Skip to main content

Azure CLI Overview: Setup, Comparison, and Integration Tips 🌐🔧

Contents​

  1. What is Azure CLI?
  2. How to Install Azure CLI
  3. Azure CLI vs. Azure PowerShell
  4. Managing Resources with Azure CLI
  5. Azure CLI FAQs

What is Azure CLI?​

Azure CLI is a command-line tool for creating and managing resources. Interact with Azure through commands in a terminal or automate tasks with scripts. It interfaces with Azure Resource Manager (ARM), the management layer for Azure resources.

Azure CLI Features:​

  • Cross-Platform: Install on Linux, Mac, or Windows.
  • Multiple Shell Environments: Works in Windows Command prompt, Bash, and PowerShell.
  • Bash-like Syntax: Familiar for Linux administrators.
  • Automation: Script Azure management tasks easily.
  • Open-Source: Hosted on GitHub, allowing community contributions.

Setting Up Azure CLI​

Installation Overview​

1. Windows: MSI installer or PowerShell commands for installation.

To install the Azure CLI using PowerShell, start PowerShell as administrator and run the following command:

$ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'; 
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/installazurecliwindows -OutFile .\AzureCLI.msi; 
Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/I AzureCLI.msi /quiet'; 
Remove-Item .\AzureCLI.msi

You can also refer to the official documentation for Windows installation.

2. Linux: Use the preferred package manager (apt, dnf, zypper), or manually install with required software (Python, libffi, OpenSSL).

Install Linux in one command apt(Ubuntu/Debian):

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

You can also refer to the official documentation for Linux installation.

3. Mac: Install via Homebrew package manager.

You can install the Azure CLI on macOS by updating your brew repository information, and then running the install command:

brew update && brew install azure-cli

You can also refer to the official documentation for Mac installation.

Configuring Azure CLI​

  • Signing in to Azure:​

Use az login for interactive log-in or add --use-device-code for authorization code sign-in.

Sign in to Azure

Click on your account

Click on account

You will get a notification as shown below

Notification

  • Selecting an Azure Subscription:​

View default subscription with az account show or list all subscriptions with az account list. You can also use az account list -o table to view the output in tabular format.

Select subscription using az account set --subscription <azure_subscription_id>.

Az Subscription