What is Azure - CLI Guide

Introduction

Azure is a service that lets you use computers and storage over the internet instead of your own. It helps you run websites, store files, and use software without needing your own machines.

When you want to create a website that can handle many visitors without buying servers.

When you need to store backups safely and access them from anywhere.

When you want to run apps that can grow or shrink automatically based on users.

When you want to try new software without installing it on your computer.

When you want to connect your office computers to powerful cloud tools.

Commands

This command signs you into Azure so you can start using its services from the command line.

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",

  "homeTenantId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",

  "id": "yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy",

  "isDefault": true,

  "name": "Visual Studio Enterprise",

  "state": "Enabled",

  "tenantId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",

  "user": {

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

    "type": "user"

  }

}]

This command creates a container called a resource group where you can keep related Azure resources together in the East US region.

Terminal

az group create --name example-resource-group --location eastus

Expected Output

{

  "id": "/subscriptions/yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy/resourceGroups/example-resource-group",

  "location": "eastus",

  "managedBy": null,

  "name": "example-resource-group",

  "properties": {

    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"

  },

  "tags": {},

  "type": "Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups"

}

→

--name - Sets the name of the resource group

→

--location - Specifies the Azure region for the resources

This command creates a virtual machine named example-vm inside the resource group, using Ubuntu Linux and setting up secure login keys.

Terminal

az vm create --resource-group example-resource-group --name example-vm --image UbuntuLTS --admin-username azureuser --generate-ssh-keys

Expected Output

{

  "fqdns": "",

  "id": "/subscriptions/yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy/resourceGroups/example-resource-group/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/example-vm",

  "location": "eastus",

  "name": "example-vm",

  "powerState": "VM running",

  "privateIpAddress": "10.0.0.4",

  "publicIpAddress": "52.170.12.34",

  "resourceGroup": "example-resource-group",

  "zones": ""

}

→

--resource-group - Specifies the resource group to place the VM in

→

--name - Names the virtual machine

→

--image - Chooses the operating system image

→

--admin-username - Sets the admin user name for the VM

→

--generate-ssh-keys - Creates SSH keys for secure login

This command lists all virtual machines with details in a readable table format to check their status and IP addresses.

Terminal

az vm list -d -o table

Expected Output

Name         ResourceGroup          Location    Zones    PowerState    PublicIP       PrivateIP

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

example-vm   example-resource-group  eastus              VM running    52.170.12.34   10.0.0.4

→

-d - Shows instance view details like power state

→

-o table - Formats output as a table

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from Azure, remember: it lets you use powerful computers and storage over the internet so you don't need your own hardware.

Common Mistakes

Trying to use Azure commands without logging in first

Azure needs you to sign in to know who you are and what you can do

Always run 'az login' before other Azure commands

Creating resources without specifying a resource group

Azure organizes resources in groups; missing this causes errors or scattered resources

Use the --resource-group flag to keep resources organized

Not generating SSH keys when creating a Linux VM

Without SSH keys, you cannot securely connect to the VM

Use --generate-ssh-keys or provide your own keys during VM creation

Summary

Use 'az login' to sign into Azure from the command line.

Create a resource group to organize your cloud resources.

Launch virtual machines with specific images and secure access.

Check your virtual machines' status and IP addresses with a list command.