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azlin destroy Command Reference

Arr matey! This here document be explainin' the azlin destroy command fer cleanly deletin' VMs and all their associated resources.

Overview

The destroy command completely removes a VM and ALL associated Azure resources, including:

  • Virtual Machine itself
  • Network Interfaces (NICs)
  • Network Security Groups (NSGs) [NEW]
  • OS and data disks
  • Public IP addresses (if attached)

This ensures no orphaned resources remain after deletion, allowing ye to reuse VM names without conflicts.

Basic Usage

# Delete a VM with all resources
azlin destroy my-vm-name

# Show what would be deleted (dry-run)
azlin destroy my-vm-name --dry-run

# Skip confirmation prompt
azlin destroy my-vm-name --force

Command Options

Required Arguments

  • vm_name - Name of the VM to destroy (or session name)

Optional Flags

Flag Description
--resource-group, --rg Specify resource group (uses config default if not provided)
--config Path to custom config file
--force Skip confirmation prompt
--dry-run Show what would be deleted without actually deleting
--delete-rg Delete the entire resource group (DANGEROUS)

What Gets Deleted

Resource Deletion Order

Resources are deleted in the followin' order to handle dependencies:

  1. Virtual Machine - The VM instance itself
  2. Network Interfaces (NICs) - All network interfaces attached to the VM
  3. Network Security Groups (NSGs) - NSGs discovered from each NIC [NEW]
  4. OS and Data Disks - All disks attached to the VM
  5. Public IP Addresses - Public IPs associated with NICs (if any)

NSG Deletion Behavior [NEW]

  • NSGs be discovered by querying each NIC attached to the VM
  • NSG deletion be best-effort (graceful if NSG doesn't exist or already deleted)
  • Multiple NICs may share the same NSG (only deleted once)
  • No errors if NSG not found (handles race conditions)

Examples

Example 1: Standard Deletion

azlin destroy azlin-vm-20250112-120000

Output:

VM Details:
  Name:           azlin-vm-20250112-120000
  Resource Group: my-dev-rg
  Status:         Running
  IP:             20.123.45.67
  Size:           Standard_D2s_v3

This will delete the VM and all associated resources (NICs, NSGs, disks, IPs).
This action cannot be undone.

Are you sure you want to delete this VM? [y/N]: y

Deleting VM: azlin-vm-20250112-120000
  ✓ Deleted VM
  ✓ Deleted NIC: azlin-vm-nic
  ✓ Deleted NSG: azlin-vm-nsg
  ✓ Deleted disk: azlin-vm-osdisk
  ✓ Deleted Public IP: azlin-vm-ip

Successfully deleted azlin-vm-20250112-120000 and all associated resources.

Example 2: Dry-Run Mode

azlin destroy my-dev-vm --dry-run

Output:

DRY RUN: The following resources would be deleted:

VM: my-dev-vm
├── Network Interfaces:
│   ├── my-dev-vm-nic-1
│   └── my-dev-vm-nic-2
├── Network Security Groups:
│   └── my-dev-vm-nsg
├── Disks:
│   ├── my-dev-vm-osdisk
│   └── my-dev-vm-datadisk-0
└── Public IPs:
    └── my-dev-vm-ip

Total: 1 VM, 2 NICs, 1 NSG, 2 disks, 1 Public IP

No resources were deleted (--dry-run mode).

Example 3: Skip Confirmation

azlin destroy test-vm-001 --force

Use Case: Automated scripts or CI/CD pipelines where manual confirmation not be needed.

Example 4: Multiple Resource Groups

# Delete VM in specific resource group
azlin destroy vm-name --rg production-rg

# Delete VM in development group
azlin destroy vm-name --rg dev-rg

Success Messages

After successful deletion, ye'll see:

Successfully deleted <vm-name> and all associated resources.
Resources deleted:
  - VM: <vm-name>
  - NIC(s): <nic-count> deleted
  - NSG(s): <nsg-count> deleted
  - Disk(s): <disk-count> deleted
  - Public IP(s): <ip-count> deleted

Error Handling

VM Not Found

azlin destroy nonexistent-vm

Output:

Error: VM 'nonexistent-vm' not found in resource group 'my-rg'.

Permission Denied

Error: Insufficient permissions to delete VM.
Ensure you have 'Contributor' or 'Owner' role on the resource group.

Partial Deletion

If some resources fail to delete, ye'll see:

Warning: Some resources could not be deleted:
  ✓ Deleted VM: my-vm
  ✓ Deleted NIC: my-vm-nic
  ✗ Failed to delete NSG: my-vm-nsg (ResourceInUse)
  ✓ Deleted disk: my-vm-osdisk

VM deleted but some resources remain. Manual cleanup may be required.

Important Notes

Name Reuse

After destroy completes successfully, the VM name be immediately available for reuse:

# Delete old VM
azlin destroy my-project-vm --force

# Create new VM with same name
azlin new --name my-project-vm

Previously, orphaned NSGs would prevent name reuse. This be fixed with NSG cleanup.

NSG Sharing

If multiple VMs share a Network Security Group:

  • NSG only deleted when the LAST VM using it be destroyed
  • Azure prevents deletion of NSGs still attached to other resources
  • This be safe and automatic - no user action needed

Resource Group Deletion

azlin destroy my-vm --delete-rg --force

WARNING: This deletes the ENTIRE resource group, not just the VM. All resources in the group be permanently lost.

Comparison with killall

Command Purpose Confirmation
azlin destroy <vm-name> Delete single VM Per-VM prompt
azlin killall Delete all VMs in RG Single bulk prompt
azlin destroy --delete-rg Delete entire RG Extra warning

Related Commands

  • azlin list - List VMs before deletion
  • azlin killall - Bulk deletion
  • azlin status <vm> - Check VM details before destroying

Troubleshooting

"Resource still in use" Error

Problem: NSG or NIC cannot be deleted because it be attached elsewhere.

Solution: Azure prevents deletion automatically. The VM deletion succeeds, orphaned resources be cleaned up when no longer in use.

Deletion Timeout

Problem: Deletion takes longer than 5 minutes.

Solution:

# Use --no-wait flag (advanced)
export AZLIN_NO_WAIT=1
azlin destroy my-vm --force

Can't Find VM by Name

Problem: VM name doesn't match what ye expect.

Solution:

# List all VMs first
azlin list

# Use exact name from list output
azlin destroy azlin-20250112-143022

See Also