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Introduction

Renaming the NIC interface for an Azure VM is not a new problem. If you find yourself having to do this, you know how painful it is. This is the case when you deploy a Virtual Machine using the Azure Portal, however, if you deploy the VM using Azure PowerShell, ARM template, or Azure CLI, then you can specify the NIC interface name at deployment time.

Once the VM is deployed using the portal, Azure will end up creating a random name for the Network interface as showing in the following screenshot:

If you are following a standard naming convention in your company, then you want to rename the NIC interface by following the steps below as documented by Microsoft:

Stop (de-allocate) the VM.
Dissociate the public IP address from the NIC interface (if exists).
Create a new network adapter interface.
Assign the new NIC interface to the VM.
Remove the old NIC interface from the VM.
Preserve the old NIC settings and apply them to the VM (Private IP address, Network Security Group, Public IP, etc.).
Delete the old NIC interface resource.
Start the VM.

In this blog post, I will share with you how to automate and rename the NIC interface for an Azure VM with PowerShell. The same can apply whether you are using a Linux or Windows VM.

If you are looking to rename the OS Disk for an Azure virtual machine, please check my previous article here.

Rename Azure VM NIC Interface

You have a couple of options to run the script, you can either use Azure Cloud Shell, Visual Studio Code, or the new Windows Terminal. The Script works with PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7 (core) with Az module.

.EXAMPLE

.\Rename-AzVMNIC.ps1 -resourceGroup [ResourceGroupName] -VMName [VMName] -NewNicName [NewNicName] -Verbose

This example will rename the NIC interface for the specified VM, you need to specify the Resource Group name, VM name and the new NIC name. The script will preserve the old network settings and apply them to the new network interface.

Please note that the VM will shutdown during this operation. You need to plan a small maintenance window if it’s an important VM. The entire process will take around 5 minutes.

Note: The script has not been tested when the VM is a member of an Availability Set. Your feedback is highly appreciated!

Here is an example of the output once you run this tool:

How To Rename The NIC Interface For An Azure Virtual Machine 3

PowerShell Code

The complete script is detailed below to automate the entire process:

<#
.SYNOPSIS
Rename Azure VM NIC.

.DESCRIPTION
Rename Azure Network Adapter interface for Linux and Windows VM.

.NOTES
File Name : Rename-AzVMNIC.ps1
Author    : Microsoft MVP/MCT - Charbel Nemnom
Version   : 1.2
Date      : 22-September-2019
Update    : 06-May-2021
Requires  : PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7 (Core)
Module    : Az Module
OS        : Windows or Linux VMs

.LINK
To provide feedback or for further assistance please visit: https://charbelnemnom.com

.EXAMPLE
.\Rename-AzVMNIC.ps1 -resourceGroup [ResourceGroupName] -VMName [VMName] -NewNicName [NewNicName] -Verbose
This example will rename the NIC interface for the specified VM, you need to specify the Resource Group name, VM name and the new NIC name.
The script will preserve the old network settings and apply them to the new network interface.
#>

[CmdletBinding()]
Param (
    [Parameter(Position = 0, Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'Enter the Resource Group of the VM')]
    [Alias('rg')]
    [String]$resourceGroup,

    [Parameter(Position = 1, Mandatory = $True, HelpMessage = 'Enter Azure VM name')]
    [Alias('VM')]
    [String]$VMName,

    [Parameter(Position = 2, Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'Enter the desired NIC interface name')]
    [Alias('NewNIC')]
    [String]$NewNicName
)

#! Check Azure Connection
Try {
    Write-Verbose "Connecting to Azure Cloud..."
    Connect-AzAccount -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
}
Catch {
    Write-Warning "Cannot connect to Azure Cloud. Please check your credentials. Exiting!"
    Break
}

#! Get the details of the VM
Write-Verbose "Get the VM information details: $VMName"
$VM = Get-AzVM -Name $VMName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup

#! Get the virtual NIC interface name and details
Write-Verbose "Get the old virtual NIC interface name and details..."
$oldNicName = $VM.NetworkProfile.NetworkInterfaces.Id.Split('/')[-1]
$vNic = Get-AzNetworkInterface -Name $oldNicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup

#! Get the public ip address of the virtual machine if exists.
If ($VNic.IpConfigurations.publicIPAddress.Id -ne $null) {
    $PIpName = $VNic.IpConfigurations.publicIPAddress.Id.Split('/')[-1]
    $vNic.IpConfigurations.publicipaddress.id = $null
    Write-Verbose "Dissociate the public IP address from the VM: $PIpName"
    Set-AzNetworkInterface -NetworkInterface $vnic | Out-Null
}

#! Stop the VMName
Write-Verbose "Stop and deallocate the VM: $VMName, please wait..."
Stop-AzVM -Name $VMName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Force -Confirm:$false | Out-Null

#! Create the new virtual NIC interface
Write-Verbose "Creating the new virtual Network interface..."
$NIC = New-AzNetworkInterface -Name $NewNicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup `
    -Location $VM.Location -SubnetId $vnic.IpConfigurations.Subnet.Id `
    -IpConfigurationName $vnic.IpConfigurations.Name

#! Remove the old NIC interface from the VM
Write-Warning "Removing the old NIC interface: $($oldNicName) from the VM: $VMName"
Remove-AzVMNetworkInterface -vm $VM -NetworkInterfaceIDs $vNic.Id | Out-Null

#! Add the new NIC interface
Write-Verbose "Adding the new network adapter interface to the VM..."
Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -VM $VM -NetworkInterface $NIC | Update-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup | Out-Null

#! Delete the old NIC interface resource
Write-Warning "Deleting the old NIC interface: $($oldNicName)"
Remove-AzNetworkInterface -Name $oldNicName -ResourceGroupName $vNic.ResourceGroupName -Force -Confirm:$false

#! Update the new virtual NIC settings
$NIC = Get-AzNetworkInterface -Name $NewNicName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup
If ($vNic.Tag -ne $null) {
    $NIC.Tag = $vNIC.Tag
}
$NIC.DnsSettings = $vNIC.DnsSettings
$NIC.EnableIPForwarding = $vNIC.EnableIPForwarding
$NIC.EnableAcceleratedNetworking = $vNIC.EnableAcceleratedNetworking
$NIC.NetworkSecurityGroup = $vNIC.NetworkSecurityGroup
#! Set the new virtual NIC settings
Write-Verbose "Set the new NIC interface settings..."
If ($NIC.IpConfigurations.PrivateIpAddress -ne $vNIC.IpConfigurations.PrivateIpAddress) {
    Set-AzNetworkInterfaceIpConfig -NetworkInterface $NIC -Name $NIC.IpConfigurations.Name `
        -PrivateIpAddressVersion $vNIC.IpConfigurations.PrivateIpAddressVersion `
        -PrivateIpAddress $vNIC.IpConfigurations.PrivateIpAddress -SubnetId $vnic.IpConfigurations.Subnet.id | Out-Null
}
Set-AzNetworkInterface -NetworkInterface $NIC | Out-Null

#! Create a public IP for the VM.
If ($PIpName) {
    $PublicIp = Get-AzPublicIpAddress -Name $PIpName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup
    $NIC | Set-AzNetworkInterfaceIpConfig -Name $NIC.IpConfigurations.Name -PublicIPAddress $PublicIp `
        -Subnet $vnic.IpConfigurations.Subnet | Out-Null
    Write-Verbose "Associate the public IP address to the VM: $PIpName"
    Set-AzNetworkInterface -NetworkInterface $NIC | Out-Null
}

#! Start the VMName
Write-Verbose "Start the VM: $VMName, please wait..."
Start-AzVM -Name $VMName -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Confirm:$false | Out-Null

If you look back in the Azure Portal, we can see that the new NIC interface name is attached successfully and the previous settings are preserved.