How does the Auto-Shutdown feature for VMs work?

Question

Hi,

I was wondering how to schedule for the VMs to automatically shut down at a specified timing and start up at a specified timing? The plan is to have the VMs powered off during off-hours to optimise costs. The Auto-Shutdown feature only provides the option to schedule the shutdown not the startup. Do I have to manually start up the VM if I use this feature?

Please advise if this feature is able to meet my requirements or if I have to consider other automation solutions available on Azure.

Thanks,

Zaki

Answer 1

Hi Syed Harith Zaki,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

The Auto-Shutdown feature in Azure allows you to schedule VMs to shut down at a specified time, but it does not provide a built-in option for scheduling startup. Therefore, if you use this feature alone, you will have to manually start the VMs after they have been shut down. To automate both shutdown and startup, there are several ways. You can use Azure Automation with Runbooks, Azure Functions or Azure Logic Apps. These options allow you to write scripts that can initiate the shutdown or startup of VMs at scheduled times.

This video will show you how to set this up using automation task: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/shows/IT-Ops-Talk/Auto-Shutdown-and-Auto-Start-an-Azure-VM

The easiest approach is the Logic App that you can deploy as part of the Virtual Machine automation features.

Take a look at this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/logic-apps/create-automation-tasks-azure-resources

To automate the schedule of your virtual machines, you can also follow: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/start-stop-vms/overview#enable-and-configure.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-functions/functions-create-scheduled-function

Let me know if you have any further queries.

If the comment is helpful, please click "upvote".

Answer 2

An alternative way I know of to implement this is by using an automation account.

In the Azure Portal, navigate to Create a resource > Automation > Automation Account. A previously described answer for this can be found here.

See: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1439565/how-to-automate-shutdown-and-auto-start-for-vms-in

I also found a youtube video here that describes in detail how to set it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFXcRt7auuU

You can mark it 'Accept Answer' and 'Upvote' if this helped you

Regards,

Abiola