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azlin prune

Prune inactive VMs based on age and idle time.

Synopsis

azlin prune [OPTIONS]

Description

Identifies and optionally deletes VMs that are: - Older than --age-days (default: 1) - Idle for longer than --idle-days (default: 1) - Stopped/deallocated (unless --include-running) - Without named sessions (unless --include-named)

Options

Option Description Default
--resource-group, --rg TEXT Resource group current
--config PATH Config file path -
--age-days INTEGER Age threshold in days 1
--idle-days INTEGER Idle threshold in days 1
--dry-run Preview without deleting false
--force Skip confirmation false
--include-running Include running VMs false
--include-named Include named sessions false
-h, --help Show help -

Examples

Preview what would be deleted

azlin prune --dry-run

Delete VMs idle 1+ days (default)

azlin prune

Custom thresholds

azlin prune --age-days 7 --idle-days 3

Force delete without confirmation

azlin prune --force

Include running VMs

azlin prune --include-running --age-days 30

Output Example

VM Pruning Analysis

Scanning VMs...
Found 8 VMs

Candidates for deletion:
  vm-test-123    Age: 5 days    Idle: 3 days    Status: Stopped
  vm-temp-456    Age: 10 days   Idle: 8 days    Status: Stopped
  vm-old-789     Age: 15 days   Idle: 15 days   Status: Stopped

Protected VMs:
  vm-prod-1      Named session: "production"
  vm-dev-main    Active (last used 2 hours ago)

Total to delete: 3 VMs
Estimated savings: $45/month

Continue? [y/N]: y

Deleting VMs...
✓ Deleted vm-test-123
✓ Deleted vm-temp-456
✓ Deleted vm-old-789

Prune complete! 3 VMs deleted.

Protection Rules

VMs are protected if: - They have named sessions (unless --include-named) - They are running (unless --include-running) - They were used within idle threshold - They are tagged with critical=true or production=true

Use Cases

Regular cleanup

# Daily cron job
0 2 * * * azlin prune --force --age-days 7

Pre-billing cleanup

# Last day of month
azlin prune --age-days 3 --idle-days 1 --dry-run
azlin prune --age-days 3 --idle-days 1

Development environment

# Clean up test VMs
azlin prune --age-days 1 --force

Production (conservative)

# Only very old, unused VMs
azlin prune --age-days 30 --idle-days 14 --dry-run

Troubleshooting

No VMs deleted

Total to delete: 0 VMs

Reasons: - All VMs are actively used - All VMs have named sessions - Thresholds too strict

Solution: Adjust thresholds or list VMs manually: 

azlin list
azlin status

Important VM deleted

If a VM was accidentally deleted: 1. Restore from snapshot if available: 

azlin snapshot list
azlin snapshot restore vm-name snapshot-name

  1. Or recreate and sync: 
    azlin new --name vm-name
azlin sync vm-name

Best Practices

  1. Always dry-run first 

    azlin prune --dry-run

  2. Use named sessions for important VMs 

    azlin session vm-prod-1 "production"

  3. Tag critical VMs 

    azlin tag vm-prod-1 --add critical=true

  4. Regular automated cleanup 

    # Cron job for development RG
0 2 * * * azlin prune --rg dev-rg --age-days 7 --force