Azure CLI and Cloud Shell - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

Sometimes you need to manage your cloud resources quickly without opening a full portal. Azure CLI and Cloud Shell let you type commands to create, update, or check your cloud setup easily from anywhere.

When you want to create a virtual machine without using the web portal.

When you need to check the status of your cloud resources from a remote computer.

When you want to automate tasks like starting or stopping services with scripts.

When you prefer typing commands instead of clicking through menus.

When you want a ready-to-use environment with tools pre-installed for managing Azure.

Commands

This command logs you into your Azure account so you can manage your resources. It opens a browser window to enter your credentials.

Terminal

az login

Expected Output

To sign in, use a web browser to open the page https://microsoft.com/devicelogin and enter the code ABCD1234 to authenticate.



You have logged in. Now let us find all the subscriptions to which you have access...



[{

  "cloudName": "AzureCloud",

  "id": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",

  "isDefault": true,

  "name": "My Subscription",

  "state": "Enabled",

  "tenantId": "yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy",

  "user": {

    "name": "[e-mail]",

    "type": "user"

  }

}]

This command creates a group to hold your cloud resources in the East US region. Groups help organize and manage resources together.

Terminal

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

Expected Output

{

  "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup",

  "location": "eastus",

  "managedBy": null,

  "name": "myResourceGroup",

  "properties": {

    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"

  },

  "tags": {},

  "type": "Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups"

}

→

--name - Sets the name of the resource group

→

--location - Specifies the Azure region for the group

This command creates a virtual machine named myVM in the myResourceGroup group using the latest Ubuntu image. It also creates SSH keys for secure login.

Terminal

az vm create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM --image UbuntuLTS --generate-ssh-keys

Expected Output

{

  "fqdns": "",

  "id": "/subscriptions/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/myVM",

  "location": "eastus",

  "name": "myVM",

  "powerState": "VM running",

  "privateIpAddress": "10.0.0.4",

  "publicIpAddress": "52.170.12.34",

  "resourceGroup": "myResourceGroup",

  "zones": ""

}

→

--resource-group - Specifies the group where the VM will be created

→

--name - Sets the name of the virtual machine

→

--image - Chooses the operating system image for the VM

→

--generate-ssh-keys - Creates SSH keys if none exist for secure access

This command lists all virtual machines with their status in a simple table format so you can see which ones are running.

Terminal

az vm list -d -o table

Expected Output

Name    ResourceGroup    Location    Zones    PowerState

------  ---------------  ----------  -------  ------------

myVM    myResourceGroup  eastus               VM running

→

-d - Shows instance view including power state

→

-o - Formats output as a readable table

This command logs you out of your Azure account to keep your session secure when you finish working.

Terminal

az logout

Expected Output

No output (command runs silently)

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from this pattern, remember: Azure CLI lets you control your cloud resources quickly by typing commands, and Cloud Shell gives you a ready-made place to run these commands anywhere.

Common Mistakes

Trying to run Azure CLI commands without logging in first.

Commands fail because Azure needs to know who you are to allow access.

Always run 'az login' before other commands to authenticate.

Not specifying the resource group when creating resources.

Azure cannot place the resource properly, causing errors or confusion.

Use the --resource-group flag to specify where the resource belongs.

Ignoring the output format and getting hard-to-read JSON by default.

It makes it difficult to quickly understand the status or details.

Use '-o table' or other output flags to get clear, readable results.

Summary

Use 'az login' to sign in to your Azure account before managing resources.

Create and organize resources with commands like 'az group create' and 'az vm create'.

Check resource status with 'az vm list' and log out securely with 'az logout'.