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Common Azure CLI commands for managing Azure resources

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Applies to: ✔️ Linux VMs ✔️ Windows VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets

The Azure CLI allows you to create and manage your Azure resources on macOS, Linux, and Windows. This article details some of the most common commands to create and manage virtual machines (VMs).

This article requires the Azure CLI version 2.0.4 or later. Run az --version to find the version. If you need to upgrade, see Install Azure CLI. You can also use Cloud Shell from your browser.

Basic Azure Resource Manager commands in Azure CLI

For more detailed help with specific command line switches and options, you can use the online command help and options by typing az <command> <subcommand> --help.

Create VMs

Task Azure CLI commands
Create a resource group az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus
Create a Linux VM az vm create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --image LinuxImageName
Create a Windows VM az vm create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --image win2016datacenter

Manage VM state

Task Azure CLI commands
Start a VM az vm start --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Stop a VM az vm stop --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Deallocate a VM az vm deallocate --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Restart a VM az vm restart --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Redeploy a VM az vm redeploy --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Delete a VM az vm delete --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM

Get VM info

Task Azure CLI commands
List VMs az vm list
Get information about a VM az vm show --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
Get usage of VM resources az vm list-usage --location eastus
Get all available VM sizes az vm list-sizes --location eastus

Disks and images

Task Azure CLI commands
Add a data disk to a VM az vm disk attach --resource-group myResourceGroup --vm-name myVM --disk myDataDisk --size-gb 128 --new
List attached disks to a VM az vm show --resource-group groupName --name vmName --query "storageProfile"
Remove a data disk from a VM az vm disk detach --resource-group myResourceGroup --vm-name myVM --disk myDataDisk
Resize a disk az disk update --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myDataDisk --size-gb 256
Snapshot a disk az snapshot create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name mySnapshot --source myDataDisk
Create image of a VM az image create --resource-group myResourceGroup --source myVM --name myImage
Create VM from image az vm create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myNewVM --image myImage

Next steps

For additional examples of the CLI commands, see the Create and Manage Linux VMs with the Azure CLI tutorial.