title: Azure Backup Failed "VM agent is unable to communicate with the Azure Backup Service"
body: <p>I am receiving a backup failed error since 6/20/2020 within my Azure backup policy.</p>
  <p>I also noticed within the Properties section under Settings of the Virtual Machine instance the &quot;Agent status&quot; is in a &quot;Not Ready&quot; state.</p>
  <p>When I click the Backup section under Operations the Backup Status shows 2 entries.</p>
  <p>Backup Pre-Check Warning</p>
  <p>Last backup status Failed</p>
  <p>I can click the Warning option and the link takes me to a page that reads:</p>
  <p>Issue Description</p>
  <p>VM agent is unable to communicate with the Azure Backup Service.</p>
  <p>Suggested Action(s)</p>
  <p>Ensure that VM agent is latest and running. Allow access to IP 168.63.129.16
  Per the Suggested Actions, I created the Outbound Rule to the IP Address 168.63.129.16 within the network interface of the Virtual Machine instance that is having the backup failed issue.</p>
  <p>That did not solve the problem. I also performed the below troubleshooting steps as well with no solution:</p>
  <p>I also Verified the Windows Azure Guest Agent service is running within services on the affected VM OS (ACMVI002).</p>
  <p>Stopped the VM instance from the Azure Portal. I then turned the VM instance back on. Issue persisted.</p>
  <p>Does anyone have a solution to this Backup Failed issue?</p>