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azlin autopilot enable

Enable autopilot with specified budget and strategy.

Synopsis

azlin autopilot enable --budget <amount> [OPTIONS]

Description

Enables autopilot to automatically manage VM lifecycle and stay within the specified monthly budget. When enabled, autopilot will:

  1. Create autopilot configuration
  2. Analyze existing VM usage patterns
  3. Start monitoring costs against budget
  4. Send notifications before taking actions
  5. Automatically optimize VMs based on strategy

Options

Option Description Default
-b, --budget INTEGER Monthly budget in USD (required) -
-s, --strategy Cost optimization strategy: conservative, balanced, aggressive balanced
--idle-threshold INTEGER Minutes before VM considered idle 120
--cpu-threshold INTEGER CPU utilization threshold for downsizing (percent) 20
-h, --help Show help message -

Examples

Enable with default settings

azlin autopilot enable --budget 500

This enables autopilot with: - $500/month budget - Balanced strategy - 2-hour idle threshold - 20% CPU threshold

Enable with aggressive strategy

azlin autopilot enable --budget 1000 --strategy aggressive

Aggressive strategy provides maximum cost savings by: - Stopping VMs idle for 30+ minutes - Aggressively downsizing low-utilization VMs - More frequent optimization checks

Enable with conservative settings

azlin autopilot enable --budget 500 --strategy conservative --idle-threshold 240

Conservative settings: - Only stops VMs idle for 4+ hours - Never downsizes running VMs - Safer for production environments

Custom thresholds

azlin autopilot enable --budget 750 \
  --strategy balanced \
  --idle-threshold 90 \
  --cpu-threshold 15

Custom configuration: - $750 monthly budget - Stop VMs idle for 90+ minutes - Downsize VMs with <15% CPU utilization

What Happens When Enabled

  1. Configuration Creation: Creates ~/.azlin/autopilot.toml with settings
  2. Initial Analysis: Scans existing VMs and usage patterns
  3. Cost Baseline: Calculates current monthly spend projection
  4. Monitoring Start: Begins tracking VM activity and costs
  5. Notification Setup: Prepares to send alerts before actions

Output Example

Autopilot Enabled

Budget:            $500/month
Strategy:          balanced
Idle Threshold:    120 minutes
CPU Threshold:     20%

Current VMs:       8 VMs found
Current Spend:     $245/month (projected)
Remaining Budget:  $255/month

Autopilot will:
  - Monitor VM activity 24/7
  - Stop VMs idle for 120+ minutes
  - Downsize VMs with <20% CPU utilization
  - Send notifications before taking actions

Run 'azlin autopilot status' to view status.

Strategy Comparison

Strategy Idle Time CPU Threshold Downsize Best For
Conservative 2+ hours Never No Production, safety first
Balanced 1+ hours <20% CPU Yes Most users, good balance
Aggressive 30+ min <30% CPU Yes Maximum savings, dev/test

Budget Enforcement

Autopilot enforces budgets by:

  1. Monitoring: Tracks actual Azure costs
  2. Projection: Calculates monthly spend projection
  3. Alerts: Warns when approaching budget (80%, 90%, 95%)
  4. Action: Stops lowest-priority VMs when budget reached
  5. Protection: Never stops VMs with named sessions

Notifications

Autopilot sends notifications via: - Console output when commands run - Log files in ~/.azlin/logs/autopilot.log - Optional email/webhook integration (config)

Configuration File

After enabling, configuration is stored in ~/.azlin/autopilot.toml:

[autopilot]
enabled = true
budget_monthly = 500
strategy = "balanced"
idle_threshold = 120
cpu_threshold = 20

[autopilot.work_hours]
# Learned over time
monday = ["09:00-17:00"]
tuesday = ["09:00-17:00"]
# ...

[autopilot.exclusions]
# VMs to never touch
protected_vms = []
protected_tags = ["production", "critical"]

Common Workflows

Start with dry-run

# Enable autopilot
azlin autopilot enable --budget 500

# Check what it would do
azlin autopilot run --dry-run

# View status
azlin autopilot status

Production setup

# Enable with conservative settings
azlin autopilot enable --budget 2000 --strategy conservative

# Protect production VMs
azlin tag prod-vm-1 --add critical=true
azlin tag prod-vm-2 --add critical=true

Development environment

# Enable with aggressive settings for maximum savings
azlin autopilot enable --budget 300 --strategy aggressive

# Run immediately to clean up
azlin autopilot run

Troubleshooting

Autopilot already enabled

Error: Autopilot is already enabled

Solution: Disable first, then re-enable: 

azlin autopilot disable
azlin autopilot enable --budget 500

Budget too low

Warning: Budget $100/month is below current spend $245/month

Solution: Either increase budget or stop VMs manually: 

# Increase budget
azlin autopilot enable --budget 300

# Or stop VMs first
azlin stop vm-1 vm-2
azlin autopilot enable --budget 100

No VMs found

Warning: No VMs found in resource group

Solution: This is normal for new resource groups. Autopilot will monitor as you create VMs.