Azure CLI Automation

7.1 Why Automate Azure CLI?

Automation helps you:

Benefit	Why It’s Important
Save time	Avoid manually repeating the same steps
Reduce errors	Scripts are consistent and repeatable
Enable DevOps workflows	Easily integrate into CI/CD pipelines
Improve scalability	Create hundreds of resources with one script

✅ Scripting Azure CLI = Power and Speed.

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🛠️ 7.2 Basic Structure of an Azure CLI Script

At its core, an Azure CLI script is just a series of CLI commands placed in a file.

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🖥️ Example (Bash Script)

bashCopyEdit#!/bin/bash

# Variables
RESOURCE_GROUP="myScriptRG"
LOCATION="eastus"

# Create a Resource Group
az group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location $LOCATION

# Create a Storage Account
az storage account create \
  --name mystorageaccount$RANDOM \
  --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --location $LOCATION \
  --sku Standard_LRS

# List the Storage Accounts
az storage account list --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --output table

✅ Save this as create_resources.sh and run:

bashCopyEditbash create_resources.sh

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🖥️ Example (PowerShell Script)

powershellCopyEdit# Variables
$ResourceGroup = "myScriptRG"
$Location = "eastus"

# Create a Resource Group
az group create --name $ResourceGroup --location $Location

# Create a Storage Account
$Random = Get-Random
az storage account create `
  --name "mystorageaccount$Random" `
  --resource-group $ResourceGroup `
  --location $Location `
  --sku Standard_LRS

# List Storage Accounts
az storage account list --resource-group $ResourceGroup --output table

✅ Save this as create_resources.ps1 and run:

powershellCopyEdit.\create_resources.ps1

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🧩 7.3 Using Environment Variables

You can inject dynamic values into your scripts using environment variables.

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Setting Environment Variables (Bash)

bashCopyEditexport RESOURCE_GROUP=myResourceGroup
export LOCATION=eastus

Then reference them in your script:

bashCopyEditaz group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location $LOCATION

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Setting Environment Variables (PowerShell)

powershellCopyEdit$env:RESOURCE_GROUP = "myResourceGroup"
$env:LOCATION = "eastus"

And use:

powershellCopyEditaz group create --name $env:RESOURCE_GROUP --location $env:LOCATION

✅ Using environment variables makes your scripts portable and easier to maintain.

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📦 7.4 Passing Parameters into a Script

Scripts can accept input at runtime.

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Bash Example with Parameters

bashCopyEdit#!/bin/bash

RESOURCE_GROUP=$1
LOCATION=$2

az group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location $LOCATION

Run the script:

bashCopyEditbash create_rg.sh myDynamicRG eastus

✅ $1, $2, etc. are positional parameters.

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PowerShell Example with Parameters

powershellCopyEditparam(
  [string]$ResourceGroup,
  [string]$Location
)

az group create --name $ResourceGroup --location $Location

Run the script:

powershellCopyEdit.\create_rg.ps1 -ResourceGroup myDynamicRG -Location eastus

✅ Parameterization = More reusable scripts.

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⚡ 7.5 Best Practices for Azure CLI Automation

Best Practice	Why It Matters
Use variables and parameters	Make scripts reusable and configurable
Check if resources exist before creating	Avoid duplicate deployments
Add comments to your scripts	Make your scripts readable and maintainable
Always validate input	Prevent unexpected errors
Handle errors gracefully	Use try-catch (PowerShell) or exit codes (Bash)
Secure sensitive data	Never hard-code passwords in scripts

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✨ 7.6 Real-World Use Case Example

Deploy a VM Automatically

Bash Script Example:

bashCopyEdit#!/bin/bash

RESOURCE_GROUP="autoRG"
VM_NAME="autoVM"
LOCATION="eastus"

# Create Resource Group
az group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location $LOCATION

# Deploy VM
az vm create \
  --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $VM_NAME \
  --image UbuntuLTS \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

# Output public IP
az vm list-ip-addresses --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --name $VM_NAME --output table

✅ In just a few seconds, you’ve automated your infrastructure!

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📝 Module 7 Summary

Topic	Key Points
Why automate?	Save time, reduce errors, scale easily
Structure of a script	Series of Azure CLI commands
Using environment variables	Makes scripts dynamic and maintainable
Passing parameters	Makes scripts flexible
Best practices	Secure coding, validation, reusability