RHEL In-place upgrades and Azure Update Manager
Following the process in this article will cause a disconnection between the data plane and the control plane of the virtual machine (VM). Azure capabilities such as Auto guest patching, Auto OS image upgrades, Hotpatching, and Azure Update Manager won't be available. To utilize these features, it's recommended to create a new VM using your preferred operating system instead of performing an in-place upgrade. According to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/workloads/redhat/redhat-in-place-upgrade, Azure Update Manager will break if any RHEL in-place upgrades are performed due to data/control plane disconnect. As a Microsoft product, this dilemma seems to defeat the benefits of AUM if you're someone like me who uses Redhat 'pet' VMs (as opposed to 'cattle' VMs) for work, and would frankly like to centralize all operations within the lifecycle of a Linux box inside the Azure tenant (patching, upgrading, rollback, any possible automation/application deployment etc). Unfortunately it would seem that this issue is largely something outside of the Azure customer's control. So, to anyone with esoteric Azure knowledge: what gives? Why and how is there a data disconnect between the control planes? What does the process look like from a bird's eye view? Given that the issue exists in the first place I would imagine that there is some kind of developmental contradiction, otherwise a feature like this probably would have been figured out a while ago (or that it is, as I suspect, simply not high priority enough despite a solution which may already exist in development). Furthermore, for those who may have more intimate info on the matter, does any sort of discussion or planning of a solution for this issue exist? With kindness, MadDogOfShimanoHow to deploy n8n on Azure App Service and leverage the benefits provided by Azure.
Lately, n8n has been gaining serious traction in the automation world—and it’s easy to see why. With its open-source core, visual workflow builder, and endless integration capabilities, it has become a favorite for developers and tech teams looking to automate processes without being locked into a single vendor. Given all the buzz, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a practical way to run n8n on Microsoft Azure using App Service. Why? Because Azure offers a solid, scalable, and secure platform that makes deployment easy, while still giving you full control over your container and configurations. Whether you're building a quick demo or setting up a production-ready instance, Azure App Service brings a lot of advantages to the table—like simplified scaling, integrated monitoring, built-in security features, and seamless CI/CD support. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to get your own n8n instance up and running on Azure—from creating the resource group to setting up environment variables and deploying the container. If you're into low-code automation and cloud-native solutions, this is a great way to combine both worlds. The first step is to create our Resource Group (RG); in my case, I will name it "n8n-rg". Now we proceed to create the App Service. At this point, it's important to select the appropriate configuration depending on your needs—for example, whether or not you want to include a database. If you choose to include one, Azure will handle the connections for you, and you can select from various types. In my case, I will proceed without a database. Proceed to configure the instance details. First, select the instance name, the 'Publish' option, and the 'Operating System'. In this case, it is important to choose 'Publish: Container', set the operating system to Linux, and most importantly select the region closest to you or your clients. Service Plan configuration. Here, you should select the plan based on your specific needs. Keep in mind that we are using a PaaS offering, which means that underlying compute resources like CPU and RAM are still being utilized. Depending on the expected workload, you can choose the most appropriate plan. Secondly—and very importantly—consider the features offered by each tier, such as redundancy, backup, autoscaling, custom domains, etc. In my case, I will use the Basic B1 plan. In the Database section, we do not select any option. Remember that this will depend on your specific requirements. In the Container section, under 'Image Source', select 'Other container registries'. For production environments, I recommend using Azure Container Registry (ACR) and pulling the n8n image from there. Now we will configure the Docker Hub options. This step is related to the previous one, as the available options vary depending on the image source. In our case, we will use the public n8n image from Docker Hub, so we select 'Public' and proceed to fill in the required fields: the first being the server, and the second the image name. This step is very important—use the exact same values to avoid issues. In the Networking section, we will select the values as shown in the image. This configuration will depend on your specific use case—particularly whether to enable Virtual Network (VNet) integration or not. VNet integration is typically used when the App Service needs to securely communicate with private resources (such as databases, APIs, or services) that reside within an Azure Virtual Network. Since this is a demo environment, we will leave the default settings without enabling VNet integration. In the 'Monitoring and Security' section, it is essential to enable these features to ensure traceability, observability, and additional security layers. This is considered a minimum requirement in production environments. At the very least, make sure to enable Application Insights by selecting 'Yes'. Finally, click on 'Create' and wait for the deployment process to complete. Now we will 'stop' our Web App, as we need to make some preliminary modifications. To do this, go to the main overview page of the Web App and click on 'Stop'. In the same Web App overview page, navigate through the left-hand panel to the 'Settings' section. Once there, click on it and select 'Environment Variables'. Environment variables are key-value pairs used to configure the behavior of your application without changing the source code. In the case of n8n, they are essential for defining authentication, webhook behavior, port configuration, timezone settings, and more. Environment variables within Azure specifically in Web Apps function the same way as they do outside of Azure. They allow you to configure your application's behavior without modifying the source code. In this case, we will add the following variables required for n8n to operate properly. Note: The variable APP_SERVICE_STORAGE should only be modified by setting it to true. Once the environment variables have been added, proceed to save them by clicking 'Apply' and confirming the changes. A confirmation dialog will appear to finalize the operation. Restart the Web App. This second startup may take longer than usual, typically around 5 to 7 minutes, as the environment initializes with the new configuration. Now, as we can see, the application has loaded successfully, and we can start using our own n8n server hosted on Azure. As you can observe, it references the host configured in the App Service. I hope you found this guide helpful and that it serves as a useful resource for deploying n8n on Azure App Service. If you have any questions or need further clarification, feel free to reach out—I'd be happy to help.
Scaling Smart with Azure: Architecture That Works
Hi Tech Community! I’m Zainab, currently based in Abu Dhabi and serving as Vice President of Finance & HR at Hoddz Trends LLC a global tech solutions company headquartered in Arkansas, USA. While I lead on strategy, people, and financials, I also roll up my sleeves when it comes to tech innovation. In this discussion, I want to explore the real-world challenges of scaling systems with Microsoft Azure. From choosing the right architecture to optimizing performance and cost, I’ll be sharing insights drawn from experience and I’d love to hear yours too. Whether you're building from scratch, migrating legacy systems, or refining deployments, let’s talk about what actually works.
Azure support team not responding to support request
I am posting here because I have not received a response to my support request despite my plan stating that I should hear back within 8 hours. It has now gone a day beyond that limit, and I am still waiting for assistance with this urgent matter. This issue is critical for my operations, and the delay is unacceptable. The ticket/reference number for my original support request was 2410100040000309. And I have created a brand new service request with ID 2412160040010160. I need this addressed immediately.
Error Running Script in Runbook with System Assigned Managed Identity
Hello everyone, I could use some assistance, please. I'm encountering an error when trying to run a script within a runbook. I'm using PowerShell 5.1 with a system-assigned managed identity. The script works find without using the managed identiy via powershell outside of azure. Error: System.Management.Automation.ParameterBindingException: Cannot process command because of one or more missing mandatory parameters: Credential. at System.Management.Automation.CmdletParameterBinderController.PromptForMissingMandatoryParameters(Collection1 fieldDescriptionList, Collection1 missingMandatoryParameters) at System.Management.Automation.CmdletParameterBinderController.HandleUnboundMandatoryParameters I am using this script Connect-ExchangeOnline -ManagedIdentity -Organization domain removed for privacy reasons # Specify the user's mailbox identity $mailboxIdentity = "email address removed for privacy reasons" # Get mailbox configuration and statistics for the specified mailbox $mailboxConfig = Get-Mailbox -Identity $mailboxIdentity $mailboxStats = Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity $mailboxIdentity # Check if TotalItemSize and ProhibitSendQuota are not null and extract the sizes if ($mailboxStats.TotalItemSize -and $mailboxConfig.ProhibitSendQuota) { $totalSizeBytes = $mailboxStats.TotalItemSize.Value.ToString().Split("(")[1].Split(" ")[0].Replace(",", "") -as [double] $prohibitQuotaBytes = $mailboxConfig.ProhibitSendQuota.ToString().Split("(")[1].Split(" ")[0].Replace(",", "") -as [double] # Convert sizes from bytes to gigabytes $totalMailboxSize = $totalSizeBytes / 1GB $mailboxWarningQuota = $prohibitQuotaBytes / 1GB # Check if the mailbox size exceeds 90% of the warning quota if ($totalMailboxSize -ge ($mailboxWarningQuota * 0.0)) { # Send an email notification $emailBody = "The mailbox $($mailboxIdentity) has reached $($totalMailboxSize) GB, which exceeds 90% of the warning quota." Send-MailMessage -To "email address removed for privacy reasons" -From "email address removed for privacy reasons" -Subject "Mailbox Size Warning" -Body $emailBody -SmtpServer "smtp.office365.com" -Port 587 -UseSsl -Credential (Get-Credential) } } else { Write-Host "The required values(TotalItemSize or ProhibitSendQuota) are not available." }
Azure Form Recognizer Redaction Issue with Scanned PDFs and Page Size Variations
Hi all, I’m working on a PDF redaction process using Azure Form Recognizer and Azure Functions. The flow works well in most cases — I extract the text and bounding box coordinates and apply redaction based on that. However, I’m facing an issue with scanned PDFs or PDFs with slightly different page sizes. In these cases, the redaction boxes don’t align properly — they either miss the text or appear slightly off (above or below the intended area). It seems like the coordinate mapping doesn't match accurately when the document isn't a standard A4 size or has DPI inconsistencies. Has anyone else encountered this? Any suggestions on: Adjusting for page size or DPI dynamically? Mapping normalized coordinates correctly for scanned PDFs? Appreciate any help or suggestions!Azure role for managing Visual Studio subscribers
Granting Help Desk users the ability to manage and provisioning Visual Studio licenses from the VS admin centre. I prefer not to assign the User Access Administrator role; so I am looking on what are the key RBAC configuration only for the sole purpose of managing user license for Visual Studio. Out VS subscription is attached to an Azure sub. (https://manage.visualstudio.com)Get Root Path Area ID [Azure Devops Extension]
Hi, I am developing an extension for Azure Devops. The extensions aims to render content on the work item page depending on the work item's area path ID. I managed to retrieve the available area path IDs using the Extension API: import { getClient } from "azure-devops-extension-api"; const witClient = getClient(WorkItemTrackingRestClient); const rootPath = await witClient.getClassificationNode(project!.name, TreeStructureGroup.Areas, '', 20) This returns all available Area Paths (until depth 20) for the current project. Example: ID=4, NAME='\proj_name\Area' ID=5, NAME='\proj_name\Area\custom-area' ID=6, NAME='\proj_name\Area\custom-area\sub1' However I recognized that the very root Area Path (lowest ID) does not correspond to the actual Root Area Path ID of the project. When I create a work item and assign it to the default root Area, and retrieve the work item's Area Path ID by const areaPathID = workItemFormService.getFieldValue("System.AreaID") the actual returned ID is 2. It seems to be always the lowest readable ID subtracted by 2 across different projects. When listing the Area Path IDs as a column in a query, ID=2 is also shown instead of ID=4. Is there a way to read the actual root Area Path ID and why does the reading it differ from the actual ID?
Creating a Reliable Notification System for Azure Spot VM Evictions (preempt) events
Introduction Azure Spot VMs offer significant cost savings but come with a trade-off: they can be evicted with minimal notice when Azure needs the capacity back or price change. Building a reliable notification system for these evictions is critical for applications that need to respond gracefully to these events. What are Azure Spot VMs? Azure Spot VMs are virtual machines that use spare capacity in Azure data centers, available at significantly discounted prices compared to regular pay-as-you-go VMs. Microsoft offers this unused capacity at discounts of up to 90% off the standard prices, making Spot VMs an extremely cost-effective option for many workloads. However, there's an important caveat: when Azure needs this capacity back for regular pay-as-you-go customers, your Spot VMs can be evicted (reclaimed) with minimal notice - typically just 30 seconds. This eviction mechanism is what allows Microsoft to offer such deep discounts, as we maintain the flexibility to reclaim these resources when needed. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/products/virtual-machines/spot Benefits of Spot VMs Significant cost savings: The most obvious benefit is the substantial discount, which can be up to 90% off standard VM prices. Same VM types and features: Spot VMs provide the same performance, features, and capabilities as regular VMs - the only difference is the eviction possibility. Ideal for interruptible workloads: For workloads that can handle interruptions, such as batch processing jobs, dev/test environments, or stateless applications, Spot VMs offer enormous value. Flexible sizing options: Spot VMs are available in most VM series and regions, giving you access to a wide range of computing options. Scaling opportunities: The cost savings enable you to run larger clusters or more powerful VMs than might be financially feasible with regular VMs. Effective for burst capacity: When you need additional capacity for temporary workloads, Spot VMs can provide it at minimal cost. Great for fault-tolerant applications: Modern cloud-native applications designed with redundancy and resilience can leverage Spot VMs excellently since they're built to handle node failures. Why Not Just Use Azure Resource Events? A common question is: "Why not simply listen for Azure Resource events like ResourceActionSuccess for VM evictions?" While Azure does emit platform events when resources change state through resource group as source for Azure Event Grid topic subscription, there are several critical limitations when relying on these for Spot VM evictions: Timing issues: By the time a ResourceActionSuccess event is generated for a VM eviction, it is possible that the VM is already being evicted. This gives you no time to perform graceful shutdown procedures. Reliability concerns: These events pass through multiple Azure systems before reaching your event handlers, adding potential points of failure and latency. Ambiguous events: Resource action events don't clearly distinguish between a normal VM shutdown and a Spot VM eviction, making it difficult to trigger the right response. For example: I initially attempted to capture Azure Spot VM eviction events by setting up event notifications on an Azure resource group and publishing them to Service Bus. While this configuration successfully captured some Azure Resource events, it ultimately proved unreliable for eviction monitoring. The solution missed several critical eviction events and, more problematically, could not reliably distinguish between intentional VM shutdowns and actual eviction events. This lack of differentiation made automated response handling impossible, as the system couldn't determine whether a VM was being evicted by Azure or simply stopped through normal administrative actions. Azure resource group as an Event Grid source - Azure Event Grid | Microsoft Learn For these reasons, the most reliable approach is to detect eviction events directly from within the VM using the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) Scheduled Events API, which is specifically designed to provide advance notice of impending VM state changes. This blog post will guide you through implementing a solution that: Detects Spot VM eviction events from within the VM Formats these events properly Sends them to an Azure Event Grid custom topic Sets up proper event handling downstream Understanding Spot VM Eviction Notices Spot VMs receive eviction notifications approximately 30 seconds before being reclaimed. These notifications are delivered through the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) Scheduled Events API - an endpoint available from within the VM at http://169.254.169.254/metadata/scheduledevents. When a Spot VM is about to be evicted, a "Preempt" event appears in the Scheduled Events data. Your application needs to poll this endpoint regularly to detect these events in time to take action. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/scheduled-events Solution overview Our solution consists of below components: A custom Event Grid topic to receive and distribute the events - optional if you wish to handle on own from VM A monitoring script running inside the Spot VM - actual script to poll events running on VM Logic to format and send events from the VM to Event Grid Event subscribers that take action when evictions occur A) Setting Up the Event Grid Custom Topic First, create an Event Grid custom topic that will serve as the distribution mechanism for your eviction events - this can be optional if you plan to take actions from VM only like gracefully shutting down any existing processes. You can use below documentation to create custom event grid topic: Custom topics in Azure Event Grid - Azure Event Grid | Microsoft Learn B) Creating a Windows-Based Eviction Monitor For Windows Spot VMs, we'll use below PowerShell to poll preempt events & send it to custom event grid. Create a script file named SpotMonitor.ps1: Powershell script : SpotMonitor.ps1 # Configuration variables - replace with your values $EventGridTopicEndpoint = "https://<EG topic name>.westeurope-1.eventgrid.azure.net/api/events" $EventGridKey = "<EG key>" $CheckInterval = 3 # seconds between checks - feel free to modify as per your requirement $LogFile = "C:\Logs\spot-monitor.log" # Create log directory if it doesn't exist if (-not (Test-Path (Split-Path $LogFile))) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path (Split-Path $LogFile) -Force } function Write-Log { param ([string]$Message) $timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" "$timestamp - $Message" | Out-File -FilePath $LogFile -Append } Write-Log "Starting Spot VM eviction monitor..." while ($true) { try { # Get the VM's metadata including scheduled events $headers = @{"Metadata" = "true"} $scheduledEvents = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/scheduledevents?api-version=2020-07-01" -Headers $headers # Check if there are any events if ($scheduledEvents.Events -and $scheduledEvents.Events.Count -gt 0) { Write-Log "Found $($scheduledEvents.Events.Count) scheduled events" # Get VM metadata for context $vmName = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/instance/compute/name?api-version=2020-09-01&format=text" -Headers $headers $resourceGroup = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/instance/compute/resourceGroupName?api-version=2020-09-01&format=text" -Headers $headers $subscription = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/instance/compute/subscriptionId?api-version=2020-09-01&format=text" -Headers $headers # Process each event foreach ($event in $scheduledEvents.Events) { if ($event.EventType -eq "Preempt") { Write-Log "ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected!" # Extract event details $eventId = $event.EventId $notBefore = $event.NotBefore Write-Log "VM $vmName will be preempted not before $notBefore" # Create Event Grid event as an array (critical for EventGrid schema) $eventGridEvent = @( @{ subject = "/subscriptions/$subscription/resourceGroups/$resourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/$vmName" eventType = "SpotVM.Preemption" eventTime = (Get-Date).ToUniversalTime().ToString("o") id = [Guid]::NewGuid().ToString() data = @{ vmName = $vmName resourceGroup = $resourceGroup subscription = $subscription preemptionTime = $notBefore eventId = $eventId eventType = $event.EventType } dataVersion = "1.0" } ) # Convert to JSON - ensuring it stays as an array $eventGridPayload = ConvertTo-Json -InputObject $eventGridEvent -Depth 10 # Send to Event Grid $eventGridHeaders = @{ "Content-Type" = "application/json" "aeg-sas-key" = $EventGridKey } try { $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $EventGridTopicEndpoint -Method Post -Body $eventGridPayload -Headers $eventGridHeaders Write-Log "Successfully sent event to Event Grid" # Take actions to prepare for shutdown Write-Log "Taking actions to prepare for shutdown..." # Example: Stop services gracefully # Stop-Service -Name "YourServiceName" -Force } catch { Write-Log "Failed to send to Event Grid: $_" } } } } } catch { Write-Log "Error checking for events: $_" } # Wait before checking again Start-Sleep -Seconds $CheckInterval } The script above checks for eviction events every 3 seconds by default. You can adjust this polling frequency by changing the "Check_Interval" variable in the script to better match your specific system requirements and performance considerations. More frequent polling provides faster detection but increases resource usage, while less frequent polling reduces overhead but might slightly delay event detection. B) Running monitor script as a scheduler or service For Windows Spot VMs, we'll use PowerShell to create a monitoring service. Run a script file named SpotMonitor.ps1 created in last step: You can use Windows Task Scheduler to run the script at startup or to run as a service and the logs will looks like this: Logs: 2025-03-19 18:48:27 - Starting Spot VM eviction monitor... 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:33.4655660Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "5d3e6430-dff5-45da-ae90-992e3e342d37", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:33 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:36.6382480Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "b6152429-f4cb-43b9-8c53-b6ceb08946e5", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:36 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:39.7567285Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "e0bde6d0-ae27-4c01-8e69-621e57d70f8d", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:39 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:42.8339675Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "ab7a3b84-bcd8-4651-829e-c57043c54b92", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:42 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:45.9317109Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "eacfae6b-4ea5-426d-8bc2-659320a7baf0", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:45 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:48 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:49 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:49 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:49 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:49.0666732Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "b2142ee8-9ecf-441d-846e-c8ed663a949e", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:49 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:49 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:52.1310990Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "d9eba318-9773-4e73-a694-dd1c1bf89c10", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:52 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:55.2171546Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "c358c433-50f5-496d-8823-c2ffddd03390", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:55 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:04:58.3040422Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "Wed, 19 Mar 2025 20:04:47 GMT", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "3eacba95-e05f-41dc-b9e7-1593fe2a71e2", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:04:58 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - Found 1 scheduled events 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - ALERT: Spot VM preemption detected! 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - VM anivmnew will be preempted not before 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - Sending payload: [ { "eventTime": "2025-03-19T20:05:01.3842973Z", "data": { "eventId": "DE2EC5FA-AF0A-4D59-85D2-677C66A6BC12", "preemptionTime": "", "eventType": "Preempt", "resourceGroup": "RG-TEST", "subscription": "azure-sub-id", "vmName": "anivmnew" }, "id": "85c058fc-4f2e-49ec-a027-6fcca60f7935", "subject": "/subscriptions/azure-sub-id/resourceGroups/RG-TEST/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/anivmnew", "eventType": "SpotVM.Preemption", "dataVersion": "1.0" } ] 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - Event Grid response: 2025-03-19 20:05:01 - Taking actions to prepare for shutdown... C) Configuring event subscribers Now that your Spot VMs are sending eviction events to Event Grid, set up subscribers to take action when these events occur. For example sending event to service bus queue: Conclusion By implementing this solution, you've created a reliable way to detect and respond to Spot VM evictions. This approach gives your applications precious time to react to evictions, significantly improving reliability while still benefiting from the cost savings of Spot VMs. While Azure does provide resource-level events through system topics, they simply don't provide the reliability, timing, and clarity needed for mission-critical workloads running on Spot VMs. The combination of the Azure Instance Metadata Service Scheduled Events API and custom Event Grid topics creates a powerful pattern for building resilient, event-driven architectures. This approach ensures you're getting the most accurate and timely notifications possible, giving your applications the best chance to gracefully handle Spot VM evictions while enjoying the substantial cost benefits that Spot VMs offer. Disclaimer The sample scripts provided in this article are provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. The author is not responsible for any issues, damages, or problems that may arise from using these scripts. Users should thoroughly test any implementation in their environment before deploying to production. Azure services and APIs may change over time, which could affect the functionality of the provided scripts. Always refer to the latest Azure documentation for the most up-to-date information. Thanks for reading this blog! I hope you've found this approach to handling Spot VM evictions helpful
