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azlin context use

Switch to a different Azure context

Description

The azlin context use command sets the specified context as the current active context. All subsequent azlin commands will use this context's subscription and tenant IDs for Azure operations.

Contexts provide kubectl-style multi-tenant Azure access, allowing you to easily switch between different Azure subscriptions, tenants, and authentication profiles without changing environment variables or configuration files.

Usage

azlin context use [OPTIONS] NAME

Arguments

Argument Description
NAME Name of the context to activate (required)

Options

Option Type Description
--config TEXT Path Custom config file path (default: ~/.azlin/config.toml)
-h, --help Flag Show command help and exit

Examples

Basic Context Switching

# Switch to production context
azlin context use production

# Switch to development context
azlin context use dev

# Switch to staging context
azlin context use staging

Using Custom Config File

# Use context from custom config location
azlin context use production --config ~/custom-config.toml

# Switch between team configs
azlin context use team-a --config ~/.azlin/team-a-config.toml

Workflow Examples

# List available contexts
azlin context list

# Switch to production
azlin context use production

# Verify current context
azlin context current

# Provision VM in production subscription
azlin new --name prod-vm

# Switch back to dev
azlin context use dev

# Provision VM in dev subscription
azlin new --name dev-vm

How It Works

When you run azlin context use NAME:

  1. Validation - Checks that the context exists in configuration
  2. Activation - Sets the context as the current active context
  3. Persistence - Saves the current context selection to config file
  4. Immediate Effect - All subsequent commands use the new context

The context configuration is stored in ~/.azlin/config.toml under the [contexts] section.

Context Structure

Each context contains:

  • subscription_id - Azure subscription ID
  • tenant_id - Azure tenant ID
  • auth_profile - (Optional) Service principal authentication profile name

Example context in config:

[contexts.production]
subscription_id = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"
tenant_id = "yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy"
auth_profile = "prod-sp"

[contexts.dev]
subscription_id = "aaaaaaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaa"
tenant_id = "bbbbbbbb-bbbb-bbbb-bbbb-bbbbbbbbbbbb"

Troubleshooting

Context Not Found

Symptoms: Error "Context 'NAME' not found"

Solutions: 

# List available contexts
azlin context list

# Create the context first
azlin context create NAME \
  --subscription xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx \
  --tenant yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy

Authentication Fails After Switching

Symptoms: Azure authentication errors after switching contexts

Solutions: 

# Verify context is set correctly
azlin context current

# Test authentication
azlin auth test

# If using service principal, verify auth profile exists
azlin auth list

# Re-authenticate with Azure CLI
az login --tenant YOUR-TENANT-ID

Wrong Resources Appearing

Symptoms: Seeing VMs or resources from wrong subscription

Solutions: 

# Verify current context
azlin context current

# Check which subscription Azure CLI is using
az account show

# Switch to correct context
azlin context use CORRECT-CONTEXT

# Verify again
azlin context current

Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Use clear, descriptive context names:

# Good naming
azlin context use prod-us-east
azlin context use dev-team-a
azlin context use staging-europe

# Avoid ambiguous names
azlin context use context1  # Bad
azlin context use temp      # Bad

Team Workflows

# Personal contexts
azlin context use personal-dev
azlin context use personal-test

# Team contexts
azlin context use team-shared-dev
azlin context use team-shared-staging
azlin context use team-shared-prod

Multi-Tenant Organizations

# Client A contexts
azlin context use clienta-prod
azlin context use clienta-dev

# Client B contexts
azlin context use clientb-prod
azlin context use clientb-dev

# Internal contexts
azlin context use internal-prod
azlin context use internal-dev

Source Code

See Also