Getting Started with Azure Support
Welcome to the Azure Support Documentation. This section provides comprehensive resources to help you resolve issues, understand your Azure services, and get the most out of your cloud investment.
We offer a multi-tiered support system designed to meet the needs of all Azure users, from individuals experimenting with new services to large enterprises managing mission-critical workloads.
Technical Support Options
For technical issues, Azure offers several support plans tailored to your business requirements:
- Developer Support: Ideal for non-production environments and development workloads. Offers business hours technical support.
- Standard Support: Suitable for production workloads. Provides 24x7 technical support for all Azure services, with response times tailored to severity.
- Professional Direct Support: For mission-critical workloads. Includes all Standard Support benefits plus proactive guidance, architectural reviews, and a designated Technical Account Manager (TAM).
- Premier Support: The highest level of support, designed for large enterprises with complex needs. Offers proactive advisory services, rapid response, and dedicated support.
You can learn more about each support plan and compare features on the Azure Support Plans page.
Billing & Subscription Issues
For questions related to your Azure bill, subscription management, or cost optimization, please refer to the Azure portal's 'Cost Management + Billing' section. You can open a support request directly from there for billing-specific issues.
Common topics include:
- Understanding your invoice
- Managing payment methods
- Requesting credit or chargebacks
- Optimizing Azure costs
Understanding Service Limits
Azure services have default subscription limits that can affect how many resources you can deploy. If you encounter errors related to exceeding limits, you may need to request an increase.
To view your current limits and request increases, navigate to the 'Usage + quotas' section within the Azure portal for each specific service.
Troubleshooting Guides
We maintain a vast library of troubleshooting guides for common Azure issues. These guides provide step-by-step instructions and diagnostic tips:
- Troubleshooting Virtual Machines
- Troubleshooting Azure Storage
- Troubleshooting Azure Networking
- Troubleshooting Azure Databases
Search the full troubleshooting knowledge base for more specific guidance.
Contact Us
If you cannot find the information you need or require immediate assistance:
For technical issues: Open a support request via the Azure portal. The type of support request you can file depends on your selected support plan.
For billing and subscription issues: Navigate to 'Cost Management + Billing' in the Azure portal and select 'Help + support' or 'New support request' for billing-related queries.
For general inquiries: Visit the Azure Support overview page for community forums and contact options.
Troubleshooting Virtual Machines
Issues with Azure Virtual Machines can range from boot failures to application connectivity problems.
Common steps include:
- Check VM Status: In the Azure portal, verify the status of your VM. Look for any error messages or warnings.
- Review Boot Diagnostics: Access the serial console or boot logs to diagnose startup issues.
- Network Connectivity: Ensure Network Security Groups (NSGs) and firewalls are configured correctly to allow necessary traffic. Use the Network Watcher tool for detailed analysis.
- Resource Utilization: Monitor CPU, memory, and disk usage. High utilization can lead to performance degradation.
For more advanced troubleshooting, consult the dedicated Virtual Machines Troubleshooting Guide.
Troubleshooting Azure Storage
Problems with Azure Storage can impact data accessibility and application performance.
Key areas to investigate:
- Connectivity: Ensure your applications can reach the storage endpoints. Check DNS resolution and network paths.
- Permissions: Verify Shared Access Signatures (SAS) tokens, access keys, and role-based access control (RBAC) assignments are correct.
- Blob/File Operations: For issues with uploading, downloading, or listing data, check for errors reported by the SDK or REST API.
- Performance: Monitor latency and throughput metrics in the Azure portal. Consider storage tiering and scaling options.
Refer to the Azure Storage Troubleshooting Documentation for detailed information.
Troubleshooting Azure Networking
Network connectivity issues can be complex. Key components to examine include:
- Virtual Network (VNet) Configuration: Subnet delegation, address spaces, and peering settings.
- Network Security Groups (NSGs): Ensure inbound and outbound rules permit desired traffic.
- Azure Firewall and Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs): Review their configurations and logs.
- Load Balancers and Application Gateways: Check health probes, backend pools, and routing rules.
- DNS Resolution: Verify that DNS is resolving correctly within your VNet.
Utilize the Azure Networking Troubleshooting Toolkit for assistance.
Troubleshooting Azure Databases
Common database support scenarios involve connectivity, performance, and availability.
Focus areas:
- Connection Strings and Authentication: Verify credentials and server names.
- Firewall Rules: Ensure client IP addresses are allowed access.
- Performance Tuning: Analyze query execution plans, optimize indexes, and monitor resource usage (CPU, memory, IOPS).
- Replication and High Availability: Check the status of replicas, failover groups, and read replicas.
For detailed guidance, please see the Azure Databases Troubleshooting Guide.