Automating Azure Web App Shutdown When Budget Exceeds a Threshold

Managing cloud costs is crucial, and Azure provides tools to automate actions when your budget reaches a predefined threshold. In this guide, I’ll walk through how I automated the shutdown of my Azure web app when my budget hit a certain limit.

Step 1: Create an Automation Runbook

Azure Automation Runbooks allow us to execute scripts automatically. We will create a Runbook that stops the web app.

1. Click the menu (☰) in the Azure Portal.
2. Select Create a Resource.
3. Search for Automation Accounts and create one.
4. Navigate to the newly created Automation Account.
5. On the left panel, select Process Automation > Runbooks.
6. Click Create a Runbook.
7. Choose Powershell as the runtime version and click create.
8. Add the following script to the Runbook.

param (
    [string]$ResourceGroupName = "ResourceGroupName",
    [string]$WebAppName = "WebAppName"
)

Connect-AzAccount -Identity
Stop-AzWebApp -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -Name $WebAppName

1. Replace the $ResourceGroupName and WebAppName values with your actual resource details.
2. Click Publish to finalize the Runbook.

Step 2: Create an Action Group

An Action Group defines what happens when an alert is triggered.

1. Click the menu (☰) and go to Monitor.
2. Navigate to Alerts.
3. Select Create Action Group.
4. Fill in the required information.
5. In the Actions tab:
   • Set Action Type to Automation Runbook.
   • Runbook > Enabled
   • Runbook Source > User
   • Choose your subscription, Automation account, and Runbook.
6. Click OK, then Create.

Step 3: Set Up a Budget

Now, lets create a budget and configure it to trigger our Action Group.

1. Click the menu (☰) and navigate to Cost Management + Billing.
2. Click on Cost Management > Budgets.
3. Important: Change the scope to your Subscription.
4. Click Add and configure the budget according to your needs.
5. In the Set Alerts tab, ensure you select your Action Group.

Step 4: Grant Permissions to the Automation Account

For the Runbook to execute properly, it needs permission to manage resources

1. Go to either your Web App or Resource Group.
2. Click IAM (Identity and Access Management).
3. Select Add Role Assignment.
4. Choose the Contributor role.
5. Set Assign Access To as Managed Identity.
6. Select your Automation Account.
7. Click Review and Assign.

Summary

With this setup:

1. The budget alert triggers the Action Group.
2. The Action Group runs the Automation Runbook.
3. The Runbook executes a script that stops the web app when the budget threshold is met.

This automation ensures your Azure costs stay under control without manual intervention. Hope this guide helps you implement a similar solution!