How do I schedule MS Fabric startup and shutdown?

To automate Microsoft Fabric startup and shutdown on a schedule, you can use several approaches depending on whether you're automating job execution within Fabric or capacity management (i.e., pausing/resuming Fabric capacity to optimize costs). Here's a breakdown of both:

🔁 Automating Jobs in Microsoft Fabric

Microsoft Fabric includes a built-in Job Scheduler that allows you to automate tasks like data refreshes, pipeline executions, and notebook runs:

Key Features:

• Recurrence options: Minute-based, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or specific dates.
• Multiple schedules: You can configure different schedules for the same item.
• CI/CD integration: Schedules can be included in deployment pipelines or managed via Git using .schedules files.
• Access: Right-click on an item (e.g., Notebook) in your Fabric workspace and choose Schedule [1].

Setup Steps:

1. Open your Fabric workspace.
2. Locate the item (Notebook, Pipeline, etc.) you want to schedule.
3. Click the contextual menu → Schedule.
4. Toggle the scheduler On and configure timing.
5. Save the schedule.

🛑🔄 Automating Fabric Capacity Start/Stop (Pause/Resume)

This is useful for cost optimization, especially if your organization doesn’t need Fabric running 24/7.

✅ Option 1: Azure Automation + PowerShell

Use a PowerShell script in an Azure Automation Account to pause/resume Fabric capacity:

• Script: Uses REST API calls to resume or suspend Fabric capacity.
• Authentication: Managed Identity.
• Scheduling: Azure Automation Schedules (e.g., resume at 8 AM, suspend at 5 PM).
• Permissions: Assign Contributor role to the Automation Account on the Fabric resource [2].

GitHub repo with script and setup guide

✅ Option 2: Azure Logic Apps

Create a Logic App workflow to automate based on time and capacity status:

• Trigger: Recurrence (e.g., every hour).
• Actions:
  • Get current time and convert to local timezone.
    • Check Fabric capacity status via Azure Resource Manager.
      • Resume if paused during working hours.
        • Suspend if running outside working hours.
        • Bonus: Add conditions to skip weekends [3].

Detailed tutorial with screenshots

✅ Option 3: Azure Automation with Python

Similar to PowerShell, but uses Python runbooks:

• Requires app registration and secret management via Azure Key Vault.
• Uses Azure SDK for Python (azure-identity, azure-core, etc.).
• Schedule runbooks with triggers for resume/suspend actions [4].