Mastering Azure CLI: Comprehensive Command Guide for Managing Azure Resources

The Azure CLI is a powerful tool for managing Azure resources using the command line.

Installation and Setup

Install Azure CLI

# For Windows
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/installazurecliwindows -OutFile .\AzureCLI.msi; Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/I AzureCLI.msi /quiet'

# For macOS
brew install azure-cli

# For Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

Login to Azure

az login

Set Default Subscription

az account set --subscription <subscription-id>

List Subscriptions

az account list --output table

Basic Commands

Get Help

az --help

List Available Locations

az account list-locations --output table

List Resource Providers

az provider list --output table

Show Azure CLI Version

az --version

Resource Management

Create a Resource Group

az group create --name <resource-group-name> --location <location>

List Resource Groups

az group list --output table

Delete a Resource Group

az group delete --name <resource-group-name> --yes

List Resources in a Resource Group

az resource list --resource-group <resource-group-name> --output table

Virtual Machines

Create a Virtual Machine

az vm create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <vm-name> \
  --image UbuntuLTS \
  --admin-username <username> \
  --generate-ssh-keys

List Virtual Machines

az vm list --output table

Start a Virtual Machine

az vm start --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <vm-name>

Stop a Virtual Machine

az vm stop --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <vm-name>

Delete a Virtual Machine

az vm delete --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <vm-name> --yes

Get VM Details

az vm show --resource-group <resource-group-name> --name <vm-name>

Networking

Create a Virtual Network

az network vnet create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <vnet-name> \
  --address-prefix 10.0.0.0/16 \
  --subnet-name <subnet-name> \
  --subnet-prefix 10.0.0.0/24

List Virtual Networks

az network vnet list --output table

Create a Public IP Address

az network public-ip create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <public-ip-name> \
  --allocation-method Static

Create a Network Security Group (NSG)

az network nsg create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <nsg-name>

Add NSG Rule

az network nsg rule create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --nsg-name <nsg-name> \
  --name <rule-name> \
  --priority 100 \
  --access Allow \
  --protocol Tcp \
  --direction Inbound \
  --source-address-prefix '*' \
  --source-port-range '*' \
  --destination-address-prefix '*' \
  --destination-port-range 22

Storage

Create a Storage Account

az storage account create \
  --name <storage-account-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location> \
  --sku Standard_LRS

List Storage Accounts

az storage account list --output table

Create a Blob Container

az storage container create \
  --account-name <storage-account-name> \
  --name <container-name> \
  --public-access blob

Upload a File to Blob Storage

az storage blob upload \
  --account-name <storage-account-name> \
  --container-name <container-name> \
  --name <blob-name> \
  --file <local-file-path>

Identity and Access Management

Create a Service Principal

az ad sp create-for-rbac --name <service-principal-name>

List Service Principals

az ad sp list --output table

Assign Role to a Service Principal

az role assignment create \
  --assignee <service-principal-id> \
  --role Contributor \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name>

Create a User

az ad user create \
  --display-name <display-name> \
  --password <password> \
  --user-principal-name <upn>

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Enable Diagnostics on a VM

az vm diagnostics set \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --vm-name <vm-name> \
  --settings <diagnostics-settings-json>

List Activity Logs

az monitor activity-log list --output table

Create an Alert Rule

az monitor metrics alert create \
  --name <alert-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --condition "avg Percentage CPU > 80" \
  --action email <email-address>

Azure SQL Database

Create a SQL Server

az sql server create \
  --name <server-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location> \
  --admin-user <admin-username> \
  --admin-password <admin-password>

Create a SQL Database

az sql db create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --server <server-name> \
  --name <database-name> \
  --service-objective S0

List SQL Databases

az sql db list --resource-group <resource-group-name> --server <server-name> --output table

Create a Firewall Rule for SQL Server

az sql server firewall-rule create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --server <server-name> \
  --name <rule-name> \
  --start-ip-address <start-ip> \
  --end-ip-address <end-ip>

Azure Cosmos DB

Create a Cosmos DB Account

az cosmosdb create \
  --name <account-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --locations regionName=<region> failoverPriority=0

Create a Cosmos DB Database

az cosmosdb sql database create \
  --account-name <account-name> \
  --name <database-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name>

Create a Cosmos DB Container

az cosmosdb sql container create \
  --account-name <account-name> \
  --database-name <database-name> \
  --name <container-name> \
  --partition-key-path "/<partition-key>" \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name>

Azure Key Vault

Create a Key Vault

az keyvault create \
  --name <vault-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location>

Add a Secret to Key Vault

az keyvault secret set \
  --vault-name <vault-name> \
  --name <secret-name> \
  --value <secret-value>

Retrieve a Secret from Key Vault

az keyvault secret show \
  --vault-name <vault-name> \
  --name <secret-name>

Azure Functions

Create a Function App with Custom Runtime

az functionapp create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <function-app-name> \
  --storage-account <storage-account-name> \
  --runtime <runtime> \
  --consumption-plan-location <location>

Deploy a Function App from GitHub

az functionapp deployment source config \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <function-app-name> \
  --repo-url <github-repo-url> \
  --branch <branch-name> \
  --manual-integration

Azure Container Instances (ACI)

Create a Container Instance

az container create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <container-name> \
  --image <docker-image> \
  --ports 80 \
  --dns-name-label <dns-label> \
  --location <location>

List Container Instances

az container list --resource-group <resource-group-name> --output table

Attach to a Running Container

az container attach \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <container-name>

Azure Logic Apps

Create a Logic App

az logic workflow create \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <logic-app-name> \
  --location <location>

Trigger a Logic App

az logic workflow trigger \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --name <logic-app-name> \
  --trigger-name <trigger-name>

Azure Event Hubs

Create an Event Hub Namespace

az eventhubs namespace create \
  --name <namespace-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location>

Create an Event Hub

az eventhubs eventhub create \
  --name <eventhub-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --namespace-name <namespace-name>

List Event Hubs

az eventhubs eventhub list \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --namespace-name <namespace-name> \
  --output table

Azure Service Bus

Create a Service Bus Namespace

az servicebus namespace create \
  --name <namespace-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location>

Create a Service Bus Queue

az servicebus queue create \
  --name <queue-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --namespace-name <namespace-name>

Send a Message to a Queue

az servicebus queue send \
  --name <queue-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --namespace-name <namespace-name> \
  --message-body "Hello, Service Bus!"

Azure Cognitive Services

Create a Cognitive Services Account

az cognitiveservices account create \
  --name <account-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --kind <service-kind> \
  --sku <sku-name> \
  --location <location>

List Cognitive Services Keys

az cognitiveservices account keys list \
  --name <account-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name>

Azure IoT Hub

Create an IoT Hub

az iot hub create \
  --name <hub-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --sku S1

Add a Device to IoT Hub

az iot hub device-identity create \
  --hub-name <hub-name> \
  --device-id <device-id>

Send a Message to a Device

az iot device send-d2c-message \
  --hub-name <hub-name> \
  --device-id <device-id> \
  --data "Hello, IoT Device!"

Azure Data Lake Storage

Create a Data Lake Storage Account

az storage account create \
  --name <storage-account-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location> \
  --sku Standard_LRS \
  --kind StorageV2 \
  --hierarchical-namespace true

Create a File System (Container)

az storage fs create \
  --name <file-system-name> \
  --account-name <storage-account-name>

Upload a File to Data Lake

az storage fs file upload \
  --file-system <file-system-name> \
  --source <local-file-path> \
  --path <destination-path> \
  --account-name <storage-account-name>

Azure Policy

Assign a Policy Definition

az policy assignment create \
  --name <assignment-name> \
  --policy <policy-definition-id> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name>

List Policy Assignments

az policy assignment list --resource-group <resource-group-name> --output table

Azure Blueprints

Create a Blueprint

az blueprint create \
  --name <blueprint-name> \
  --management-group <management-group-id>

Publish a Blueprint

az blueprint publish \
  --blueprint-name <blueprint-name> \
  --version <version> \
  --management-group <management-group-id>

Azure Backup

Create a Backup Vault

az backup vault create \
  --name <vault-name> \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --location <location>

Enable Backup for a VM

az backup protection enable-for-vm \
  --resource-group <resource-group-name> \
  --vault-name <vault-name> \
  --vm <vm-name> \
  --policy-name <policy-name>

Scripting and Automation

Run a CLI Script

az login
az group create --name MyResourceGroup --location eastus
az vm create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyVM --image UbuntuLTS --admin-username azureuser --generate-ssh-keys

Export Resource Group to ARM Template

az group export --name <resource-group-name> > template.json

Import ARM Template

az deployment group create --resource-group <resource-group-name> --template-file template.json

Automate with Azure CLI in CI/CD

# Example: Azure DevOps Pipeline
- script: |
    az login --service-principal -u <service-principal-id> -p <password> --tenant <tenant-id>
    az group create --name MyResourceGroup --location eastus
    az vm create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyVM --image UbuntuLTS --admin-username azureuser --generate-ssh-keys
  displayName: 'Create VM with Azure CLI'

Reference

1. Azure CLI Documentation
   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/
   This is the official documentation for the Azure CLI, offering installation guides, command references, and tutorials.

2. Azure CLI GitHub Repository
   https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli
   The official GitHub repository for Azure CLI, where you can find the source code, track issues, and see contribution guidelines.

3. Install Azure CLI
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli
   Provides step-by-step instructions for installing the Azure CLI on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

4. Azure CLI Command Reference
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/reference-index
   A detailed index of commands for the Azure CLI, covering all available commands for various Azure services.

5. Azure CLI Scripting and Automation
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/azure-cli-scripting
   A guide on using Azure CLI for scripting and automation, with examples of running CLI commands in scripts and automating resource management.