ARM template outputs in Azure - Mini Project: Build & Apply

ARM Template Outputs

📖 Scenario: You are deploying a simple Azure storage account using an ARM template. You want to see the storage account's name and primary endpoint as outputs after deployment.

🎯 Goal: Create an ARM template that defines a storage account resource and includes outputs for the storage account name and its primary blob endpoint.

📋 What You'll Learn

Define a storage account resource with a fixed name

Add outputs for the storage account name and primary blob endpoint

Use correct ARM template syntax for outputs

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

ARM templates are used to automate Azure resource deployments consistently and repeatedly.

💼 Career

Knowing how to write ARM templates with outputs is essential for Azure cloud engineers and DevOps professionals to manage infrastructure as code.

1

Create the ARM template skeleton

Create a JSON ARM template with schema set to "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#" and an empty resources array.

Azure

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": []
  // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Start with the basic ARM template structure including $schema, contentVersion, and an empty resources array.

2

Add a storage account resource

Add a resource of type Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts with name examplestorageacct, location eastus, and sku name Standard_LRS. Use kind as StorageV2 and set apiVersion to 2021-04-01.

Azure

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      // Your code here
    }
  ]
}

Need a hint?

Define the storage account resource with the required properties inside the resources array.

3

Add outputs for storage account name and primary blob endpoint

Add an outputs section with two outputs: storageAccountName that returns the storage account name using reference, and primaryBlobEndpoint that returns the primary blob endpoint from the storage account's primaryEndpoints.blob property.

Azure

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2021-04-01",
      "name": "examplestorageacct",
      "location": "eastus",
      "sku": {
        "name": "Standard_LRS"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {}
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    // Your code here
  }
}

Need a hint?

Use the outputs section to expose values after deployment. Use reference() to get resource properties.

4

Complete the ARM template with correct JSON structure

Ensure the ARM template JSON is valid and includes $schema, contentVersion, resources with the storage account, and outputs with the storage account name and primary blob endpoint.

Azure

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2021-04-01",
      "name": "examplestorageacct",
      "location": "eastus",
      "sku": {
        "name": "Standard_LRS"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {}
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "storageAccountName": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[reference('examplestorageacct').name]"
    },
    "primaryBlobEndpoint": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[reference('examplestorageacct').primaryEndpoints.blob]"
    }
  }
  // Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Check that the JSON is complete and valid with all required sections.