Azure DNS issues after destroying/recreating VM - azure

Question

Like many people, we have Azure VMs that we want to destroy when not in use so that we don't have to pay for their core usage. All of the VMs in question are on the same domain and the DC/DNS server is never destroyed/recreated and has a static IP. After successfully using a combination of Export/Remove/Import-AzureVM, however, all of the IP settings for the network adapter (DNS is my primary concern) are gone because a new network adapter is created each time I reconstruct the VM using Import-AzureVM.
I initially tried using NETSH to set my DNS entry at startup, but it depends on knowing the name of the adapter and the adapter name changes daily (since we're taking the machines down for the evening and recreating them in the morning). My next not-so-brilliant idea was to include a VBScript that renamed the adapter to the same name on startup so that NETSH would always have the same adapter name to deal with. However, it was at that point that I discovered that all of the old adapters still exist, but are simply hidden and not in use, rendering my plan moot.
Here are the test NETSH command and VBScript I was attempting to use, just for the sake of reference:
'this script was modified from one i got from the Scripting Guys
Const NETWORK_CONNECTIONS = &H31&
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace(NETWORK_CONNECTIONS)
Set colItems = objFolder.Items
For Each objItem in colItems
'only one adapter is ever returned by this query, but it didn't seem like a bad idea to leave the loop alone just in case
objItem.Name = "testlan"
wscript.echo objItem.Name
Next
NETSH
netsh interface ip add dns name="testlan" 10.0.0.4
I know I can't be the only person trying to solve this issue, but I've been unable to find the solution through a significant amount of Googling and trial and error on my part. Many thanks!
Ben

Answer 1

#Nathan's comment is incorrect. When a VM is "Stopped" it is still being billed. If it is "Stopped(Deallocated)" however then the billing stops. From Azure's Pricing Details FAQ:
To ensure that you are not billed, stop the VM from the management
portal. You can also stop the VM through Powershell by calling
ShutdowRoleOperation with 'PostShutdownAction' equal to
"StoppedDeallocated". However, you will continue to be billed if you
shut down a VM from inside (e.g. using power options in Windows) or
through PowerShell by calling ShutdownRoleOperation with
'PostShutdownAction' equal to "Stopped".
Instead of destroying the VM, you can get to the deallocated state using the azure control panel, or use Azure Cmdlets to force stop the VM. This will deallocate and you wont have the networking problems. Unfortunately this cant be done currently with the REST Api.
I use the following in an app to stop the service:
RunPowerShellScript(#"Stop-AzureVM -ServiceName " + cloudServiceName + " -Name " + vmName + " -Force");
Use that line in on a button, or use the REST api to query your cloud services, then the following function to run your powershell. Be sure to run the getting started initially.
private string RunPowerShellScript(string scriptText)
{
// create Powershell runspace
Runspace runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace();
// open it
runspace.Open();
// create a pipeline and feed it the script text
Pipeline pipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline();
pipeline.Commands.AddScript(scriptText);
// add an extra command to transform the script
// output objects into nicely formatted strings
// remove this line to get the actual objects
// that the script returns. For example, the script
// "Get-Process" returns a collection
// of System.Diagnostics.Process instances.
pipeline.Commands.Add("Out-String");
// execute the script
Collection<PSObject> results = pipeline.Invoke();
// close the runspace
runspace.Close();
// convert the script result into a single string
StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (PSObject obj in results)
{
stringBuilder.AppendLine(obj.ToString());
}
return stringBuilder.ToString();
}

Answer 2

Try this...
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
$wmi = Get-WmiObject win32_networkadapterconfiguration -filter "ipenabled = 'true'"
$wmi.SetDNSServerSearchOrder("10.0.2.6")