Familiarize yourself with the Azure CLI

Familiarize yourself with the Azure CLI

The Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is a set of commands used to manage Azure resources. It's a cross-platform tool that provides a command-line interface for interacting with Azure services, making it easier to create, configure, manage, and monitor Azure resources directly from your terminal or command prompt.

Azure CLI is designed to be used by developers, administrators, and automation scripts to perform tasks in Azure, such as creating virtual machines, managing storage accounts, setting up networking, and deploying applications.

Key Features of Azure CLI

1. Cross-platform:

Azure CLI works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can be installed and used in any environment.

2. Scripting and Automation:

It can be used in scripts and automation tools such as Bash, PowerShell, and Azure Pipelines to automate Azure tasks.

It supports Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) commands.

3. Easy-to-Use Commands:

The commands are simple and intuitive. For example, az vm create is used to create a virtual machine, and az storage account create is used to create a storage account.

4. Integration with Azure Services:

Azure CLI integrates seamlessly with all Azure services, allowing users to perform actions like deploying infrastructure (using templates or Bicep), managing security and identity (Azure AD), working with containers, and more.

5. Rich Documentation and Help System:

Every command in Azure CLI has its own help feature, which provides detailed instructions and options. For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
az vm create --help

6. Configuration and Authentication:

Azure CLI supports multiple authentication mechanisms, including service principal authentication, Azure Active Directory (AAD) authentication, and more. This is especially useful for automation.

Key Components of Azure CLI

1. az Command:

The main command used to interact with Azure. It’s followed by subcommands that represent various Azure services and actions.

Example: az vm create to create a virtual machine.

2. Subcommands:

The subcommands define the specific action you want to perform. For instance, create, delete, list, show, and update.

Example: az vm list to list all virtual machines in a subscription.

3. Arguments:

You can pass arguments to modify the behavior of the subcommands.

Example: az vm create --name MyVM --resource-group MyResourceGroup --image UbuntuLTS creates a virtual machine with a specific name, resource group, and image.

4. Options:

These are additional flags that modify or extend the behavior of the commands, such as --help for assistance or --output to specify the output format.

Basic Usage Examples of Azure CLI

1. Install Azure CLI

Before using Azure CLI, you need to install it on your system.

Windows:

You can download the installer from the official page.

macOS:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
brew install azure-cli

Linux:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

Once installed, you can check the version:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
az --version

2. Login to Azure

To use Azure CLI, you need to authenticate with your Azure account.

Run the following command to log in interactively:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
az login

If you're using an Azure Service Principal for automation (like in scripts or CI/CD), use:

xxxxxxxxxx
3
1
az login \
2
--service-principal -u <AppId> -p <Password> \
3
--tenant <TenantId>

3. Create a Resource Group

A resource group is a container that holds related Azure resources.

To create one, use the following command:

xxxxxxxxxx
3
1
az group create \
2
--name MyResourceGroup \
3
--location eastus

4. Create a Virtual Machine

You can easily create a Virtual Machine using the following command:

xxxxxxxxxx
6
1
az vm create \
2
--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
3
--name MyVM \
4
--image UbuntuLTS \
5
--admin-username azureuser \
6
--generate-ssh-keys

This creates a new VM using the Ubuntu LTS image and generates SSH keys for access.

5. List Resources

To list all resources in a resource group:

xxxxxxxxxx
1
1
az resource list --resource-group MyResourceGroup

6. Delete a Resource

To delete a resource like a Virtual Machine:

xxxxxxxxxx
5
1
az vm delete \
2
--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
3
--name MyVM \
4
--yes \
5
--no-wait

7. Show Information About a Resource

To show information about an Azure resource, for example, a virtual network:

xxxxxxxxxx
3
1
az network vnet show \
2
--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
3
--name MyVNet

8. Deploy a Bicep or ARM Template

Azure CLI can also be used to deploy Bicep or ARM templates.

For example:

xxxxxxxxxx
4
1
az deployment group create \
2
--resource-group MyResourceGroup \
3
--template-file main.bicep \
4
--parameters location=eastus

9. Use Azure CLI in Scripts

Azure CLI is frequently used in automation scripts to manage resources.

For example, a simple Bash script to create a storage account might look like:

xxxxxxxxxx
10
1
#!/bin/bash
2
az login \
3
--service-principal -u $AZURE_CLIENT_ID -p $AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET \
4
--tenant $AZURE_TENANT_ID
5

6
az storage account create \
7
--name mystorageaccount \
8
--resource-group myResourceGroup \
9
--location eastus \
10
--sku Standard_LRS

Azure CLI Output Formats

Azure CLI provides flexible output formats:

1. JSON (default): For machine-readable output.

2. Table: A tabular representation of the output.

3. YAML: An alternative to JSON for more human-readable output.

4. None: Suppresses the output.

   • Example to get the output in table format:

   xxxxxxxxxx
   1
   1
   az vm list --output table
   

Azure CLI in Automation

Azure CLI is often used in automation scenarios like:

1. CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Azure Pipelines, GitHub Actions).

2. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using ARM templates or Bicep.

3. Scheduled tasks or scripts in cloud environments to manage resources, scale services, and configure settings.

Summary

The Azure CLI is a powerful and flexible tool for managing Azure resources from the command line. It simplifies the process of managing Azure services by allowing you to interact with the platform through scripts, automation tools, or directly from the terminal. Whether you're managing a single resource or automating large-scale infrastructure, Azure CLI provides a consistent, cross-platform interface for interacting with Azure.