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azlin kill

Delete a VM and all associated resources

Description

The azlin kill command deletes a VM and all its associated Azure resources: the VM itself, OS disk, network interface, and public IP. This is the quickest way to completely remove a VM from Azure.

Warning: This operation is irreversible. The VM and all data will be permanently deleted.

Usage

azlin kill [OPTIONS] VM_NAME

Arguments

Argument Description
VM_NAME Name of the VM to delete (required)

Options

Option Type Description
--resource-group, --rg TEXT Name Azure resource group
--config PATH Path Config file path
--force Flag Skip confirmation prompt
-h, --help Flag Show command help and exit

Examples

Delete with Confirmation

azlin kill azlin-vm-12345

Output: 

Delete VM: azlin-vm-12345

Resources to delete:
  - VM: azlin-vm-12345
  - OS Disk: azlin-vm-12345_OsDisk_1234
  - NIC: azlin-vm-12345-nic
  - Public IP: azlin-vm-12345-ip

Continue? [y/N]: y

Deleting resources...
✓ Deleted VM
✓ Deleted disk
✓ Deleted NIC
✓ Deleted Public IP

VM 'azlin-vm-12345' deleted successfully.

Force Delete (No Confirmation)

azlin kill my-vm --force

Delete with Resource Group

azlin kill my-vm --rg my-resource-group

Delete Multiple VMs

# Delete several VMs in sequence
azlin kill vm1 --force
azlin kill vm2 --force
azlin kill vm3 --force

# Or use a loop
for vm in vm1 vm2 vm3; do
  azlin kill $vm --force
done

What Gets Deleted

The command deletes:

  1. VM - The virtual machine instance
  2. OS Disk - Boot disk attached to VM
  3. Data Disks - Any additional data disks
  4. Network Interface (NIC) - Network card
  5. Public IP - Public IP address (if assigned)
  6. NSG Rules - Network security group rules specific to this VM

NOT deleted: - Resource group (use azlin destroy --delete-rg for that) - Shared resources (VNet, storage accounts, etc.) - SSH keys - Snapshots

Behavior

  1. Validation - Verifies VM exists
  2. Resource Discovery - Identifies all associated resources
  3. Confirmation - Prompts user (unless --force)
  4. Deletion - Deletes resources in order:
  5. VM first
  6. Then disk, NIC, and IP in parallel
  7. Verification - Confirms all resources deleted

Troubleshooting

VM Not Found

Symptoms: "VM 'NAME' not found"

Solutions: 

# List VMs to find correct name
azlin list

# Check spelling and resource group
azlin list --rg my-resource-group

Deletion Hangs

Symptoms: Command hangs during deletion

Solutions: 

# Check Azure Portal for status
# VM may be in transitional state

# Wait a few minutes, then retry
azlin kill my-vm --force

# If still stuck, use Azure Portal to investigate

Permission Denied

Symptoms: "Insufficient permissions" error

Solutions: 

# Verify you have Contributor or Owner role
# Check with Azure admin

# Try with explicit resource group
azlin kill my-vm --rg my-resource-group --force

Partial Deletion

Symptoms: VM deleted but some resources remain

Solutions: 

# Check Azure Portal for orphaned resources
# Delete manually via Portal or CLI

# Common orphans:
az disk list --query "[?contains(name, 'my-vm')]"
az network nic list --query "[?contains(name, 'my-vm')]"
az network public-ip list --query "[?contains(name, 'my-vm')]"

Safety Best Practices

Always Verify Before Deleting

# Check what VM you're about to delete
azlin status my-vm

# Verify it's the right one
azlin connect my-vm  # Quick check

Create Snapshots First

# Snapshot before deleting
azlin snapshot create my-vm

# Then delete
azlin kill my-vm --force

# Can restore later if needed
azlin snapshot list
azlin snapshot restore my-vm snapshot-name

Use Dry Run for Critical VMs

# Use azlin destroy for dry-run capability
azlin destroy my-vm --dry-run

# Review what would be deleted
# Then proceed with kill
azlin kill my-vm --force

Verify Subscription/Context

# Always check your context first
azlin context current

# Make sure you're in the right subscription
# Then delete
azlin kill my-vm --force

Comparison with Other Delete Commands

Command Purpose Options
azlin kill Quick VM deletion Basic, fast
azlin destroy VM deletion with options Dry-run, delete-rg
azlin killall Delete all VMs in RG Mass deletion
azlin prune Delete inactive VMs Age/idle filters

Common Workflows

Clean Up Test VMs

# Delete test VMs after work
azlin kill test-vm-1 --force
azlin kill test-vm-2 --force
azlin kill test-vm-3 --force

Remove Failed Provisioning

# If provisioning failed, clean up
azlin kill azlin-vm-failed-12345 --force

Pre-Recreation Cleanup

# Delete old VM before recreating with same name
azlin kill old-vm --force
azlin new --name old-vm

Automation Examples

Script to Delete Multiple VMs

#!/bin/bash
# Delete all VMs matching a pattern

VMS=$(azlin list --format json | jq -r '.[] | select(.name | contains("temp-")) | .name')

for vm in $VMS; do
  echo "Deleting $vm..."
  azlin kill "$vm" --force
done

echo "Cleanup complete"

Scheduled Cleanup

# Add to crontab for nightly cleanup
# Delete VMs tagged for deletion
# 0 2 * * * /path/to/cleanup-vms.sh

#!/bin/bash
VMS_TO_DELETE=$(azlin list --tag delete-after=$(date +%Y-%m-%d) --format json | jq -r '.[].name')

for vm in $VMS_TO_DELETE; do
  azlin kill "$vm" --force
done

Source Code

See Also