Azure Powershell and CLI

2-minute read
Vignesh Muthukumaran
Azure • AZ-104
Azure

Azure Powershell and CLI

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?

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

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

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

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.