Windows Azure Virtual Machine and Virtual Hard Disk Management Tool

• View the Service Name, Deployment Name, Virtual Machine Name, and Location of online Virtual Machines
• Take a Virtual Machine offline to save on computing time
• Bring a local Virtual Machine online to use it again

• View all the VHD’s in the Source and Destination storage account container
• Copy a VHD from one account to another account, even in a different data center
• View the Lease status of VHD’s in the Source or Destination storage account
• Break the Lease of a VHD in the Source or Destination storage account (for orphaned VHDs)
• Delete a VHD in the Source or Destination storage account
• Download a VHD in the Source storage account (this is slow – do not close the form)
• View all the Disks and Disk Details associated with a single Azure subscription
• View all the Images and Image Details associated with a single Azure subscription
• Prevents you from making a copy of a vhd with an existing Lease

1. Ensure the 4 REST related configuration values are set in the App.config file
2. Make sure you have clicked Start Query on the Manage and Copy VHD tab
3. On the Manage Virtual Machines, select the VMs you want to take offline
4. Click Take Selected VMs Offline
5. Process will run in more than one thread unless you have more than one operation on the same service, those will queue
6. Output is stored on the file system in the Local VM Location defined in the App.config
7. Watch for Status and Error messages in the Status window

1. Launch the tool and click on the Manage Virtual Machine tab
2. Select the VMs you want to bring online
3. Click Restore Selected VMs
4. Process will run in more than one thread unless you have more than one operation on the same service, those will queue
5. Watch for Status and Error messages in the Status window

Basic Steps for Cross Account VHD Copy:

1. Shut down your Virtual Machine.
2. Delete your Virtual Machine.
3. Delete the associated Image or Disk inside the Virtual Machine Portal. This does not remove the underlying blob of the vhd.
4. Copy the blog from one storage account to another.
5. Add your vhd back and recreate the virtual machine.

Quick How-To’s:

How to work with just one Storage Account:

Set just a Source Configuration inside the app.config file. I also have a check box for “source only” that will try to auto determine what you want to do. The default is Source Only.

How to Copy a vhd into the same account:

Inside the app.config file for the tool, set the Source and Destination to the same Storage Account.

How to Copy a vhd into another account in the same region (inter-account or cross-account):

Inside the app.config file for the tool, set the Source to the Storage Account that has the source vhd and set Destination to Storage Account that you want for the Destination. The destination container vhds does not need to exist. The tool will create it for you. Click “Copy”. The Destination list should refresh and the copy already be compete. You will know it is complete when the size of the vhd is not 0.

How to Copy a vhd cross region:

Inside the app.config file for the tool, set the Source to the Storage Account that has the source VHD and set Destination to Storage Account that you want for the Destination. The destination container vhds does not need to exist. The tool will create it for you. Select a vhd in the List box that is not lease. Change the vhd name if you wish. Click “Copy”. Click on “List All VHDS” on the top right until you see the file size of the Destination change from 0 to the size of the VHD. This will take a long time, up to 8 hours. I would not close the form until I have confirmed it was completed.

How to Download a Source vhd:

Inside the app.config file for the tool, set the Source to the Storage Account that has the source VHD. Click on “List All VHDS”. Select the VHD you want to download inside the List Box. Click on “Download”. You will be prompted for the download location. Make sure you have enough disk space. Leave the tool open until you see a Completed notice on the top right of the tool. This will take up to 8 hours. Do not close the form or the download will stop.

How to Break a Lease or Delete a vhd on the Source or Destination:

Inside the app.config file for the tool, set the Source and Destination to the Storage Accounts that has the VHDS. Click on “List All VHDS”. Using the List Box, select a single vhd from the list. Click on “Break VHD Lease” to break the existing lease or “Delete VHD” to delete the vhd. Note: this operations are not undoable. Using these incorrectly can result in loss of data or vhds.