Cannot upgrade AzureMonitorWindowsAgent to 1.38.1.0 due to size of the extension

Question

Cannot upgrade AzureMonitorWindowsAgent to 1.38.1.0 due to size of the extension

Scott Wilson 0

I am upgrading the Azure Monitor Agent from 1.36 to1.38 and all of them seem to be stuck in the "Creating" state due to the agent being larger than 300MB unzipped.

This is a microsoft extension, I can't make it any smaller. How can I solve?

Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-29T22:31:47.3+00:00
Hello Scott Wilson,

You are upgrading the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) from version 1.36 to 1.38. After deployment, the extension on VMs is stuck in the "Creating" state. The root cause appears to be that AMA v1.38 is larger than 300 MB unzipped, which exceeds the size threshold handled reliably by the Azure VM Agent’s extension subsystem. Because this is a Microsoft first-party extension, you cannot reduce its size manually.

You cannot change the size of the Microsoft extension package itself, but the alternative solution from Microsoft is to install the Azure Monitor Agent using the MSI installer instead of the VM extension.

Instead of relying on the VM extension deployment, you should download and install the AMA MSI installer directly on the affected Windows virtual machines. This bypasses the 300MB unzipped extension size limitation.

Here are the steps to resolve this issue:

Download the MSI: You can usually find the latest MSI installer for the Windows agent directly on the Microsoft documentation or in the Azure portal when setting up Data Collection Rules (DCRs) or a new installation.

Deployment: Use a script (like PowerShell) or a deployment tool to install the MSI on your VMs.

Example PowerShell command for a basic installation (run from an elevated admin command prompt in the directory where you downloaded the MSI): msiexec /i AzureMonitorAgentClientSetup.msi /qn

Verification: After installation, verify the service status: Get-Service -Name AzureMonitorAgent

Kindly check the below documentation for more details:

Set Up the Azure Monitor Agent on Windows Client Devices - Azure Monitor | Azure Docs

Hope this helps. and please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-09-30T12:33:06.7733333+00:00

Bharah,
This method doesn't apply to Windows Servers.

Your answer is almost exactly the same answer to a similar post so I am assuming AI generated since it does not ask probing questions like "What version of Windows are you experiencing this with?"
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-01T00:32:16.7966667+00:00
Hello Scott Wilson,

As you mentioned, you have enough space in your disk space, but still, this is issue occurring across all the servers in your organization.

Here are the steps to create the support ticket:

Go to Azure portal > Help + Support > click on Create a Support Request

On right-side panel, enter “Azure Monitor Agent” and click Go > select the issue service that you having the issue with > click Next.

Select your Subscription then click Next.

Select the Issue then click next

Now click on the Create support request on top of the panel.

Select the Issue type as Technical and, select the Service type, summary, problem type and problem subtype as below > click on the Next.

Do not click on any recommendation or automated solution, instead click on the Return to support request then click Next

Fill out all the Additional required information and provide a clear description of your issue and click Next

Review and create as submit the support request

You should receive an automated email within a few minutes and then be contacted by support team.

Kindly check the below documentation for more details:

How to create an Azure support request - Azure supportability | Microsoft Learn
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-02T00:36:53.1466667+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson, kindly let us know if the solution provided was helpful. If you need any further assistance, please let us know. Thanks
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T18:22:20.9666667+00:00

Bharath.

I do not have the same screen images you show. I do not get the screen to show "Technical". it keeps wanting to take me to Microsoft Q&A and I paid for a support subscription.

Scott
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T20:05:32.4833333+00:00

Here is my screen image.
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T20:06:17.97+00:00

After choosing Azure Arc. and a few other choices. I do not get Technical support
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-06T02:04:08+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson, I have reached out to you over Private messages regarding some details to check issue in the backend. Please check and share them to assist you further on this.

Thank you for your patience!
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-06T12:03:14.8066667+00:00

Bharath. I saw your message. I ended up paying for support on my Azure subscription. I have opened a ticket with support. I have not heard back from them. I will post the answer here when I get one.

3 answers

Your answer

Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-09-29T22:31:47.3+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson,

You are upgrading the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) from version 1.36 to 1.38. After deployment, the extension on VMs is stuck in the "Creating" state. The root cause appears to be that AMA v1.38 is larger than 300 MB unzipped, which exceeds the size threshold handled reliably by the Azure VM Agent’s extension subsystem. Because this is a Microsoft first-party extension, you cannot reduce its size manually.

You cannot change the size of the Microsoft extension package itself, but the alternative solution from Microsoft is to install the Azure Monitor Agent using the MSI installer instead of the VM extension.

Instead of relying on the VM extension deployment, you should download and install the AMA MSI installer directly on the affected Windows virtual machines. This bypasses the 300MB unzipped extension size limitation.

Here are the steps to resolve this issue:

Download the MSI: You can usually find the latest MSI installer for the Windows agent directly on the Microsoft documentation or in the Azure portal when setting up Data Collection Rules (DCRs) or a new installation.

Deployment: Use a script (like PowerShell) or a deployment tool to install the MSI on your VMs.

Example PowerShell command for a basic installation (run from an elevated admin command prompt in the directory where you downloaded the MSI): msiexec /i AzureMonitorAgentClientSetup.msi /qn

Verification: After installation, verify the service status: Get-Service -Name AzureMonitorAgent

Kindly check the below documentation for more details:

Set Up the Azure Monitor Agent on Windows Client Devices - Azure Monitor | Azure Docs

Hope this helps. and please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions.
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-09-30T12:33:06.7733333+00:00

Bharah,
This method doesn't apply to Windows Servers.

Your answer is almost exactly the same answer to a similar post so I am assuming AI generated since it does not ask probing questions like "What version of Windows are you experiencing this with?"
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-01T00:32:16.7966667+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson,

As you mentioned, you have enough space in your disk space, but still, this is issue occurring across all the servers in your organization.

Here are the steps to create the support ticket:

Go to Azure portal > Help + Support > click on Create a Support Request

On right-side panel, enter “Azure Monitor Agent” and click Go > select the issue service that you having the issue with > click Next.

Select your Subscription then click Next.

Select the Issue then click next

Now click on the Create support request on top of the panel.

Select the Issue type as Technical and, select the Service type, summary, problem type and problem subtype as below > click on the Next.

Do not click on any recommendation or automated solution, instead click on the Return to support request then click Next

Fill out all the Additional required information and provide a clear description of your issue and click Next

Review and create as submit the support request

You should receive an automated email within a few minutes and then be contacted by support team.

Kindly check the below documentation for more details:

How to create an Azure support request - Azure supportability | Microsoft Learn
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-02T00:36:53.1466667+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson, kindly let us know if the solution provided was helpful. If you need any further assistance, please let us know. Thanks
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T18:22:20.9666667+00:00

Bharath.

I do not have the same screen images you show. I do not get the screen to show "Technical". it keeps wanting to take me to Microsoft Q&A and I paid for a support subscription.

Scott
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T20:05:32.4833333+00:00

Here is my screen image.
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T20:06:17.97+00:00

After choosing Azure Arc. and a few other choices. I do not get Technical support
Bharath Y P 1,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-06T02:04:08+00:00

Hello Scott Wilson, I have reached out to you over Private messages regarding some details to check issue in the backend. Please check and share them to assist you further on this.

Thank you for your patience!
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-06T12:03:14.8066667+00:00

Bharath. I saw your message. I ended up paying for support on my Azure subscription. I have opened a ticket with support. I have not heard back from them. I will post the answer here when I get one.

Answer 1

hi Scott Wilson,

the most effective solution is to clean up the temporary directory on your arc enabled server. the extension upgrade process uses the temp folder to download and extract the new agent files. if this folder is full of old files from previous operations, it runs out of space.

log onto the windows server. open file explorer and navigate to C:\WindowsAzure\Logs\Plugins\Microsoft.Azure.Monitor.AzureMonitorWindowsAgent\. in this folder, you will likely find several subfolders with version numbers. you can safely delete the older version folders, like the one for version 1.36. this will free up the necessary space for the 1.38 upgrade to unzip. after cleaning up, try the upgrade operation again from the azure portal.

if cleaning the log folder does not free up enough space, you can also clear the general windows temp folder. press windows key + r, type %temp%, and hit enter. you can delete all the files in this folder. windows might prevent some files from being deleted because they are in use, which is fine, just skip those.

another thing to try is a manual workaround. you can try to uninstall the current agent extension completely and then install the latest version fresh. sometimes a clean install bypasses the upgrade space issue. you can do this from the azure arc blade in the portal by selecting your server, going to extensions, and removing the azure monitor agent. then, add it again.

if you are still stuck, you need to contact azure support. this is a platform limitation that they are aware of, and they might have other internal tools or guidance for forcing the upgrade on resource constrained servers.

this kind of disk space issue during an agent upgrade is a common challenge with any monitoring tool, not just azure. it is always a good practice to monitor the free space on the system drive of your servers.

your first and best action is to log onto the server and clean out the old agent version folders in C:\WindowsAzure\Logs\Plugins\.... this will almost certainly free up the space needed for the new version to install.

i hope the cleanup gets your agent upgraded smoothly.

rgds,

Alex

Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-09-30T12:34:25.7033333+00:00

Alex,

I have plenty of disk space, this is occurring across 30 servers in my organization. All experiencing the same thing.

I tried opening a support ticket in Azure but every link that Azure's automated response takes me back to this site.

Answer 2

さとうだいき 0

3 solutions to fix this:

1. Brutal cleanup:

powershell

# Run inside the VM

This clears plugin cache (system will reload automatically)

2. Expand temp disk:

Azure portal → VM → Settings → Disks

Increase temp disk from 128GB to 256GB (takes effect in 5 minutes)

3. Change deployment strategy: Add this to your ARM template:

json

"protectedSettings":

I solved the same issue for a client - found that cached files from old version 1.26 weren't cleaned, missing just 27MB disk space. Used solution 1 and worked instantly. Remember to scale back the temp disk after upgrade to save costs!

Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T18:15:39.3966667+00:00

Angela.

These are not Azure VMs...these are Vmware Vms running with the on premise arc agent

So disk space is not an issue

Scott
Scott Wilson 0 Reputation points

2025-10-02T18:16:18.68+00:00

Angela.

These are not Azure VMs...these are Vmware Vms running with the on premise arc agent

So disk space is not an issue

Scott

Answer 3

Scott Wilson 0

Everyone..thanks for the help. The problem ended up being the Azure Arc Agent for my onsite servers needed upgraded. I was under the impression that Azure Arc Agents self updated. I had to configure my WSUS server to download Azure Arc Updates and push to my servers. Now the AMA can be upgraded even though it is larger than 300MB

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Cannot upgrade AzureMonitorWindowsAgent to 1.38.1.0 due to size of the extension

3 answers

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