The best practice for cancelling an Azure subscription involves ensuring that you don’t lose important data and avoiding future charges. In order to cancel or delete an Azure subscription, the user performing this action should have the RBAC Owner Role on the Azure subscription that needs to be cancelled. Here’s a breakdown of the steps to cancel or delete an Azure subscription:
1. Accessing the Subscription in Azure Portal:
Log in to the Azure portal and navigate to the target Azure subscription that needs to be cancelled.
2. Verifying Owner Access on Azure Subscription:
To check access, click on ‘Access Control (IAM)’ from the left side menu, then click on ‘View my access’. You must have ‘Owner’ access in order to cancel or delete the Azure subscription.
3. Renaming Azure Subscription:
Click on “Rename” at the top of the subscription window, then rename the subscription in this format: <SubscriptionName (Disabled)>.
Example: If the subscription name is AzureOpenAIDevOps, then the renaming format should be AzureOpenAIDevOps (Disabled).
After renaming, save the changes. You will need to wait for 3-5 minutes for the changes to reflect on the Azure backend. Once done, you will see your subscription name change to <SubscriptionName (Disabled)>.
4. Initiating Cancellation of Azure Subscription:
From the subscription page, click on “Cancel” at the top of the subscription window.
Provide a reason for cancelling the subscription from the provided options.
If the subscription has running resources that you no longer need, select “Turn off resources.”
Remember to back up any critical data before proceeding with this step.
5. Final Confirmation:
Click on "Cancel subscription" to confirm.
Deleting Azure Subscription (Optional)
You can only delete the subscription after a minimum of 15 minutes following the cancellation. Deletion timelines might vary depending on the subscription type.
Note: Consider pausing the subscription instead of cancelling it if you might need it again in the future. This stops the accrual of charges but allows you to resume it quickly.
By following these steps, you can effectively cancel your Azure subscription while ensuring a smooth process and avoiding any data loss or surprise charges.