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--- title: Update the existing VM backup policy using CLI description: Learn how to update the existing VM backup policy using Azure CLI. ms.topic: how-to ms.custom: devx-track-azurecli ms.date: 07/16/2025 author: AbhishekMallick-MS ms.author: v-mallicka # Customer intent: As a system administrator, I want to update the VM backup policy using CLI commands, so that I can modify retention settings and ensure my virtual machines are backed up according to the latest requirements. --- # Update the existing VM backup policy using CLI This article describes how to update an existing VM backup policy using Azure CLI. To modify the policy, export the policy to a JSON file, make the required updates in the file, and then use Azure CLI to apply the changes. You can also [modify the policy using the Azure portal](backup-azure-manage-vms.md#modify-backup-policy). ## Modify an existing policy To modify an existing VM backup policy, follow these steps: 1. Execute the [az backup policy show](/cli/azure/backup/policy#az-backup-policy-show) command to retrieve the details of policy you want to update. Example: ```azurecli az backup policy show --name testing123 --resource-group rg1234 --vault-name testvault ``` The example above shows the details for a VM policy with the name *testing123*. Output: ```json { "eTag": null, "id": "/Subscriptions/efgsf-123-test-subscription/resourceGroups/rg1234/providers/Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/testvault/backupPolicies/testing123", "location": null, "name": "testing123", "properties": { "backupManagementType": "AzureIaasVM", "instantRpDetails": { "azureBackupRgNamePrefix": null, "azureBackupRgNameSuffix": null }, "instantRpRetentionRangeInDays": 2, "protectedItemsCount": 0, "retentionPolicy": { "dailySchedule": { "retentionDuration": { "count": 180, "durationType": "Days" }, "retentionTimes": [ "2020-08-03T04:30:00+00:00" ] }, "monthlySchedule": null, "retentionPolicyType": "LongTermRetentionPolicy", "weeklySchedule": { "daysOfTheWeek": [ "Sunday" ], "retentionDuration": { "count": 30, "durationType": "Weeks" }, "retentionTimes": [ "2020-08-03T04:30:00+00:00" ] }, "yearlySchedule": null }, "schedulePolicy": { "schedulePolicyType": "SimpleSchedulePolicy", "scheduleRunDays": null, "scheduleRunFrequency": "Daily", "scheduleRunTimes": [ "2020-08-03T04:30:00+00:00" ], "scheduleWeeklyFrequency": 0 }, "timeZone": "UTC" }, "resourceGroup": "azurefiles", "tags": null, "type": "Microsoft.RecoveryServices/vaults/backupPolicies" } ``` 1. Save the above output in a .json file. For example, let's save it as *Policy.json*. 1. Update the JSON file based on your requirements and save the changes. Example: To update the weekly retention to 60 days, update the following section of the JSON file by changing the count to 60. ```json "retentionDuration": { "count": 60, "durationType": "Weeks" } ``` 1. Save the changes. 1. Execute the [az backup policy set](/cli/azure/backup/policy#az-backup-policy-set) command and pass the complete path of the updated JSON file as the value for the **- - policy** parameter. ```azurecli az backup policy set --resource-group rg1234 --vault-name testvault --policy C:\temp2\Policy.json --name testing123 ``` >[!NOTE] >You can also retrieve the sample JSON policy by executing the [az backup policy get-default-for-vm](/cli/azure/backup/policy#az-backup-policy-get-default-for-vm) command. ## Next steps - [Manage Azure VM backups with the Azure Backup service](backup-azure-manage-vms.md)