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Troubleshoot the InvalidResourceReference error code

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This article discusses how to identify and resolve the InvalidResourceReference errors that may occur when you try to create and deploy a Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster or update an AKS cluster.

Symptom 1

When you try to create an AKS cluster, you receive the following error message:

Code="InvalidResourceReference"

Message="Resource
/subscriptions/<subscription-id-guid>/resourceGroups/MyResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/vnet-otcom/subnets/Subnet-AKS
referenced by resource
/subscriptions/<subscription-id-guid>/resourceGroups/MC_MyResourceGroup_MyCluster-AKS_JAPANEAST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachineScaleSets/aks-nodepool-vmss
was not found. Please make sure that the referenced resource exists, and that both resources are in the same region."

Details=[]

Cause 1

Here are the possible causes of this issue:

  • A mismatch exists between resources in different regions.

    The example in Symptom 1 shows that the virtual network and the virtual machine scale set aren't in the same region. Because the resources are in different regions, it's impossible to create the scale set instance.

  • The referenced resource has been manually modified or deleted.

Solution 1

If a mismatch exists between resources in different regions, review the resources to make sure that they're in the same region. In this example, either modify the region where the AKS cluster is being built, or create a new virtual network in the same region.

If the referenced resource has been manually modified or deleted, it might be difficult to resolve this issue because it's unsupported to manually modify the underlying IaaS resources in the MC_ resource group. A possible solution might be to recreate the deleted resource, reassociate it with the VMSS, and then trigger an update on the AKS cluster. However, as this is an unsupported scenario, the success of this solution can't be guaranteed.

Symptom 2

When you try to update an AKS cluster, you receive the following error message:

Code="InvalidResourceReference"
Message="Resource
/subscriptions/<subscription-id-guid>/resourceGroups/MC_MyResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Network/loadBalancers/kubernetes/frontendIPConfigurations/<frontendIP_ID> referenced by resource /subscriptions/<subscription-id-guid>/resourceGroups/MC_MyResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Network/loadBalancers/kubernetes/loadBalancingRules/<frontend_IP_rule> was not found. Please make sure that the referenced resource exists, and that both resources are in the same region."
Message="Resource

Details=[]

Cause 2

This issue might occur if the default outbound rule "aksOutboundRule" on the load balancer is manually modified. This unexpected modification typically occurs when the outbound IP is updated if you update the cluster without the load-balancer-outbound-ips parameter.

Solution 2

Rerun the az aks update command with the load-balancer-outbound-ips parameter to update your cluster. Use the resource ID of the public IP as the parameter value. For more information, see Update the cluster with your own outbound public IP.

More information

General troubleshooting of AKS cluster creation issues

Contact us for help

If you have questions or need help, create a support request, or ask Azure community support. You can also submit product feedback to Azure feedback community.