Managing and Deploying Azure Resources

What it is

You can manage Azure by clicking in a web portal, by typing commands, or by describing your environment in a file and letting Azure build it. All three routes reach the same management layer.

This topic covers the interfaces, the way to manage resources outside Azure, and the idea of infrastructure as code.

How it works

Azure portal

The Azure portal is the web interface for Azure. It is graphical, so it is the easiest place to start and to explore. You can build dashboards, create resources by following forms, and view everything in your subscriptions.

Azure Cloud Shell

Cloud Shell is a shell you use in the browser, already signed in to your account. You can choose Bash or PowerShell, and it has Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell ready to use with no installation. It uses an Azure Files share to keep your files between sessions.

Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell

Both are command line tools for managing Azure and both run on Windows, macOS and Linux. They suit repeatable tasks and scripts.

Choose by preference. People who already work in PowerShell tend to use Azure PowerShell, and others tend to use the CLI.

Azure Arc

Azure Arc extends Azure management to resources that run outside Azure, such as servers on premises, in other clouds or at the edge, and Kubernetes clusters. Once connected, those resources can use Azure tools such as Azure Policy, tags, role based access control and monitoring from one place.

Infrastructure as code

Infrastructure as code (IaC) means defining your infrastructure in files instead of building it by hand. The files can be stored in version control, reviewed and reused.

• Consistency: the same file gives the same result every time.
• Speed: whole environments are created in minutes.
• Fewer errors: there is no manual clicking to forget a step.

Azure Resource Manager and ARM templates

Azure Resource Manager (ARM) is the management layer for Azure. Every request from the portal, the command line, an SDK or a template goes through ARM, which checks permissions and then performs the action. This is why all the tools behave consistently.

An ARM template is a JSON file that declares the resources you want. Azure works out how to create them. You can deploy the same template again to get the same result. Bicep is a simpler language that is turned into an ARM template, so people can write less code.

Cloud Shell in practice

Cloud Shell opens from the portal and keeps your files in an Azure Files share, so they persist between sessions. You can choose Bash or PowerShell. Common tools are already installed, and you are signed in automatically.

The same task in the CLI and PowerShell

Creating a resource group shows how the two tools differ in style but not in result.

az group create --name rg-demo --location westeurope
New-AzResourceGroup -Name rg-demo -Location westeurope

The Azure CLI uses lowercase commands and options with double dashes. Azure PowerShell uses cmdlets named verb and noun, with a Az prefix on the noun.

Inside an ARM template

An ARM template is a JSON file with a few main sections.

Deployments are repeatable. Deploying the same template twice leaves the same result, because Azure makes the resources match the file.

Where Azure Arc helps

A company runs servers in its own datacenter and in another cloud. With Azure Arc, it connects them to Azure, then applies the same tags, policies and monitoring that it uses for Azure resources. The servers do not move. Only their management does.

How the exam asks about this

• "Which tool is a browser-based shell with the Azure tools already installed?" Azure Cloud Shell.
• "Which feature manages servers outside Azure from Azure?" Azure Arc.
• "Which approach deploys the same environment repeatedly from a file?" Infrastructure as code with an ARM template.
• "Which service receives every request to create or change a resource?" Azure Resource Manager.