The fastest way to gain control over your environment is through the Command Line Interface (CLI). In this article, I’m going to show you exactly how to Start and Stop Azure VMs using the Azure CLI like a pro.
Start/Stop VM Using Azure CLI
Understanding the “Stop” vs. “Deallocate” Trap
In Azure, “Stopped” does not always mean “Free.”
| State | Action Trigger | Billing Status | What Happens? |
| Stopped | Shutdown via Guest OS | Incurring Charges | The OS is off, but Azure still reserves the hardware and IP for you. |
| Stopped (Deallocated) | Stopped via CLI/Portal | No Compute Charges | The hardware is released. You only pay for storage (disks). |
Pro Tip: Always stop your VMs via the CLI or Portal to ensure they reach the Deallocated state. If you just remote in and click “Shut Down” inside Windows or Linux, you’re still paying for that compute!
Step 1: Setting Up Your Environment
To follow along, you’ll need the Azure CLI installed on your machine.
- Check your version: Open your terminal and run
az --version. - Login: You must authenticate your session. Run
az login. This will open a browser window; once you sign in with your corporate or personal account, you’re ready. - Set your Subscription: If you have multiple subscriptions (e.g., Pay-As-You-Go and an Enterprise Agreement), make sure you are in the right context:
az account set --subscription "Your-Subscription-Name"
Step 2: Starting an Azure VM via CLI
Starting a VM is the most straightforward operation. This is particularly useful for “warming up” environments before a team starts their workday.
Basic Start Command
To start a specific VM, you need two pieces of information: the Resource Group and the VM Name.
Code snippet
az vm start --resource-group demo --name AzureLessonsLinuxVMAfter executing the command above, I received the expected output, as shown in the screenshot below.
Starting Multiple VMs
If you want to start all VMs in a specific group, you don’t have to run the command 20 times. You can use a query to grab the IDs and pipe them:
- Logic: List all VMs in the group, get their IDs, and start them.
- Benefit: Zero manual clicking.
Step 3: Stopping and Deallocating VMs
As I mentioned earlier, our goal is usually to Stop and Deallocate to save money. The az vm stop command in the CLI actually triggers a deallocation by default unless you specify otherwise.
The Standard Stop Command
This is the command I use for my daily “End of Day” scripts for the dev team:
Code snippet
az vm stop --resource-group demo --name AzureLessonsLinuxVMAfter executing the command above, I received the expected output, as shown in the screenshot below.