Installing Azure CLI

2.1 Installing Azure CLI

Azure CLI can be installed on Windows, macOS, or Linux.

OS
Installation Command

Windows

Use the MSI Installer

macOS

brew install azure-cli (Homebrew)

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

Use apt-get

Linux (RHEL/Fedora)

Use yum/dnf

🪟 Installing on Windows

  1. Go to the official download page.

  2. Download the MSI Installer.

  3. Run the installer (Next → Next → Finish).

  4. Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and test:

bashCopyEditaz version

✅ You should see the installed version.

🍎 Installing on macOS

If you use Homebrew:

bashCopyEditbrew update && brew install azure-cli

Then verify:

bashCopyEditaz version

🐧 Installing on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

bashCopyEditcurl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

Then verify:

bashCopyEditaz version

🔄 2.2 Updating Azure CLI

Azure CLI updates frequently to support new Azure services.

Update using:

OS
Command

Windows

Rerun the MSI installer

macOS

brew upgrade azure-cli

Linux

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install azure-cli

Always try to keep your CLI updated to avoid bugs or missing features!

Check your version:

bashCopyEditaz version

You can view available updates using:

bashCopyEditaz upgrade

🔐 2.3 Logging in to Azure

After installation, you must authenticate.

Default login (interactive)

bashCopyEditaz login

✅ This opens a browser window asking for your Microsoft credentials.

Login with Device Code (for MFA or Cloud Shell)

If you can’t open a browser (example: SSH session):

az login --use-device-code

This gives you a code to enter at https://microsoft.com/devicelogin.

Service Principal Login (for Automation)

For automated scripts, you should log in with a Service Principal:

bashCopyEditaz login --service-principal -u APP_ID -p PASSWORD --tenant TENANT_ID

(We'll dive into Service Principals later in the course.)

📂 2.4 Setting the Active Subscription

If you have multiple Azure subscriptions, you need to set the active one.

First, list your subscriptions:

az account list --output table

Example output:

Name
SubscriptionId
State

MyCompany-Production

1234abcd-5678-efgh-9101-ijklmnopqrst

Enabled

MyCompany-Dev

8765zyxw-4321-vuts-1098-ponmlkjihgfed

Enabled

Then set your active subscription:

az account set --subscription "MyCompany-Dev"

✅ Now, every command you run will operate against that subscription.

🛠️ 2.5 Verifying Your CLI Environment

Double-check everything by running:

az account show

You should see:

  • Your current subscription

  • Your tenant ID

  • Your user ID

And finally:

az group list

If you get a valid response (even if empty), your CLI is ready!

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