Automation possibility for Azure labs

Question

Automation possibility for Azure labs

Anonymous

Hello,

What are the options available for Azure labs automation?

I have the following requirements and need to check if these can be automated.

Reboot the servers.
Take a snapshot/backup of the server.
Increase CPU/Disk/memory space.

Also want to know if any of the above requirements can be automated without logging into Azure portal?

kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-03T15:22:17.88+00:00

Hello, @Anonymous ! Can you confirm that you are talking about Azure Lab Services? The tag says Azure Virtual Machines. Usually you would use PowerShell commands like New-AzSnapshotConfig and New-AzSnapshot, Restart-AzVM, and Get-AzVMSize/Get-AzVM/Update-AzVM however as Azure Lab Services is a managed service, I'm confirming to make sure there aren't limitations.
Anonymous

2023-05-03T16:51:37.45+00:00
@kobulloc-MSFT ! Yes I'm referring to Azure lab services.

Can we automate the below requirements using the commands you mentioned, without logging into Azure portal?

Reboot the servers.

Take a snapshot/backup of the server.

Increase CPU/Disk/memory space.

Also, if you could help me with any relevant links for Azure automation that would be of great help. Thank you!
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-03T17:39:19.5533333+00:00

Thank you for confirming, @Anonymous ! I'm reaching out to the product group for confirmation.
Anonymous

2023-05-04T12:34:08.3633333+00:00

Thanks @kobulloc-MSFT ! This seems to be more on the API side than UI automation.

However after enough researching, I came across Powershell runbooks within Azure labs. Do you know if this can help OR how is this different from what you suggested ?
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-08T00:47:54.84+00:00

Hello, @Anonymous !

I hope this has been helpful! We appreciate hearing from you and would love to help others who may have the same question. Accepting answers helps increase visibility of this question for other members of the Microsoft Q&A community.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

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kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-03T15:22:17.88+00:00

Hello, @Anonymous ! Can you confirm that you are talking about Azure Lab Services? The tag says Azure Virtual Machines. Usually you would use PowerShell commands like New-AzSnapshotConfig and New-AzSnapshot, Restart-AzVM, and Get-AzVMSize/Get-AzVM/Update-AzVM however as Azure Lab Services is a managed service, I'm confirming to make sure there aren't limitations.
Anonymous

2023-05-03T16:51:37.45+00:00

@kobulloc-MSFT ! Yes I'm referring to Azure lab services.

Can we automate the below requirements using the commands you mentioned, without logging into Azure portal?

Reboot the servers.

Take a snapshot/backup of the server.

Increase CPU/Disk/memory space.

Also, if you could help me with any relevant links for Azure automation that would be of great help. Thank you!
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-03T17:39:19.5533333+00:00

Thank you for confirming, @Anonymous ! I'm reaching out to the product group for confirmation.
Anonymous

2023-05-04T12:34:08.3633333+00:00

Thanks @kobulloc-MSFT ! This seems to be more on the API side than UI automation.

However after enough researching, I came across Powershell runbooks within Azure labs. Do you know if this can help OR how is this different from what you suggested ?
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-08T00:47:54.84+00:00

Hello, @Anonymous !

I hope this has been helpful! We appreciate hearing from you and would love to help others who may have the same question. Accepting answers helps increase visibility of this question for other members of the Microsoft Q&A community.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

Answer 1

kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Microsoft Employee Moderator

Hello, @Anonymous !

How do I automate VM tasks in Azure Lab Services?

Unlike standard virtual machines, VMs in Azure Lab Services are managed as part of a lab. As a result, you'll need to use Azure Lab Services REST APIs to automate tasks:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/labservices/

Reboot a VM - Use Virtual Machines - Stop and Virtual Machines - Start.
Take a snapshot/back up a VM - Unfortunately, there are no Azure Lab Services APIs for this action.
Increase CPU/Disk/Memory space - Use Labs - Update.

I hope this has been helpful! If it has, please take a moment to accept answers as this helps increase visibility of this question for other members of the Microsoft Q&A community. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

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Anonymous

2023-05-04T10:50:14.63+00:00

Thanks @kobulloc-MSFT ! This seems to be more on the API side than UI automation.

However after enough researching, I came across Powershell runbooks within Azure labs. Do you know if this can help OR how is this different from what you suggested ?
kobulloc-MSFT 26,801 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-05-05T23:15:18.5166667+00:00

Hello, @Seema Aithal !

Azure Automation (listed under the Azure Automation tag here in Microsoft Q&A) includes PowerShell Workflow runbooks as a general automation solution for Azure services.

There is a DevTest Labs repo link included in the Azure Lab Services documentation which includes Stop-AzLabVm and a very limited set of other commands. The REST API seems to have a much more robust set of options which is likely the reason why PowerShell was not included in the product group recommendation.

If you are interested in experimenting with a subset of PowerShell commands, the repo with documentation and examples can be found here:

https://github.com/Azure/azure-devtestlab/tree/master/samples/ClassroomLabs/Modules/Library

I hope this helps!

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Automation possibility for Azure labs

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