Subscriptions and management groups in Azure - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Organizing Azure Subscriptions with Management Groups

📖 Scenario: You are working as a cloud administrator for a company that has multiple Azure subscriptions. To manage policies and access efficiently, you want to organize these subscriptions into management groups.This will help you apply governance rules at a higher level and keep your cloud environment tidy.

🎯 Goal: Create a hierarchy of Azure management groups and assign existing subscriptions to these groups using Azure CLI commands.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a root management group named CorpRoot

Create two child management groups named DevGroup and ProdGroup under CorpRoot

Assign the subscription with ID 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 to DevGroup

Assign the subscription with ID 22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222 to ProdGroup

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Companies use management groups to organize multiple Azure subscriptions for centralized policy and access management.

💼 Career

Cloud administrators and architects need to manage subscriptions efficiently to maintain security and compliance.

1

Create the root management group

Use the Azure CLI command to create a management group named CorpRoot as the root of your hierarchy. Type the command starting with az account management-group create --name CorpRoot.

Azure

# Use Azure CLI to create the root management group named CorpRoot
# Your code here

Hint

Use az account management-group create with the --name parameter.

2

Create child management groups under CorpRoot

Create two child management groups named DevGroup and ProdGroup under the root group CorpRoot. Use the Azure CLI command az account management-group create with --name and --parent CorpRoot for each group.

Azure

az account management-group create --name CorpRoot
# Create DevGroup under CorpRoot
# Your code here

Hint

Use --parent CorpRoot to specify the parent management group.

3

Assign subscriptions to the child management groups

Assign the subscription with ID 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 to the management group DevGroup and the subscription with ID 22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222 to ProdGroup. Use the Azure CLI command az account management-group subscription add with --name for the group and --subscription for the subscription ID.

Azure

az account management-group create --name CorpRoot
az account management-group create --name DevGroup --parent CorpRoot
az account management-group create --name ProdGroup --parent CorpRoot
# Assign subscription 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111 to DevGroup
# Your code here

Hint

Use az account management-group subscription add with the correct --name and --subscription values.

4

Verify the management group hierarchy

Use the Azure CLI command az account management-group show --name CorpRoot to verify the management group hierarchy and confirm that the subscriptions are assigned correctly.

Azure

az account management-group create --name CorpRoot
az account management-group create --name DevGroup --parent CorpRoot
az account management-group create --name ProdGroup --parent CorpRoot
az account management-group subscription add --name DevGroup --subscription 11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111
az account management-group subscription add --name ProdGroup --subscription 22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222
# Verify the management group hierarchy
# Your code here

Hint

Use az account management-group show with the root group name to see the hierarchy.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of an Azure subscription?

easy

A. To group cloud resources for billing and access control

B. To organize management groups in a hierarchy

C. To apply policies across multiple tenants

D. To create virtual networks automatically

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the role of subscriptions

   Subscriptions in Azure are containers that group resources for billing and access control.

2. Step 2: Differentiate from management groups

   Management groups organize subscriptions, not the other way around.

3. Final Answer:

   To group cloud resources for billing and access control -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Subscription = billing and access grouping [OK]

Hint: Subscriptions group resources for billing and access [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing subscriptions with management groups
• Thinking subscriptions organize management groups
• Assuming subscriptions apply policies directly

2. Which of the following is the correct way to create a management group using Azure CLI?

easy

A. az mg create --name MyGroup

B. az management-group create --group-name MyGroup

C. az account management-group create --name MyGroup

D. az group create --management MyGroup

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the correct Azure CLI command

   The command to create a management group is 'az account management-group create' with the --name parameter.

2. Step 2: Check the options for syntax correctness

   az account management-group create --name MyGroup matches the correct syntax; others use incorrect commands or parameters.

3. Final Answer:

   az account management-group create --name MyGroup -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Correct CLI command = az account management-group create --name MyGroup [OK]

Hint: Use 'az account management-group create' to create groups [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using 'az group create' which creates resource groups, not management groups
• Incorrect parameter names like --group-name
• Shortened commands like 'az mg create' which don't exist

3. Given the following hierarchy: Management Group A contains Subscription X and Subscription Y. A policy is assigned at Management Group A. What is the effect on Subscription X and Y?

medium

A. Only Subscription X is affected by the policy

B. Both Subscription X and Y inherit the policy

C. Only Subscription Y is affected by the policy

D. Neither subscription is affected by the policy

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand policy inheritance in management groups

   Policies assigned at a management group apply to all child subscriptions automatically.

2. Step 2: Apply this to the given hierarchy

   Since both Subscription X and Y are under Management Group A, both inherit the policy.

3. Final Answer:

   Both Subscription X and Y inherit the policy -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Management group policies apply to all child subscriptions [OK]

Hint: Policies at management group apply to all child subscriptions [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking policies apply only to one subscription
• Assuming subscriptions override management group policies
• Believing policies do not inherit down the hierarchy

4. You tried to assign a subscription to a management group but received an error. Which of the following is a likely cause?

medium

A. Subscriptions can only be assigned via Azure Portal, not CLI

B. Management groups cannot contain subscriptions

C. You must create a resource group before assigning subscriptions

D. The subscription is already assigned to another management group

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall subscription assignment rules

   Each subscription can belong to only one management group at a time.

2. Step 2: Analyze the error cause

   If the subscription is already assigned elsewhere, reassigning without removal causes an error.

3. Final Answer:

   The subscription is already assigned to another management group -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   One subscription per management group at a time [OK]

Hint: Check if subscription is already assigned before reassigning [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking management groups cannot contain subscriptions
• Believing resource groups are needed before assignment
• Assuming CLI cannot assign subscriptions

5. You have three subscriptions: S1, S2, and S3. You want to apply a security policy to S1 and S2 but not S3. How can you organize management groups to achieve this?

hard

A. Create a management group with S1 and S2 as children, assign the policy there; leave S3 outside

B. Assign the policy directly to S1 and S2 subscriptions individually

C. Put all three subscriptions in one management group and exclude S3 from the policy assignment

D. Create separate management groups for each subscription and assign the policy to S1 and S2 groups

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand management group hierarchy for policy scope

   Policies assigned to a management group apply to all its child subscriptions.

2. Step 2: Organize subscriptions to control policy application

   By placing S1 and S2 in a management group and assigning the policy there, S3 remains unaffected if outside that group.

3. Final Answer:

   Create a management group with S1 and S2 as children, assign the policy there; leave S3 outside -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Group subscriptions to control policy scope [OK]

Hint: Group only targeted subscriptions to apply policies selectively [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assigning policy to all subscriptions and trying to exclude one
• Assigning policies individually instead of using groups
• Putting all subscriptions in one group and expecting selective policy