the source to destination. This functionality requires the Network Watcher extension to be installed on your Virtual Machines.
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Here are some key metrics and features to check:
It's also possible that the issue is related to endpoint connectivity. During provisioning, Cloud PCs must connect to multiple Microsoft publicly available services, and you must ensure that all required public endpoints can be reached from the subnet used by Cloud PCs.
If you're experiencing timeouts, it's likely a network issue, and you should investigate whether NSGs or Azure Firewall are allowing this flow. You can run a TCP connectivity test to rule out application layer issues.
Network Configuration
Network Configuration is a crucial aspect of Azure networking. Azure provides a robust network configuration system that allows you to manage your network settings with ease.
To start, you need to understand the different types of network configurations available in Azure, including virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups. These configurations can be managed through the Azure portal or by using Azure PowerShell.
A well-configured network is essential for a smooth and secure Azure experience. Azure's network configuration system allows you to create and manage virtual networks, which are the basic building blocks of your Azure network.
IP Flow Verify
IP Flow Verify is a crucial tool to check if traffic is flowing or being blocked. It's useful for troubleshooting network issues.
To use IP Flow Verify, select a VM and its network interface. The Local IP address will be auto-populated.
Fill in the details for the Remote IP address and Remote port, and then click the Check button. This will simulate the traffic and show you the results.
IP Flow Verify can only be applied to a pair of VMs within Azure, or if either source or destination is an Azure VM.
Explore further: Azure Data Factory Ip Address Range
Subnet IP Address Range
When setting up an Azure subnet for Cloud PCs, it's essential to ensure there's sufficient IP address allocation available.
For each Cloud PC, provisioning creates a virtual NIC and consumes an IP address from this subnet. Make sure to plan enough address space for provisioning failures and potential disaster recovery.
To avoid IP address allocation issues, check the subnet in Azure Virtual Network and ensure it has enough address space available.
Explore further: Azure Ip Address Ranges
You should also remove any unused vNICs, as they can consume IP addresses. It's best to use a dedicated subnet for Cloud PCs to avoid conflicts with other services.
When provisioning Cloud PCs, consider any CanNotDelete locks that may be applied at the resource group level or above. If these locks are present, you must manually remove the vNICs before retrying.
To troubleshoot IP address allocation issues, check the following:
- Check the subnet in Azure Virtual Network for sufficient address space.
- Remove any unused vNICs.
- Expand the subnet to make more addresses available, but be aware that this can't be completed if there are devices connected.
- Manually remove vNICs if they're locked due to CanNotDelete locks.
Next Hop
The Next Hop section is a crucial part of network configuration, allowing you to verify that traffic follows a particular route or not.
To check the next hop, select the source and destination, and the Source IP address will populate based on the network interface selected.
The destination IP address will need to be input by you, and once you click on the "Next hop" button, the output will show you what the next hop will be and the route along with the route table that is directing that traffic to that next hop.
Recommended read: Azure Public Ip Address
You can use this feature to check if traffic from a source to destination will go via a network virtual appliance or not based on a route defined in a route table or not.
Here are some resources that can help you learn more about network configuration and the Next Hop section:
- Book On Amazon - Quick and Practical Guide to ARM Templates
- eBook - 6 Step Migration Strategy – Systematic Approach to Migrating your Workloads to Microsoft Azure
- Azure Backup - Series
- Azure for AWS professionals - Series
- Azure Data Factory and Azure SQL Basics - Series
- Demystifying Azure Security - Series
- Azure Tips & Tricks - Series
- Azure Script Samples - Series
- Azure Site Recovery (ASR) - Series
- Azure Bastion Series - Series
- Windows Admin Center in the Azure portal - Series
- Designing Tagging Strategy for Microsoft Azure - Series
Security and Protection
Azure provides robust security features to protect your applications and resources. Each application can have different implementations and consist of multiple workloads, which need to be evaluated separately.
Network security groups (NSGs) are built-in tools for network control that allow us to control incoming and outgoing traffic on a network interface or at the subnet level. They contain sets of rules that allow or deny specific traffic to specific resources or subnets in Azure.
Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides protection to your web applications from common web exploits and vulnerabilities. Azure WAF provides out-of-the-box protection from the Open Worldwide Application Security Project’s top 10 vulnerabilities via managed rules.
Here are some key Azure networking services for security and protection:
- Azure DDoS Protection
- Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Network security groups (NSGs)
- Azure Load Balancer
- Firewall
- VNet Endpoints
- Private Link
- DDoS protection
Protection
Protection is a top priority when it comes to securing your Azure resources. Azure Firewall is a cloud-native intelligent network firewall security service that provides threat protection for your cloud workloads running in Azure.
Azure Firewall is a fully stateful firewall as a service with built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability. This means you can rely on it to protect your Azure resources from potential hacking or attacks.
Azure Firewall comes in two tiers: Standard and Premium. The Standard tier provides Layer 3 to Layer 7 firewall filtering and threat intelligence feeds from Microsoft Cyber Security. The Premium tier offers advanced capabilities such as signature-based IDPS that enable detection of attacks by analyzing and detecting specific patterns in network traffic.
You can centrally manage Azure Firewalls across multiple Azure subscriptions using Azure Firewall Manager. This allows you to set up centralized security and route management, and apply a common set of firewall rules in your network or application in your Azure tenant.
Consider reading: Azure Aks Firewall
Azure DDoS Protection is another essential service that provides countermeasures against the most sophisticated DDoS threats. This service provides advanced DDoS mitigation features for your applications and resources, and offers support and communication with DDoS experts during an active attack.
Here's a summary of the protection services offered by Azure:
- Azure Firewall: provides threat protection for cloud workloads, comes in Standard and Premium tiers
- Azure Firewall Manager: allows centralized management of Azure Firewalls across multiple subscriptions
- Azure DDoS Protection: provides countermeasures against DDoS threats, offers support and communication with DDoS experts
By utilizing these protection services, you can ensure the security and integrity of your Azure resources and protect them from potential threats.
SSL/TLS Error
An SSL/TLS error message can be a frustrating issue to deal with, but it often points to a problem with the SSL certificate installed at the destination. This could be an Application Gateway, Application, or OS.
The certificate might have expired, which means it needs to be renewed. You can use a tool like openssl to check the certificate details and see if this is the issue.
An unrecognized certificate authority is another possible cause, which can be resolved by configuring the internal CA cert. This might require some setup and configuration, but it's a common solution.
If the SSL certificate doesn't include the DNS name being used to connect, you'll need to update the certificate to include this information. This is usually done by adding the DNS name to the SAN field.
Here are the possible causes of an SSL/TLS error:
- An SSL certificate is not installed at the destination (Application Gateway or Application/OS);
- The SSL certificate has expired;
- The SSL certificate uses an unrecognized certificate authority;
- The SSL certificate does not include the DNS name (in its list of alternative DNS names);
To troubleshoot the issue, you can run a command like `openssl s_client -connect hostname:443 -servername dnsname` to fetch details about the certificate and identify the problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Azure in networking?
Azure Virtual Network is a private network service in Azure that enables secure communication between resources, the internet, and on-premises networks. It's the foundation for building a secure and connected network in the cloud.
Sources
- https://harvestingclouds.com/post/troubleshooting-azure-networking-using-network-watcher/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365/enterprise/troubleshoot-azure-network-connection
- https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/30/microsofts_azure_portal_outage/
- https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-microsoft-azure/9781098113315/ch04.html
- https://medium.com/@vmehmeri/troubleshooting-connectivity-in-microsoft-azure-2035c7a43d3f
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