Unable to start Data Flow Debug session in Synapse Workspace - Debug session is already terminated.

Hi Haitham
Thanks for explaining the steps you already tried - that helps.

The error “Debug session is already terminated” usually means the Spark cluster for Data Flow debug could not start or was shut down right away.

Since you’re using an Azure for Students subscription, the most common cause is compute/core limits. Student subscriptions often have lower quotas, and Data Flow debug needs Spark clusters, which require cores to spin up. If the quota isn’t enough, the session can fail immediately like this.

A few things to check:

• Go to your subscription → Usage + quotas and check your vCore quota for the region (West Europe).
• Try a smaller Data Flow debug cluster size if possible.
• Make sure your Synapse workspace and IR are in the same region.

If your quota is low or zero for that region, you may need to request a quota increase. Some student subscriptions cannot increase quotas, in which case this becomes a subscription limitation.

Since your storage access and linked service tests are working, this doesn’t look like a permissions issue.

If quota looks fine and it still fails, then it would be best to open a support ticket so the backend logs can be checked.

Hope this helps point you in the right direction.

The error message "Debug session is already terminated" when trying to start a Data Flow Debug session in Azure Synapse can be caused by several factors. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can consider:

1. Check Core Quota: Since you are using an 'Azure for Students' subscription, there may be limitations on the number of cores available for your subscription type. You can check your current core quota and see if it is being exceeded.
2. Integration Runtime Configuration: Ensure that your custom Integration Runtime (IR) is properly configured and is not experiencing issues. Sometimes, creating a new IR or adjusting its settings can resolve such issues.
3. Time to Live (TTL): The TTL settings you have configured (10 and 30 minutes) should generally be sufficient, but you may want to experiment with different TTL values to see if it affects the behavior of the debug session.
4. Region Provisioning: Make sure that the resources you are trying to access are provisioned in the same region as your Integration Runtime. Mismatched regions can lead to issues with starting sessions.
5. Managed Identity Permissions: Although you have verified that your Managed Identity has the 'Storage Blob Data Contributor' role, ensure that it has the necessary permissions for all resources involved in the data flow.

If the issue persists, consider reaching out to Azure support for further assistance, especially regarding core limits specific to student subscriptions.

References:

• Troubleshoot Azure Data Factory and Synapse pipelines
• Data Flow activity in Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics