Start/stop virtual machines workflow

Overview

The Start/stop virtual machines workflow runs as a recurring background job that manages a set of virtual machines automatically — either by shutting them down when they meet configured metric thresholds, or by powering them on and off on a defined schedule.

The workflow evaluates your targeted virtual machines using one of two trigger types you configure:

• Shut down by metrics — VMs are shut down when they drop below a configured utilization threshold (e.g. CPU) during the active window you define.
• Power on/off schedule — VMs are stopped at a configured power-off time and started at a configured power-on time, on the days you schedule.

Regardless of trigger type:

• Machine targeting — target all VMs in a resource group, VMs matching specific tags, or individually selected machines.

With Shut down by metrics, restarting machines afterward (e.g. the next morning) requires a separate Turbo360 Schedule — this trigger type only handles shutdown. With Power on/off schedule, both shutdown and restart are handled automatically by the workflow itself, based on the power-off and power-on times you configure.

Create a workflow

Creating a workflow defines the machine targeting, trigger type, active window or schedule, and notification settings that control automatic VM power management.

1. Configure the filters for machine identification — target all machines in a resource group, machines matching specific tags, or specific machines.

2. Choose the trigger type for the workflow: Shut down by metrics or Power on/off schedule.

   • For Shut down by metrics, set the metric filters that determine when a machine meets the criteria to power down.

• For Power on/off schedule, set the Power off time and Power on time. Matching VMs are stopped at the power-off time and started at the power-on time on the scheduled days.

3. Configure when the job runs.

   • For Shut down by metrics, configure the active window and recurrence.

• For Power on/off schedule, configure the time zone, start date and time, schedule days, and termination (Never end, End after a number of occurrences, or End by date).

4. Choose how you want to receive notifications for this job.

Run a workflow on demand

Running a workflow on demand lets you immediately trigger the configured action without waiting for the next scheduled execution or metric evaluation.

1. Go to Optimization > Workflows in a Cost group.
2. Click the Actions menu next to the workflow.
3. Select one of the following:
   • Run — triggers the workflow's configured evaluation immediately.
   • Power on — powers on the target VMs immediately, independent of the schedule.
   • Power off — powers off the target VMs immediately, independent of the schedule.

Example scenario

A customer has several non-production virtual machines that are occasionally used outside business hours but are generally shut down in the evening. Their workflow is configured as follows using Shut down by metrics:

1. The job is active from 6 PM to 6 AM every day.
2. It targets all VMs within a specific resource group.
3. Any VM that drops below 10% CPU utilization during the active window is shut down.
4. The job runs on a recurring basis every 30 minutes.
5. Each run looks back at VM usage over the last hour.

To restart these VMs in the morning, the customer uses a standard Turbo360 Schedule to power them back on.

A second customer wants specific development VMs running only during business hours. Their workflow is configured as follows using Power on/off schedule:

1. Power off time is set to 19:00 and power on time to 08:00.
2. The schedule runs on All Days.
3. Termination is set to Never end, so the schedule continues indefinitely.

The workflow automatically stops the targeted VMs each evening and starts them again each morning, with no separate Schedule required.

Limitations

• When using Shut down by metrics, the workflow only powers VMs down — it does not restart them. Use a Turbo360 Schedule, or switch to the Power on/off schedule trigger type, to bring VMs back up.
• Shutdown evaluation under Shut down by metrics only occurs during the active window you configure — VMs are not evaluated (and won't be shut down) outside that window.
• The lookback period for usage data under Shut down by metrics is fixed to what you configure at setup; a VM that briefly exceeds the utilization threshold within that window may still be shut down even if its current usage is higher.
• Under Power on/off schedule, VMs are powered on and off strictly according to the configured times and schedule days — there is no metric-based condition for this trigger type.