Azure Powershell and CLI

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Scripting is an important part of being an Azure admin. There are three main ways in which we can access resources in Azure. They are,

• Azure Portal - Point and click interface
• Azure PowerShell AZ - Scripting
• Bash/CLI - Scripting

Why scripting?

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The need for scripting is,

• Automation - To perform repetitive tasks in scripts so that they can be done automatically.
• Source Control - To track changes to processes that are being followed.
• Reduce Errors - To reduce errors that can occur when doing the steps manually.
• A form of documentation - A living documentation of the processes followed by the team.

Memorizing PowerShell and CLI Commands

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You get used to these commands the more you use them, but Microsoft does follow some common naming patterns that make it easy to memorize them,

CLI

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The pattern for CLI is as follows,

az <resource> <verb>

Example

az vm list
az vm create
az vm delete

If there are subcategories it’s as follows,

az network vnet list
az network vnet create
az network vnet delete

PowerShell

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The pattern for PowerShell is as follows,

<verb>-Az-<resource>

Example

Get-AzVM
New-AzVM
Remove-AzVM

The easiest way to get started with these CLI’s is in the portal. The Cloud Shell needs no installation and can be used directly from the browser.