Deleting VMs¶

Comprehensive guide to VM deletion, cleanup, and resource management.

Overview¶

azlin provides multiple commands for VM deletion with different safety levels and use cases:

azlin kill - Delete single VM and resources
azlin destroy - Delete VM with dry-run and RG deletion options
azlin killall - Delete all VMs in resource group
azlin prune - Intelligently delete inactive/idle VMs

All commands clean up associated resources (NICs, disks, public IPs) to avoid orphaned resources and unnecessary costs.

Commands¶

azlin kill¶

Delete a specific VM and all associated resources.

# Delete a VM (with confirmation)
azlin kill my-vm

# Delete without confirmation
azlin kill my-vm --force

# Delete in specific resource group
azlin kill my-vm --rg other-group

Options: - --force - Skip confirmation prompt - --resource-group, --rg - Specify resource group

Use Case: Remove a specific VM you no longer need.

azlin destroy¶

Enhanced deletion with dry-run and resource group deletion.

# Preview what would be deleted
azlin destroy my-vm --dry-run

# Delete VM
azlin destroy my-vm

# Delete VM and entire resource group (DANGEROUS!)
azlin destroy my-vm --delete-rg --force

# Delete without confirmation
azlin destroy my-vm --force

Options: - --dry-run - Show what would be deleted without deleting - --delete-rg - Delete entire resource group (use with extreme caution) - --force - Skip confirmation - --resource-group, --rg - Specify resource group

Use Case: When you want to preview deletions or remove entire resource groups.

azlin killall¶

Delete all VMs in a resource group, optionally filtered by prefix.

# Delete all VMs (with confirmation)
azlin killall

# Delete all VMs without confirmation
azlin killall --force

# Delete only VMs with specific prefix
azlin killall --prefix test-vm

# Delete in specific resource group
azlin killall --rg dev-team --force

Options: - --prefix - Only delete VMs starting with this prefix - --force - Skip confirmation - --resource-group, --rg - Specify resource group

Use Case: Clean up entire resource groups or VM fleets with common prefix.

azlin prune¶

Intelligently delete inactive, old, or idle VMs.

# Preview what would be pruned (recommended first step)
azlin prune --dry-run

# Prune VMs idle for 1+ days (default)
azlin prune

# Prune VMs older than 7 days, idle for 3+ days
azlin prune --age-days 7 --idle-days 3

# Include running VMs in prune check
azlin prune --include-running

# Include VMs with named sessions
azlin prune --include-named

# Force prune without confirmation
azlin prune --force

Options: - --age-days - Age threshold in days (default: 1) - --idle-days - Idle threshold in days (default: 1) - --dry-run - Preview without deleting - --force - Skip confirmation - --include-running - Include running VMs (default: stopped only) - --include-named - Include VMs with session names (default: unnamed only) - --resource-group, --rg - Specify resource group

Use Case: Automated cleanup of forgotten or abandoned VMs to reduce costs.

Examples¶

Delete Single VM¶

# Basic deletion
azlin kill azlin-vm-12345

# Force delete without prompts
azlin kill azlin-vm-12345 --force

Preview Before Deletion¶

# See what would be deleted
azlin destroy my-vm --dry-run

Output:

Would delete:
  - VM: my-vm
  - NIC: my-vm-nic
  - Disk: my-vm_OsDisk_1
  - Public IP: my-vm-ip

Delete All Test VMs¶

# Delete all VMs with 'test-' prefix
azlin killall --prefix test- --force

Clean Up Old Development VMs¶

# Preview prune operation
azlin prune --age-days 3 --idle-days 2 --dry-run

# Execute prune
azlin prune --age-days 3 --idle-days 2

Output:

Found 3 VMs matching criteria:
  - old-dev-vm-1 (created 5 days ago, idle 4 days)
  - old-dev-vm-2 (created 7 days ago, idle 6 days)
  - test-experiment (created 10 days ago, idle 9 days)

Delete these VMs? [y/N]:

Emergency Cleanup¶

# Delete everything in resource group
azlin killall --force

Delete Resource Group¶

# DANGEROUS: Delete VM and entire RG
azlin destroy my-vm --delete-rg --force

Warning: This deletes EVERYTHING in the resource group, not just the VM.

Safety Features¶

Confirmation Prompts¶

All deletion commands prompt for confirmation unless --force is used:

Delete VM 'my-vm' and all associated resources? [y/N]:

Dry Run¶

destroy and prune support --dry-run to preview operations:

azlin destroy my-vm --dry-run
azlin prune --dry-run

Resource Cleanup¶

All commands automatically clean up: - Network interfaces (NICs) - OS disks - Data disks - Public IP addresses

This prevents orphaned resources and continued billing.

Prune Criteria¶

The prune command evaluates VMs based on:

Age¶

How long since VM was created
Default: 1+ days old
Configurable with --age-days

Idle Time¶

Time since last activity (SSH connection, commands)
Default: 1+ days idle
Configurable with --idle-days

State¶

Default: Only stopped/deallocated VMs
Use --include-running to include running VMs

Named Sessions¶

Default: Only VMs without session names
Use --include-named to include named VMs

Common Use Cases¶

1. Delete Finished Work VM¶

azlin kill project-vm-123

2. End of Day Cleanup¶

# Delete all temporary test VMs
azlin killall --prefix temp- --force

3. Weekly Cost Optimization¶

# Find and delete VMs idle for a week
azlin prune --age-days 7 --idle-days 7 --dry-run
# Review, then:
azlin prune --age-days 7 --idle-days 7

4. Project Cleanup¶

# Delete all VMs for completed project
azlin killall --prefix myproject- --force

5. Emergency Stop All¶

# Stop and delete everything
azlin killall --force

Cost Implications¶

Immediate Savings¶

Deleting VMs immediately stops: - Compute costs (VM pricing) - Public IP costs (if attached) - Premium disk costs (for premium storage)

Retained Costs¶

Some resources may remain unless manually deleted: - Storage accounts (NFS shares) - Snapshots - Azure Bastion hosts - Key Vaults

Prune for Automatic Savings¶

Set up a cron job or scheduled task:

# Daily cleanup of VMs idle for 2+ days
0 2 * * * azlin prune --age-days 2 --idle-days 2 --force

Troubleshooting¶

"Resource Not Found" Errors¶

Cause: VM or resources already deleted.

Solution: Normal - azlin continues to clean up remaining resources.

Partial Deletion¶

Symptom: VM deleted but resources remain.

Cause: Permission issues or resource locks.

Solution:

# Use Azure CLI to check for locks
az resource list --resource-group my-rg

# Remove locks if needed
az lock delete --name lock-name --resource-group my-rg

"Cannot Delete" Errors¶

Cause: Resource locked or in use.

Solution: 1. Stop any running processes/connections 2. Check for Azure locks 3. Verify permissions (need Contributor role)

Prune Not Finding VMs¶

Cause: All VMs are either running, named, or not meeting age/idle criteria.