Azure for Students, allowed 5 regions not possible to select in the VM creation menu.

Question

Azure for Students, allowed 5 regions not possible to select in the VM creation menu.

Emilia Mølnå 21

Similar issue to this, with Azure for Students glitching when trying to create VMs.

None of the policy-allowed regions ( "spaincentral", "germanywestcentral", "polandcentral", "uaenorth", "swedencentral") appear in the GUI dropdown for selecting regions while creating a VM.

Meanwhile Cloud Shell gives me quota error messages for all of the allowed regions, even though I have 0 (zero) VMs deployed in my environment when I run the VM creation command.

Bash does not manage to push through this policy mismatch
az interactive does NOT manage to create anything (quota error, example below)
New-AzVM command DOES manage to create VMs in some allowed regions, but with VERY limited parameters, I must be very careful what image I choose, and I must skip specifying size, so it picks up default Standard_D2s_v3. Example:

PS /home/emilia> New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName RGSpain -Name vm2 -Image "MicrosoftWindowsServer:WindowsServer:2022-datacenter:latest"
cmdlet New-AzVM at command pipeline position 1
Supply values for the following parameters:
Credential
User: Student
Password for user Student: ************
WARNING: Upcoming breaking changes in the cmdlet 'New-AzVM' :
The default VM size will change from 'Standard_D2s_v3' to 'Standard_D2s_v5'.
This change will take effect on '11/1/2025'
The change is expected to take effect in Az version : '15.0.0'
The change is expected to take effect in Az.Compute version : '11.0.0'
Note : Go to https://aka.ms/azps-changewarnings for steps to suppress this breaking change warning, and other information on breaking changes in Azure PowerShell.
You can reference https://aka.ms/findImagePS on how to find VM Images using PowerShell.
No Size value has been provided. The VM will be created with the default size Standard_D2s_v3.
ResourceGroupName        : RGSpain                                                                                      
Id                       : /subscriptions/511d1cbf-aa62-44bd-89ef-c40f4d5e13e2/resourceGroups/RGSpain/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/vm2
VmId                     : 76e30c31-3f93-4d2b-bcba-260bde9f12ee                                                         
Name                     : vm2                                                                                          
Type                     : Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines                                                            
Location                 : spaincentral                                                                                 
Tags                     : {}                                                                                           
HardwareProfile          : {VmSize}                                                                                     
NetworkProfile           : {NetworkInterfaces}                                                                          
SecurityProfile          : {SecurityType}                                                                               
OSProfile                : {ComputerName, AdminUsername, WindowsConfiguration, Secrets, AllowExtensionOperations, RequireGuestProvisionSignal}
ProvisioningState        : Succeeded                                                                                    
StorageProfile           : {ImageReference, OsDisk, DataDisks, AlignRegionalDisksToVMZone}                              
FullyQualifiedDomainName : vm2-e60a10.spaincentral.cloudapp.azure.com                                                   
TimeCreated              : 6/26/2026 5:21:24 PM                                                                         
Etag                     : "2"

az interactive gives the same quota error for each of the 5 allowed regions:

az>> az vm create --resource-group RGPoland --name VM1 --location polandcentral --image Win2022Datacenter
Admin Password: 
Confirm Admin Password: 
Consider upgrading security for your workloads using Azure Trusted Launch VMs. To know more about Trusted Launch, please visit https://aka.ms/TrustedLaunch.
The command failed with an unexpected error. Here is the traceback:
The content for this response was already consumed
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 789, in _run_job result = cmd_copy(params) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 335, in call return self.handler(*args, **kwargs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/command_operation.py", line 120, in handler return op(**command_args) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/command_modules/vm/custom.py", line 1257, in create_vm LongRunningOperation(cmd.cli_ctx)(client.begin_create_or_update(resource_group_name, deployment_name, deployment)) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/core/tracing/decorator.py", line 119, in wrapper_use_tracer return func(*args, **kwargs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/mgmt/resource/resources/v2024_11_01/operations/_operations.py", line 11281, in begin_create_or_update raw_result = self._create_or_update_initial( ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/mgmt/resource/resources/v2024_11_01/operations/_operations.py", line 11174, in _create_or_update_initial raise HttpResponseError(response=response, error_format=ARMErrorFormat)
azure.core.exceptions.HttpResponseError: (InvalidTemplateDeployment) The template deployment 'vm_deploy_pKGxpImFjSUoITKq7PZuMnB1xUSw4in0' is not valid according to the validation procedure. The following resource provider(s) - 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines (2025-04-01)' reported preflight validation errors. Tracking id is '3cadef46-3f62-4127-9ca1-a84d1acf2f17'. See inner errors for details.
Code: InvalidTemplateDeployment
Message: The template deployment 'vm_deploy_pKGxpImFjSUoITKq7PZuMnB1xUSw4in0' is not valid according to the validation procedure. The following resource provider(s) - 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines (2025-04-01)' reported preflight validation errors. Tracking id is '3cadef46-3f62-4127-9ca1-a84d1acf2f17'. See inner errors for details.
Exception Details:      (QuotaExceeded) Operation could not be completed as it results in exceeding approved standardDSv5Family Cores quota. Additional details - Deployment Model: Resource Manager, Location: PolandCentral, Current Limit: 0, Current Usage: 0, Additional Required: 2, (Minimum) New Limit Required: 2. Setup Alerts when Quota reaches threshold. Learn more at https://aka.ms/quotamonitoringalerting . Submit a request for Quota increase at https://aka.ms/ProdportalCRP/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Capacity/UsageAndQuota.ReactView/Parameters/%7B%22subscriptionId%22:%22511d1cbf-aa62-44bd-89ef-c40f4d5e13e2%22,%22command%22:%22openQuotaApprovalBlade%22,%22quotas%22:[%7B%22location%22:%22PolandCentral%22,%22providerId%22:%22Microsoft.Compute%22,%22resourceName%22:%22standardDSv5Family%22,%22quotaRequest%22:%7B%22properties%22:%7B%22limit%22:2,%22unit%22:%22Count%22,%22name%22:%7B%22value%22:%22standardDSv5Family%22%7D%7D%7D%7D]%7D by specifying parameters listed in the ‘Details’ section for deployment to succeed. Please read more about quota limits at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-supportability/per-vm-quota-requests Code: QuotaExceeded Message: Operation could not be completed as it results in exceeding approved standardDSv5Family Cores quota. Additional details - Deployment Model: Resource Manager, Location: PolandCentral, Current Limit: 0, Current Usage: 0, Additional Required: 2, (Minimum) New Limit Required: 2. Setup Alerts when Quota reaches threshold. Learn more at https://aka.ms/quotamonitoringalerting . Submit a request for Quota increase at https://aka.ms/ProdportalCRP/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Capacity/UsageAndQuota.ReactView/Parameters/%7B%22subscriptionId%22:%22511d1cbf-aa62-44bd-89ef-c40f4d5e13e2%22,%22command%22:%22openQuotaApprovalBlade%22,%22quotas%22:[%7B%22location%22:%22PolandCentral%22,%22providerId%22:%22Microsoft.Compute%22,%22resourceName%22:%22standardDSv5Family%22,%22quotaRequest%22:%7B%22properties%22:%7B%22limit%22:2,%22unit%22:%22Count%22,%22name%22:%7B%22value%22:%22standardDSv5Family%22%7D%7D%7D%7D]%7D by specifying parameters listed in the ‘Details’ section for deployment to succeed. Please read more about quota limits at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-supportability/per-vm-quota-requests
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 109, in handle_template_based_exception raise CLIError(ex.inner_exception.error.message) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'error'
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/emilia/.azure/cliextensions/interactive/azext_interactive/azclishell/app.py", line 908, in cli_execute result = invocation.execute(args) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 677, in execute raise ex
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 820, in _run_jobs_serially results.append(self._run_job(expanded_arg, cmd_copy)) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 812, in _run_job return cmd_copy.exception_handler(ex) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 112, in handle_template_based_exception raise_subdivision_deployment_error(ex.response.internal_response.text, ex.error.code if ex.error else None) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 928, in text if not self.content: ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 899, in content raise RuntimeError("The content for this response was already consumed")
RuntimeError: The content for this response was already consumed
To check existing issues, please visit: https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli/issues
az>>

Creating another tenant and transferring the subscription Azure for Students to another tenant (with a different location) makes no difference, and the 100$ budget 'disappears'; so I had to move it back to the original tenant.
Trying to edit the policy for allowed regions is also restricted; otherwise a solution would have been to just update that policy with one of the regions that are actually showing in the GUI regions-dropdown for VM creation.
The Quota lists for VMs in my allowed regions show yellow triangles with links to 'troubleshoot' - links that go nowhere.

I tried to request for quota, specifying the existing amount (4), got an error. The link to create a support ticket goes nowhere: 'Something went wrong. To refresh, close and reopen this blade, or use your browser's refresh button. If the issue persists, click here to contact support.'

I called Microsoft today, got to talk with a robot that understood NOTHING from what I was asking. Redirected me back online, where another robot thought I was talking about region settings in Windows, and explained how I can adjust that (facepalm). The only relevant thread I found was this one, which is not really fixing the problem.

AI is a VERY bad replacement for customer support.

Microsoft can pose as a hero for giving the 100$ azure budget to students, but there's little that can be used in practice, under these conditions; just wasting my study-time on figuring out workarounds for this nonsense.

Besides that, for a student who is never sure if they're doing it right, this kind of setup mismatch that generates endless errors is plain cruel, as beginners would rather struggle for many hours to understand what they did wrong before daring to conclude that the almighty Microsoft might have messed up.

Microsoft policies puzzle me; why put extra limitations on regions for VM creation (? based on tenant or other criteria?), when the Azure for Students subscription already restricts it to:

5 regions policy
limited quota
limited budget

The curious thing is that I do not experience the same challenges when trying to create other Azure resources (storage, apps, etc.) under the same subscription. My 5 regions show-up in the regions GUI dropdown list for creating other azure resources. Why are VMs treated differently?

Sharing some of the 'joy' from my experience with Microsoft and Azure for Students here, in the hope that maybe somebody someday decides to do something about this.

User's image

Suchitra Suregaunkar 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-27T00:07:59.15+00:00
Hello Emilia Mølnå

Based on the details you shared, there appear to be two separate issues:

Portal region dropdown behavior

Your Azure for Students subscription is governed by a policy that limits deployment to the allowed regions you listed.

Since other resource types can be created in those regions, but VM creation does not consistently expose them in the portal, this may be a portal experience or policy evaluation issue that is specific to VM deployments.

VM quota/SKU selection

The Azure CLI error explicitly shows: QuotaExceeded - standardDSv5Family Cores quota. Current Limit: 0, Current Usage: 0

This indicates that the VM deployment template generated by az vm create is attempting to deploy a DSv5-family VM, while your subscription currently has 0 vCPUs available for that family in the selected region.

In contrast, your successful New-AzVM deployment automatically selected Standard_D2s_v3, which belongs to a different VM family and therefore did not hit the DSv5-family quota restriction.

Because of this, the CLI failure is not caused by having existing VMs deployed; it is failing during preflight validation because the requested VM family has a quota limit of zero in that region.

As suggested in the moderator response, I recommend testing with a VM size that is supported by the Azure for Students offer, for example a Basv2-series VM, while explicitly specifying the VM size rather than relying on the default selected by az vm create.

If a Basv2 deployment succeeds in one of the allowed regions, that would confirm the issue is related to the automatically selected VM SKU family rather than the region policy itself.

If the deployment still fails even when a supported VM size is explicitly specified in an allowed region, then it would indicate a subscription-side quota or policy inconsistency that requires investigation by Azure Support, as end users cannot modify the built-in Azure for Students subscription policies themselves.

Thanks,
Suchitra.
Emilia Mølnå 21 Reputation points

2026-06-27T12:27:47+00:00

You summarize the issues correctly: 1. Portal experience or policy evaluation issue that is specific to VM deployments - Azure Support? 2. Cloud Shell inconsistencies in terms of default size, depending on command choice, which is a pain-point in the context of Student subscription limitations.

Check my answer to TP below; if this is worthy of attention from Azure Support, then I dare to formulate the 3rd issue: How does one get a hold of Azure Support, considering my previous (futile) attempts to contact Microsoft?

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Your answer

Emilia Mølnå 21 Reputation points

2026-06-27T12:27:47+00:00

You summarize the issues correctly: 1. Portal experience or policy evaluation issue that is specific to VM deployments - Azure Support? 2. Cloud Shell inconsistencies in terms of default size, depending on command choice, which is a pain-point in the context of Student subscription limitations.

Check my answer to TP below; if this is worthy of attention from Azure Support, then I dare to formulate the 3rd issue: How does one get a hold of Azure Support, considering my previous (futile) attempts to contact Microsoft?

Answer 1

TP 158.4K Volunteer Moderator

Hi,

Have you tried to deploy Basv2 series VMs? For example, Standard_B2ats_v2 is included in free offer.

Please try using Azure Cloud Shell via CLI commands similar to below:

az group create --name my-resource_group --location germanywestcentral
az vm create --location germanywestcentral --name my-vm --resource-group my-resource_group --size Standard_B2ats_v2 --image Ubuntu2404 --generate-ssh-keys --storage-sku Premium_LRS --os-disk-size-gb 64 --security-type TrustedLaunch

Please reply back with your results, whether positive or negative.

Basv2 sizes series

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/sizes/general-purpose/basv2-series?tabs=sizebasic

Please click Accept Answer and upvote if the above was helpful.

Thanks.

-TP

TP 158.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-26T22:38:42.3633333+00:00

I fixed the typo I had in above az vm create command.

Emilia Mølnå 21

So, the full error for germanywestcentral is below, however, checking the same with 3 other allowed regions, it seemed to work. (spaincentral, polandcentral, swedencentral).

It did work also with a Win2022Datacenter image in swedencentral

I ran yesterday the Get-AzComputeResourceSku for all locations and saved a table with the results, for my reference. Standard_B2ats_v2 is supposed to be 'available' everywhere, as well as Standard_D2s_v3.

Running az vm create without specifying size, for some reason defaults to standardDSv5 (outside student quota), while running New-AzVM without size, defaults to Standard_D2s_v3 (inside student quota).

Both az vm create and New-AzVM seem to disregard the location of the resource group, which is interesting. I was able to create a spaincentral VM in a germanywestcentral / polandcentral resource group.

User's image

Workarounds are good, but it feels so random and time consuming to figure out which combination of commands might work (because the GUI for VM creation is KO anyway - see the behavior of the region search field, where it only shows Switzerland, no Sweden option available, and the same happens with all other 4 policy-allowed regions).

User's image

It makes me wonder if I have any chance to dive into Infra as Code solutions like Biceps or ARM templates; if I get errors in those kind of scenarios, I will always wonder if it's me or some other twisted subscription vs. command choice/default settings/templates.

PS /home/emilia> az group create --name my-resource_group --location germanywestcentral
{
  "id": "/subscriptions/511d1cbf-aa62-44bd-89ef-c40f4d5e13e2/resourceGroups/my-resource_group",
  "location": "germanywestcentral",
  "managedBy": null,
  "name": "my-resource_group",
  "properties": { "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  },
  "tags": null,
  "type": "Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups"
}
PS /home/emilia> az vm create --location germanywestcentral --name my-vm --resource-group my-resource_group --size Standard_B2ats_v2 --image Ubuntu2404 --generate-ssh-keys --storage-sku Premium_LRS --os-disk-size-gb 64 --security-type TrustedLaunch
Selecting "northeurope" may reduce your costs. The region you've selected may cost more for the same services. You can disable this message in the future with the command "az config set core.display_region_identified=false". Learn more at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=222571 
SSH key files '/home/emilia/.ssh/id_rsa' and '/home/emilia/.ssh/id_rsa.pub' have been generated under ~/.ssh to allow SSH access to the VM. If using machines without permanent storage, back up your keys to a safe location.
Consider upgrading security for your workloads using Azure Trusted Launch VMs. To know more about Trusted Launch, please visit https://aka.ms/TrustedLaunch.
The command failed with an unexpected error. Here is the traceback:
The content for this response was already consumed
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 789, in _run_job result = cmd_copy(params) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 335, in call return self.handler(*args, **kwargs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/command_operation.py", line 120, in handler return op(**command_args) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/command_modules/vm/custom.py", line 1257, in create_vm LongRunningOperation(cmd.cli_ctx)(client.begin_create_or_update(resource_group_name, deployment_name, deployment)) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/core/tracing/decorator.py", line 119, in wrapper_use_tracer return func(*args, **kwargs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/mgmt/resource/resources/v2024_11_01/operations/_operations.py", line 11281, in begin_create_or_update raw_result = self._create_or_update_initial( ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/mgmt/resource/resources/v2024_11_01/operations/_operations.py", line 11174, in _create_or_update_initial raise HttpResponseError(response=response, error_format=ARMErrorFormat)
azure.core.exceptions.HttpResponseError: (InvalidTemplateDeployment) The template deployment 'vm_deploy_O6KwkXo26atxegNmqm1GizqIDFcimPwc' is not valid according to the validation procedure. The following resource provider(s) - 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines (2025-04-01)' reported preflight validation errors. Tracking id is 'c0369cf3-e6e2-4f4f-8375-d95b0480c802'. See inner errors for details.
Code: InvalidTemplateDeployment
Message: The template deployment 'vm_deploy_O6KwkXo26atxegNmqm1GizqIDFcimPwc' is not valid according to the validation procedure. The following resource provider(s) - 'Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines (2025-04-01)' reported preflight validation errors. Tracking id is 'c0369cf3-e6e2-4f4f-8375-d95b0480c802'. See inner errors for details.
Exception Details:      (SkuNotAvailable) The requested VM size for resource 'Following SKUs have failed for Capacity Restrictions: Standard_B2ats_v2' is currently not available in location 'GermanyWestCentral'. Please try another size or deploy to a different location or different zone. See https://aka.ms/azureskunotavailable for details. Code: SkuNotAvailable Message: The requested VM size for resource 'Following SKUs have failed for Capacity Restrictions: Standard_B2ats_v2' is currently not available in location 'GermanyWestCentral'. Please try another size or deploy to a different location or different zone. See https://aka.ms/azureskunotavailable for details.
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 109, in handle_template_based_exception raise CLIError(ex.inner_exception.error.message) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'error'
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/knack/cli.py", line 233, in invoke cmd_result = self.invocation.execute(args) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 677, in execute raise ex
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 820, in _run_jobs_serially results.append(self._run_job(expanded_arg, cmd_copy)) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/init.py", line 812, in _run_job return cmd_copy.exception_handler(ex) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/azure/cli/core/commands/arm.py", line 112, in handle_template_based_exception raise_subdivision_deployment_error(ex.response.internal_response.text, ex.error.code if ex.error else None) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 928, in text if not self.content: ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib64/az/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 899, in content raise RuntimeError("The content for this response was already consumed")
RuntimeError: The content for this response was already consumed
To check existing issues, please visit: https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli/issues

TP 158.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-28T07:14:45.52+00:00

Hi Emilia,

There are capacity issues (especially in popular regions). As a result of this, various restrictions have been put in place. In my opinion Azure for Students has the most restrictions of all the different subscription types. Other subscription types have restrictions placed on them as well.

There are even restrictions/mitigation techniques applied to Microsoft employees to help free up capacity.

There are multiple different "levels" that restrictions can be applied that may prevent you from creating/deploying/starting/scaling a resource. Some examples: Policy (the five different region limit), Quota (no available quota to create the resource), Subscription level, Tenant level, unique custom block in specific resource provider. This is not complete list.

Azure for Students is blocked from making Quota requests. This means you can't follow normal procedure of submitting free support request to access specific region for specific quantity of a specific resource type.

I ran yesterday the Get-AzComputeResourceSku for all locations and saved a table with the results, for my reference. Standard_B2ats_v2 is supposed to be 'available' everywhere, as well as Standard_D2s_v3

A: Did you re-run Get-AzComputeResourceSku for germanywestcentral immediately after VM failed to deploy there to see if it showed any restrictions for Standard_B2ats_v2? Deployment can still fail even if Get-AzComputeResourceSku doesn't show restriction, but it is possible restriction was added between time you ran it and time you attempted to create VM.

Running az vm create without specifying size, for some reason defaults to standardDSv5 (outside student quota), while running New-AzVM without size, defaults to Standard_D2s_v3 (inside student quota).

A: In general, Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell are consistent, however, not 100%. You will find examples where CLI command can do something that the equivalent PowerShell command cannot and vice versa. I don't know if Azure for Students quota limits were considered when deciding on the default size, or even if the current quota limits existed at the time the last [default size] decision was made.

There have been lots of changes to the limits/quotas, VM sizes available just in last 1-2 years.

Both az vm create and New-AzVM seem to disregard the location of the resource group, which is interesting. I was able to create a spaincentral VM in a germanywestcentral / polandcentral resource group.

A: A resource doesn't need to be in same location as its resource group

Workarounds are good, but it feels so random and time consuming to figure out which combination of commands might work (because the GUI for VM creation is KO anyway - see the behavior of the region search field, where it only shows Switzerland, no Sweden option available, and the same happens with all other 4 policy-allowed regions).

A: This is likely GUI bug, or the current GUI (or underlying API) hasn't been updated to properly handle all the different limits now applied to Azure for Students. Unfortunately this type of issue whereby the GUI doesn't behave as it should, or has missing (or additional) features is something that does happen, as you experienced. Sometimes you have to use CLI/PowerShell/REST API/bicep/ARM to accomplish your goal.
Emilia Mølnå 21 Reputation points

2026-06-28T10:05:46.06+00:00

All temporary local restrictions aside, I had the impression that ARM is the engine behind, that receives the input from both Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell; it doesn't make sense that it should use a different default size for VM creation, depending on command choice.

As you said, it is what it is, and I appreciate your effort to answer my questions.

That being said, this is not the same as fixing the VM GUI problem or the Cloud Shell inconsistencies.

I can't vote any of this as an accepted answer, because the problems are not fixed and I wasted too much time on figuring this out instead of studying.

As pointed out to a previous similar thread, I am not the only one who struggles with this, and it's not conducive to a coherent studying experience.
TP 158.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-06-29T09:21:23.8933333+00:00

In this context "default size" is a convenience provided by the client software (Azure CLI/PowerShell). For example, below is screenshot of Azure CLI vm module source code from Github:

This is partly why I mentioned CLI and PowerShell are generally consistent, but not 100%. When you don't specify VM size they send a "default size" on your behalf, and currently they are not using same size.

I'm a volunteer trying to help you. I didn't write the Azure CLI/PowerShell or the Create a VM portal wizard. I did try to enable you to create VM(s), which if I understood you correctly you are now able to do.

I agree with you in the sense that the current situation isn't ideal for people trying to learn Azure using Azure for Students subscription. It's not the experience I would deliver to students if it were up to me.

Something I would point out is, the training wheels have to come off at some point. What I mean is, running into issues where you need to use CLI/PowerShell or REST API or look at network capture to diagnose what is happening and figure out workaround/solution is inherent in using Azure (and other clouds as well).

It may not seem like it now, but in my opinion the time you spent will help you later if you need to use Azure for paid work. At least that has been my experience.
Emilia Mølnå 21 Reputation points

2026-06-30T10:50:00.64+00:00

I care a lot about semantics, and the portal is built in a way that may sound misleading: 'Did this solve your problem?' - 'Yes, accept answer'

I accepted your answer because it helped me feel less lonely and puzzled about this situation, not because it 'solved' the problem. And I fully understand it is not in your power to solve it. Thank you.