PowerShell and the CLI

The AZ-104: Azure Administrator Associate certification requires subject matter expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring an organization's Microsoft Azure environment, including virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security, and governance.

In part 2 of the guide we will cover PowerShell and the Azure CLI.

Azure Resources

There are 3 main ways to access resources in Azure:

• Azure Portal
• PowerShell
• Bash / CLI

Scripting is used to automate Azure and reliably replicate manual tasks. Scripts can be added to source control so we can monitor changes over time and act as a form of living documentation.

Azure Cloud Shell

Azure Cloud Shell is a command line shell built into the Azure Portal an accessible via the [>_] icon at the top of the portal. The Azure Cloud Shell requires a storage account to be created to store scripts etc. This storage account is created automatically when the Cloud Shell is first accessed.

Predictable CLI / CommandLets

Most CLI commands follows a predictable format:

• All commands start with "az"
• The second part of the command relates to the resource/service type ("vm", "keyvault", "network vnet" etc.)
• The third part of the command is the verb/action ("list", "create", "delete" etc.)

Most PowerShell commands follow a similar predictable format:

• The first part of the command is the verb/action ("Get-", "New-", "Remove-" etc.)
• The second part is "Az"
• The third part of the command is the relates to the resource/service type ("Get-AzVM", "New-AzKeyVault" etc.)

Setting up PowerShell locally

• Check what version of PowerShell you have installed by running PowerShell and executing the $PSVersionTable command.
• Version 7.2.5 is the latest version (as of 9th August 2022). To upgrade you can run either of the following commands (depending on your preferred command line package manager):
  • choco install powershell-core
  • winget upgrade Microsoft.PowerShell
• Restart Windows Terminal (if using) and change the Default profile to PowerShell to use PowerShell 7 by default.
• Install the Azure PowerShell module by executing the command Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Repository PSGallery -Force (the AllowClobber parameter allows upgrades to overwrite previous versions, the Force parameter should only be required when upgrading between major version releases)
• Uninstall any legacy AzureRM module with the command Uninstall-AzureRm.
• Check the installed versions of the Az module using the command Get-InstalledModule -Name Az -AllVersions | Select-Object -Property Name, Version
• Execute the Connect-AzAccount command to connect to your subscription.

Switching between subscriptions

• Login to any subscription (see above)
• Execute the command Get-AzSubscription to list all the available subscriptions
• Create a $context variable by executing the command $context = Get-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId <One of your subscription ids>
• Set the context for the PowerShell session by executing the command Set-AzContext $context