The Start Virtual Machines action can be used to start many Azure virtual machines at a specific time of day. Once the virtual machines have been started, they can optionally be stopped after they have been running for a specific amount of time.

For example, 5 VMs can be started at 8am and stopped 8 hours later with a single Start Virtual Machines action.

Please see Common Action Settings for a description of settings common to all action types.

Resource Groups

Indicates the resource groups in which virtual machines may be started. Valid options include:

Resource Group Name

Comparison used when matching resource group names. Comparison is not case-sensitive.

Virtual Machines

Indicates the virtual machine names for virtual machines which may be started. Valid options include:

Virtual Machine Name

Comparison used when matching virtual machine names. Comparison is case-sensitive.

Compare Resource Tags

Indicates whether resource tags are compared. Only virtual machines with matching resource tags may be started.

Resource Tag Name

Indicates the name of the resource tag used to compare.

Resource Tag Value

Indicates the value of the resource tag used to compare.

Stop the Virtual Machines

Indicate whether the virtual machines should be automatically stopped later. The running time of the virtual machines must also be specified if this is checked.

Running Duration

Indicate the length of time the virtual machines should run before they are stopped. This value is only required if "Stop the Virtual Machines" is checked.

The following Azure commands are used. The credential should have permission to execute all of them.