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azlin snapshot delete

Permanently delete a snapshot to free up storage and reduce costs.

Usage

azlin snapshot delete SNAPSHOT_NAME [OPTIONS]

Options

Option Description
--force Skip confirmation prompt
--resource-group, --rg TEXT Azure resource group
-h, --help Show help message

Examples

Delete Snapshot

azlin snapshot delete my-vm-snapshot-20251001-020000

Output: 

Delete snapshot 'my-vm-snapshot-20251001-020000'?

Size: 30 GB
Created: 2025-10-01 02:00:00 (54 days ago)
Cost savings: ~$1.50/month

⚠ This cannot be undone

Type 'DELETE' to confirm: DELETE

Deleting snapshot...
Snapshot deleted successfully.

Force Delete

azlin snapshot delete my-vm-snapshot-20251001-020000 --force

Cleanup Old Snapshots

# Delete snapshots older than 30 days
azlin snapshot list my-vm | grep "2025-10" | awk '{print $1}' | \
    xargs -I {} azlin snapshot delete {} --force

Common Use Cases

Cost Reduction

# List snapshots to find expensive old ones
azlin snapshot list my-vm

# Delete old snapshots
azlin snapshot delete my-vm-snapshot-20250901-020000

Retention Policy

# Keep only last 7 snapshots
azlin snapshot list my-vm | tail -n +8 | awk '{print $1}' | \
    xargs -I {} azlin snapshot delete {} --force

Important Notes

WARNING: Deleted snapshots cannot be recovered - No undo operation - No Azure recycle bin - Ensure you don't need the snapshot before deleting