azlin storage delete¶

Delete an Azure Files NFS storage account.

Description¶

The azlin storage delete command permanently removes a storage account and all its data. By default, it prevents deletion if VMs are still connected to protect against accidental data loss. Use --force to override this safety check.

WARNING: This operation is irreversible. All data in the storage account will be permanently deleted.

Usage¶

azlin storage delete NAME [OPTIONS]

Arguments¶

NAME - Storage account name (required)

Options¶

Option	Description
`--resource-group, --rg TEXT`	Azure resource group
`--force`	Force delete even if VMs are connected
`-h, --help`	Show help message

Examples¶

Safe Delete (Default)¶

# Delete storage (fails if VMs connected)
azlin storage delete old-project

Output (no VMs connected):

Deleting storage account 'old-project'...

⚠ WARNING: This will permanently delete all data in 'old-project'

Storage Details:
  Size: 200 GB
  Tier: Premium
  Monthly Cost: $30.60
  Connected VMs: 0
  Created: 2025-10-15

Are you sure you want to delete this storage? [y/N]: y

Deleting storage account...
Storage account 'old-project' deleted successfully.

Output (VMs connected):

Cannot delete storage account 'team-shared'

The following VMs are still connected:
  - alice-vm
  - bob-vm  - carol-vm

To delete, first unmount from all VMs:
  azlin storage unmount --vm alice-vm
  azlin storage unmount --vm bob-vm
  azlin storage unmount --vm carol-vm

Or use --force to override (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Force Delete¶

# Delete even with connected VMs (dangerous!)
azlin storage delete old-project --force

Output:

⚠⚠⚠ FORCE DELETE ⚠⚠⚠

Deleting storage 'old-project' with --force flag.
This will disconnect all VMs and delete all data.

Connected VMs (2):
  - dev-vm-1 (will be disconnected)
  - dev-vm-2 (will be disconnected)

WARNING: VMs will LOSE ACCESS to all data in this storage!

Type 'DELETE old-project' to confirm: DELETE old-project

Unmounting from all VMs...
Deleting storage account...
Storage account deleted.

⚠ VMs may need to reconnect to SSH

Delete with Different Resource Group¶

azlin storage delete staging-storage --rg azlin-staging-rg

Delete Multiple Storage Accounts¶

# Delete several old storage accounts
for storage in old-proj-1 old-proj-2 test-storage; do
    azlin storage delete $storage
done

Common Use Cases¶

Cleanup After Project¶

# 1. Check what's in storage
azlin storage status project-demo

# 2. Unmount from all VMs
azlin storage unmount --vm demo-vm-1
azlin storage unmount --vm demo-vm-2

# 3. Delete storage
azlin storage delete project-demo

Remove Unused Storage¶

# 1. List all storage
azlin storage list

# 2. Find storage with 0 VMs
# 3. Check if data is needed
azlin storage status old-backup

# 4. Delete if not needed
azlin storage delete old-backup

Emergency Cleanup¶

# Force delete when VMs are unrecoverable
azlin storage delete crashed-project --force

Cost Reduction¶

# Delete expensive unused storage
azlin storage list

# Delete storage with high cost and 0 VMs
azlin storage delete expensive-unused

Pre-Delete Checklist¶

Before deleting storage:

Check connected VMs

azlin storage status <name> | grep "Connected VMs"

Verify data is backed up (if important)

# Mount locally to backup
azlin storage mount local --mount-point ~/backup --storage <name>
# Copy important files
cp -r ~/backup/important-data /local/backup/
# Unmount
sudo umount ~/backup

Unmount from all VMs

# Get list of connected VMs
azlin storage status <name>

# Unmount each
azlin storage unmount --vm <vm-name>

Confirm not in use

# Double-check no VMs connected
azlin storage status <name>

Delete
```
azlin storage delete <name>
```

What Gets Deleted¶

When you delete a storage account:

✅ Deleted: - Storage account resource - All files and directories - All data and metadata - NFS share configuration - Access keys and credentials - Cost allocation stops immediately

❌ Not Deleted: - VMs (continue running) - VM home directory backups (on VMs at ~/.azlin-backup-*) - Other storage accounts - Snapshots of VMs

Safety Features¶

Default Protection¶

By default, deletion fails if: - VMs are connected to storage - Storage contains active mounts - Storage is referenced in VM tags

Confirmation Required¶

You must type 'y' or 'yes' to confirm deletion (or 'DELETE ' for force delete).

Audit Trail¶

Deletions are logged for security auditing.

Data Recovery¶

Important: Once deleted, storage cannot be recovered.

No Azure-level recovery
No "undelete" operation
No backup unless you created one

Recommendation: For important data, backup before deletion:

# Backup approach 1: Copy to local
azlin storage mount local --mount-point ~/backup --storage important-data
tar -czf important-data-backup.tar.gz ~/backup/*
sudo umount ~/backup

# Backup approach 2: Copy to another storage
azlin storage create backup-storage --size 200 --tier Standard
# Mount both on a VM and copy between them

# Then delete original
azlin storage delete important-data

Troubleshooting¶

Cannot Delete - VMs Connected¶

Error: "Cannot delete storage with connected VMs"

Solution: Unmount from all VMs first:

# Check which VMs are connected
azlin storage status problem-storage

# Unmount each
azlin storage unmount --vm vm1
azlin storage unmount --vm vm2

# Try delete again
azlin storage delete problem-storage

Cannot Delete - Permission Denied¶

Error: "Insufficient permissions to delete storage"

Solution: Ensure you have Contributor role:

# Check permissions
az role assignment list --all

# Need Contributor or Owner role

Storage Not Found¶

Error: "Storage account 'xyz' not found"

Solution: Check name and resource group:

# List all storage
azlin storage list

# Try with correct resource group
azlin storage delete xyz --rg azlin-other-rg

Force Delete Hangs¶

Issue: --force delete hangs on unmounting VMs

Solution: VMs may be stopped or unreachable:

# Check VM status
azlin list

# Start stopped VMs
azlin start vm1 vm2

# Or manually remove mount references and retry

Important Warnings¶

No Recovery¶

🚨 CRITICAL: Deleted storage cannot be recovered - No Azure recycle bin - No Microsoft support recovery - Backups are your only option

VM Impact with --force¶

⚠ When using --force with connected VMs: - VMs lose access to mounted files immediately - Running processes may crash - SSH sessions to VMs may disconnect - Applications using mounted storage will fail

Cost Implications¶

💰 Costs stop immediately upon deletion - No prorated refunds - Charged up to deletion time - Can recreate with same name immediately

Name Reuse¶

The storage account name becomes available immediately after deletion and can be reused by anyone globally.

When NOT to Delete¶

Don't delete storage if: - Any doubt about data importance - VMs are still running workloads - No backup exists of important data - Storage is referenced by other automation - Team members might still need access

Instead: Unmount from VMs and keep storage for a grace period:

# Unmount but don't delete
azlin storage unmount --vm all-vms

# Set a reminder to delete in 30 days
# If no one complains, delete then

azlin storage list - List all storage accounts
azlin storage status - View storage details before deletion
azlin storage unmount - Unmount before deleting
azlin storage create - Create new storage account