Converting a Regular VM to a Spot VM Without Changing Object ID

Question

Hi community,

I need to convert a regular VM to a Spot VM without changing its object ID. How can I do this? Maintaining the same object ID is important for my case.

Answer 1

Hello KindCompute,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

Problem

I understand that you would like to convert a regular VM to a Spot VM without changing its object ID but maintaining the same object ID.

Solution

I have read more than three similar questions as yours on Q&A platform; I will provide links to them and other resources to give more understanding. You will need to understand that there is no specific solution to do the conversion but there many ways to work-around especially for developers who would like to develop an application or using scripts to access the VM.

Best practices (Developer perspectives)

First, stop the VM by deallocating it.

You can do this through the Azure Portal, Azure CLI, or PowerShell. Using the property of the VM is a cool medium, just ensure that the VM is in the "Stopped (deallocated)" state.

Secondly, you will need to create a new Spot VM.

• In the Azure Portal, navigate to the VM you want to convert.
• Click on "Create similar" or "Clone" to create a new VM based on the existing configuration.
• During the creation process, choose the "Spot" pricing option instead of "Pay-as-you-go" or "Reserved."

Thirdly, you will need to Update the object ID.

I have different examples in the references below and Java application as seen in the code below: So, after creating the new Spot VM, definitely the new Spot VM will have a different object ID. To maintain consistency, update any references in your applications or scripts to point to the new VM. If you're using Azure SDKs (e.g., Java SDK), update the code that interacts with the VM. This is an example in Java:

     import com.microsoft.azure.management.Azure;
     import com.microsoft.azure.management.compute.VirtualMachine;
     import com.microsoft.azure.management.resources.fluentcore.arm.Region;
     import com.microsoft.rest.LogLevel;
     public class UpdateVMObjectId {
         public static void main(String[] args) {
             String clientId = "<your-client-id>";
             String clientSecret = "<your-client-secret>";
             String tenantId = "<your-tenant-id>";
             String subscriptionId = "<your-subscription-id>";
             String resourceGroupName = "<resource-group-name>";
             String existingVmName = "<existing-vm-name>";
             String newVmName = "<new-vm-name>";
             try {
                 Azure azure = Azure.configure()
                         .withLogLevel(LogLevel.BASIC)
                         .authenticate(new File(System.getenv("AZURE_AUTH_LOCATION")))
                         .withDefaultSubscription();
                 VirtualMachine existingVm = azure.virtualMachines()
                         .getByResourceGroup(resourceGroupName, existingVmName);
                 // Update references to the object ID (e.g., in your application configuration)
                 // ...
                 System.out.println("References updated successfully.");
             } catch (Exception e) {
                 System.err.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
             }
         }
     }

Then, if you are using script us this link to Convert an Azure VM to a Spot VM type: https://gist.github.com/sasinaola/8b5a63925fd0ad3930c9fdc2a3996989

This was based on sample script at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/change-availability-set

NOTE: Extensions will not be copied to new instance!!

NOTE: The additional, you might need to add before running the script to convert a regular VM to a Spot VM while maintaining its object ID:

1. Enable Managed Service Identity (MSI) for the VM. This will generate a service principal associated with the VM.
2. Retrieve the Object ID of the VM's service principal. You can find it in the Azure portal by navigating to your VM, then selecting Identity. The Object ID is the property you need to pass to -RefObjectId in your script.

Therefore, irrespective of the programing language and application or the script you're using. As I said above:

To maintain consistency, update any references in your applications or scripts to point to the new VM.

References

Convert an Azure VM to a Spot VM type.

How to Convert Your Azure VM to Spot Instances and Save.

Converting an Azure VM to a Spot type.

Similar Questions

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2399/convert-existing-vm-to-azure-spot

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1304019/change-vm-size-to-an-azure-spot-configuration

Accept Answer

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

** Please don't forget to close up the thread here by upvoting and accept it as an answer if it is helpful ** so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution.

Best Regards,

Sina Salam