Preview: Run scripts in your Windows VM by using managed Run Commands
Applies to: ✔️ Windows VMs ✔️ Flexible scale sets
Important
Managed Run Command is currently in public preview. This preview version is provided without a service-level agreement, and we don't recommend it for production workloads. Certain features might not be supported or might have constrained capabilities. For more information, see Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews.
The Run Command feature uses the virtual machine (VM) agent to scripts within an Azure Windows VM. You can use these scripts for general machine or application management. They can help you quickly diagnose and remediate VM access and network issues and get the VM back to a good state.
The updated managed Run Command uses the same VM agent channel to execute scripts and provides the following enhancements over the original action orientated Run Command:
- Support for updated Run Command through ARM deployment template
- Parallel execution of multiple scripts
- Sequential execution of scripts
- RunCommand script can be canceled
- User specified script timeout
- Support for long running (hours/days) scripts
- Passing secrets (parameters, passwords) in a secure manner
Register for preview
You must register your subscription in order to use managed Run Command during public preview. Go to set up preview features in Azure subscription for registration instructions and use the feature name RunCommandPreview.
Azure CLI
The following examples use az vm run-command to run shell script on an Azure Windows VM.
Execute a script with the VM
This command will deliver the script to the VM, execute it, and return the captured output.
az vm run-command create --name "myRunCommand" --vm-name "myVM" --resource-group "myRG" --script "Write-Host Hello World!"
List all deployed RunCommand resources on a VM
This command will return a full list of previously deployed Run Commands along with their properties.
az vm run-command list --vm-name "myVM" --resource-group "myRG"
Get execution status and results
This command will retrieve current execution progress, including latest output, start/end time, exit code, and terminal state of the execution.
az vm run-command show --name "myRunCommand" --vm-name "myVM" --resource-group "myRG" --instance-view
Delete RunCommand resource from the VM
Remove the RunCommand resource previously deployed on the VM. If the script execution is still in progress, execution will be terminated.
az vm run-command delete --name "myRunCommand" --vm-name "myVM" --resource-group "myRG"
PowerShell
Execute a script with the VM
This command will deliver the script to the VM, execute it, and return the captured output.
Set-AzVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName "myRG" -VMName "myVM" -RunCommandName "RunCommandName" –SourceScript "Write-Host Hello World!"
List all deployed RunCommand resources on a VM
This command will return a full list of previously deployed Run Commands along with their properties.
Get-AzVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName "myRG" -VMName "myVM"
Get execution status and results
This command will retrieve current execution progress, including latest output, start/end time, exit code, and terminal state of the execution.
Get-AzVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName "myRG" -VMName "myVM" -RunCommandName "RunCommandName" -Status
Delete RunCommand resource from the VM
Remove the RunCommand resource previously deployed on the VM. If the script execution is still in progress, execution will be terminated.
Remove-AzVMRunCommand -ResourceGroupName "myRG" -VMName "myVM" -RunCommandName "RunCommandName"
REST API
To deploy a new Run Command, execute a PUT on the VM directly and specify a unique name for the Run Command instance.
PUT /subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/resourceGroups/<resourceGroupName>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vmName>/runcommands/<runCommandName>?api-version=2019-12-01
{
"location": "<location>",
"properties": {
"source": {
"script": "Write-Host Hello World!",
"scriptUri": "<URI>",
"commandId": "<Id>"
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "param1",
"value": "value1"
},
{
"name": "param2",
"value": "value2"
}
],
"protectedParameters": [
{
"name": "secret1",
"value": "value1"
},
{
"name": "secret2",
"value": "value2"
}
],
"runAsUser": "userName",
"runAsPassword": "userPassword",
"timeoutInSeconds": 3600,
"outputBlobUri": "<URI>",
"errorBlobUri": "<URI>"
}
}
Notes
- You can provide an inline script, a script URI, or a built-in script command ID as the input source
- Only one type of source input is supported for one command execution
- Run Command supports output to Storage blobs, which can be used to store large script outputs
- Run Command supports error output to Storage blobs
List running instances of Run Command on a VM
GET /subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/resourceGroups/<resourceGroupName>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vmName>/runcommands?api-version=2019-12-01
Get output details for a specific Run Command deployment
GET /subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/resourceGroups/<resourceGroupName>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vmName>/runcommands/<runCommandName>?$expand=instanceView&api-version=2019-12-01
Cancel a specific Run Command deployment
To cancel a running deployment, you can PUT or PATCH on the running instance of Run Command and specify a blank script in the request body. This will cancel the ongoing execution.
You can also delete the instance of Run Command.
DELETE /subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/resourceGroups/<resourceGroupName>/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vmName>/runcommands/<runCommandName>?api-version=2019-12-01
Deploy scripts in an ordered sequence
To deploy scripts sequentially, use a deployment template, specifying a dependsOn relationship between sequential scripts.
{
"type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/runCommands",
"name": "secondRunCommand",
"apiVersion": "2019-12-01",
"location": "[parameters('location')]",
"dependsOn": <full resourceID of the previous other Run Command>,
"properties": {
"source": {
"script": "Write-Host Hello World!"
},
"timeoutInSeconds": 60
}
}
Execute multiple Run Commands sequentially
By default, if you deploy multiple RunCommand resources using deployment template, they will be executed simultaneously on the VM. If you have a dependency on the scripts and a preferred order of execution, you can use the dependsOn property to make them run sequentially.
In this example, secondRunCommand will execute after firstRunCommand.
{
"$schema":"https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion":"1.0.0.0",
"resources":[
{
"type":"Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/runCommands",
"name":"[concat(parameters('vmName'),'/firstRunCommand')]",
"apiVersion":"2019-12-01",
"location":"[parameters('location')]",
"dependsOn":[
"[concat('Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/', parameters('vmName'))]"
],
"properties":{
"source":{
"script":"Write-Host First: Hello World!"
},
"parameters":[
{
"name":"param1",
"value":"value1"
},
{
"name":"param2",
"value":"value2"
}
],
"timeoutInSeconds":20
}
},
{
"type":"Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/runCommands",
"name":"[concat(parameters('vmName'),'/secondRunCommand')]",
"apiVersion":"2019-12-01",
"location":"[parameters('location')]",
"dependsOn":[
"[concat('Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/', parameters('vmName'),'runcommands/firstRunCommand')]"
],
"properties":{
"source":{
"scriptUrl":"http://github.com/myscript.ps1"
},
"timeoutInSeconds":60
}
}
]
}
Next steps
To learn about other ways to run scripts and commands remotely in your VM, see Run scripts in your Windows VM.
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