Scenario

After performing a successful lift-and-shift migration from VMware to Azure, the VM is up and running without any errors. However, the application hosted on the server is not accessible.

Symptoms:

• VM is running in Azure

• Application is not reachable via URL

• Website not loading in browser

Root Cause

In many real-world migrations, this issue occurs due to:

1. DNS not yet updated (or propagation delay)

2. Missing or incorrect Host File entry (for validation)

3. IIS binding still pointing to old IP / hostname

Troubleshooting Steps

Step 1: Validate Using Host File Entry

1. Open Notepad as Administrator

2. Go to below path and update the new ip, if it already has the old IP still.

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts

Still Not Working?

Then the issue is likely IIS binding

Step 2: Check IIS Bindings

After migration:

• IIS still listens to old IP / incorrect hostname

• Missing binding for the new Azure environment

Steps:

1. Open IIS Manager (inetmgr)

2. Go to: Sites → Select your website → Bindings

Click Edit / Add Binding, add the new IP. Now Restart IIS in command prompt using command "iisreset"

Now the issue will get fix.