Configure automatic shutdown of VMs for a lab
Important
Azure Lab Services will be retired on June 28, 2027. For more information, see the retirement guide.
This article shows you how you can configure automatic shutdown of VMs for a lab. To learn more about the benefits of auto-shutdown policies, see Maximize cost control with auto-shutdown settings.
A lab plan administrator can configure automatic shutdown policies for the lab plan that you use create labs. For more information, see Configure automatic shutdown of VMs for a lab plan. As a lab owner, you can override the settings when creating a lab or after the lab is created.
Azure Lab Services supports automatic shutdown for both Windows-based and Linux-based virtual machines. For Linux-based VMs, support depends on the specific Linux distribution and version.
Configure for the lab level
You can configure the auto-shutdown settings when you create a lab or after it's created. To configure policies during lab creation see, Tutorial: Create and publish a lab. To modify automatic shutdown settings after lab creation, go to the Settings page for the lab.
Warning
If you shutdown the Linux or Windows operating system (OS) on a VM before disconnecting an RDP session to the VM, the auto-shutdown feature will not work properly. For more information, see Guide to controlling Windows shutdown behavior.
Supported Linux distributions for automatic shutdown
Azure Lab Services supports automatic shutdown for many Linux distributions and versions. Support varies depending on whether you're using a lab plan or lab account.
Lab plan-based labs
The following list provides the supported Linux distribution Azure Marketplace images for lab plan-based labs:
| Distribution | Azure Marketplace image |
|---|---|
| Debian | - Debian 11 "Bullseye" - Debian 11 "Bullseye"(Gen2) |
| Ubuntu Minimal | - Ubuntu Minimal 18.04 LTS - Ubuntu Minimal 20.04 LTS (Gen2) - Ubuntu Minimal 22.04 LTS - Ubuntu Minimal 22.04 LTS (Gen2) - Ubuntu Minimal 22.10 - Ubuntu Minimal 22.10 (Gen2) |
| Ubuntu Server | - Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS (Gen2) - Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS - Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS (Gen2) - Ubuntu Server 22.04 - Ubuntu Server 22.04 (Gen2) - Ubuntu Server 22.10 - Ubuntu Server 22.10 (Gen2) |
| Ubuntu-HPC | - Ubuntu-HPC 20.04 (Gen2) |
Lab account-based labs
If you're using lab account-based labs, Linux labs only support automatic shut down when users disconnect and when VMs are started but users don't connect.
Support varies depending on specific distributions and versions of Linux.
Shutdown settings are not supported by the Data Science Virtual Machine - Ubuntu image.
Next steps
- As an educator, learn how to maximize cost control with auto-shutdown settings.
- As an educator, see the dashboard for labs.
- As an admin, maximize cost control with auto-shutdown settings.