Google Compute Engine SSH from browser stopped working Error 13

Question

A compute instance I had running stopped working and I am no longer able to ssh to it from the browser. When I try it hangs forever and eventually I get the error message:

You cannot connect to the VM instance because of an unexpected error. 
Wait a few moments and then try again. (#13)

I looked here for common issues. I made a snapshot and tried recreating with a larger disk, in a different region and with a bigger compute instance but I was still unable to connect. When other users try to connect they have the same problem. I'm using a standard container so I expect the google daemon should be running.

This instance was collecting tweets and writing output to GCS regularly. Since ssh stopped working the instance has also stopped writing output.

Does anyone have any idea what could have gone wrong?

Answer 1

I would also suggest checking the Serial Console of the machine to see if there are any messages which provide any clues. For example, if the boot disk has run out of space (which can prevent SSH connectivity), there will be some messages displayed in the Serial Console implying this.

You could also try connecting to the machine via the Serial Console to troubleshoot the issue by following the advice here.

When you try to SSH into the instance from the Cloud Shell for example, using the following command, the output should provide some clues as to why you cannot SSH into the machine:

$ gcloud compute ssh INSTANCE_NAME --zone ZONE