CLI Commands

3.1 Anatomy of an Azure CLI Command

Every Azure CLI command follows the same basic structure:

bashCopyEditaz <group> <subgroup> <command> --parameters

Part	Meaning	Example
az	The Azure CLI tool itself
<group>	The Azure service group	vm, group, storage
<subgroup>	Optional: further subgrouping	vm extension, network nsg
<command>	The action you want to perform	create, list, delete
--parameters	Additional options or settings	--name myVM --location eastus

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🛠️ Example:

Create a resource group:

bashCopyEditaz group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

• group = working with resource groups

• create = action to create a new one

• --name and --location = parameters to define it

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📚 3.2 Using Built-In Help

Azure CLI has built-in help everywhere.

If you ever forget a command or need examples:

bashCopyEditaz --help

Help for a specific group:

bashCopyEditaz vm --help

Help for a specific command:

bashCopyEditaz vm create --help

👉 Tip: Look at the Examples section in the help output. It saves time!

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🎨 3.3 Understanding Output Formats

You can control how Azure CLI shows you the results with --output (or -o).

Output Format	Usage	Best For
JSON	--output json	Full detail, automation scripts
Table	--output table	Human-readable summaries
YAML	--output yaml	Structured, readable config
JSONC	--output jsonc (colored JSON)	Developers, colored JSON output
None	--output none	When you only care about the result, not the output

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🛠️ Example:

List all resource groups as a table:

bashCopyEditaz group list --output table

Output:

Name	Location	Status
myResourceGroup	eastus	Succeeded

Much easier to read than raw JSON!

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🔍 3.4 Filtering with --query (JMESPath)

Azure CLI supports powerful filtering using --query.

JMESPath is a query language for JSON data that lets you select specific parts of output.

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🛠️ Example:

List only the names of all resource groups:

bashCopyEditaz group list --query "[].name" --output table

Output:

Name
myResourceGroup
testRG

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Another Example: Get the ID of the first VM in the list:

bashCopyEditaz vm list --query "[0].id" --output tsv

(tsv = tab-separated value, just the value, no JSON)

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🧠 Tip: You can combine --query and --output to make CLI results beautiful and precise.

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⚡ 3.5 Common Parameters You’ll Always See

Parameter	Purpose	Example
--name or -n	Name of the resource	--name myVM
--resource-group or -g	Name of the Resource Group	--resource-group myRG
--location or -l	Azure Region	--location eastus
--output or -o	Format the output	--output table
--query	Filter the output	--query "[].name"

You’ll use these over and over again across all Azure CLI commands.

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📝 Module 3 Summary

Topic	Key Points
CLI command structure	az <group> <command> --parameters
Built-in help	az <group> <command> --help
Output formats	JSON (default), Table, YAML, JSONC
Filtering output	--query with JMESPath syntax
Common parameters	--name, --resource-group, --location, --output