One of the more frustrating aspects about creating an Azure virtual machine is that if you do not place it into an availability zone at deployment time, you’ve traditionally had to rebuild it later. That usually meant starting from scratch or detaching the disks, creating a new VM, and reattaching them. Neither option is not horribly impactful, but both can be inconvenient and time-consuming.
Until now.
Things Have Changed
While examining a virtual machine for a client, I discovered a new simpler method, move a virtual machine into a given availabilty zone with a few clicks of the mouse button. With the appropriate permissions, Azure will assign a system-managed identity and then effectively copy the virtual machine into whichever zone you choose. When the process completes, you’ll have two virtual machines:
- The original VM, left in a deallocated (stopped) state
- A new VM, running in the selected availability zone
Let’s walk through the process –
In this exmaple, I have a SQL Server Azure virtual machine in my tenant called SQL01. As shown in the screenshot, the Availability + scaling section indicates that the VM is not currently in an availability zone.
Click the “edit” link. The next window will allow me to select which availability zone I want to place the machines into. Keep in mind that each region offers three zones, each with independent power, cooling, and networking—providing an additional layer of resiliency for your workloads.
In my case, I opted to place the virtual machine into Availability Zone 1. It is worth noting that in order to faciliate this, a system assigned managed identity needs to be created on your behalf in order to access all of the resources within the subscription. You’ll need to acknowledge this by checking the confirmation box.
Once acknowledged, the process will begin to evaluate the resources and validate that it can be moved. The portal walks you through a three step process and keeps you updated along the way. Once all three steps are done, you will have an opportunity to review things and optionally modify some settings, including –
- Virtual machine name
- Network Interface Card (NIC)
- Virtual network (vnet) & subnet
- Network Security Group (NSG)
This is a good moment to confirm everything is configured the way you want. Remember: Azure is creating a new VM, so treat this like provisioning a fresh machine—just with far fewer steps.
The source VM will be shut down during the move to prevent data loss. Since Azure is effectively copying the VM, it’s reasonable to assume snapshots are taken behind the scenes. You’ll need to confirm that you understand the VM will be stopped.
Once confirmed, just click Move and Azure will do the rest! When the process completes, you’ll see a summary showing that:
- The original VM is stopped and remains outside an availability zone
- The new VM (with the same name) is running in Zone 1
Refreshing the Virtual Machine blade will show both VMs, each in their respective states.
Further more, if you look at the summary for the new virtual machine, it will confirm that it is now within Availability Zone 1.
Summary
Microsoft continues to quietly roll out improvements that make Azure administration smoother and more efficient. What used to be a somewhat tedious and manual process is now simpler. Being able to move an Azure virtual machine into an availability zone with just a few clicks is a nice enhancement.
What do you think of this feature? Has it made your life easier? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear your experience.
© 2025, John Morehouse. All rights reserved.