Azure CLI (az)

The Azure CLI is the standard tool for managing Azure resources. 2025 brings deeper integration with Bicep (Azure’s IaC language) and AI assistance.

When to Use

• Management: Quickly creating Resource Groups or AKS clusters.
• Automation: CI/CD pipelines targeting Azure.
• Querying: Using JMESPath to find resources.

Quick Start

# Login
az login

# Set Subscription
az account set --subscription "My Subscription"

# Create AKS Cluster
az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --node-count 1 --generate-ssh-keys

Core Concepts

Command Groups

Hierarchical structure: az group, az vm, az network.

Interactive Mode

az interactive. Provides auto-completion, examples, and descriptions in the terminal.

Extensions

The CLI is extensible. az extension add --name aks-preview

Best Practices (2025)

Do:

• Use az upgrade: Keep the CLI and extensions auto-updated.
• Use Managed Identity: When running on Azure VMs/Functions, use az login --identity to avoid credentials.
• Use --no-wait: For long operations (creating VMs), fire and forget.

Don’t:

• Don’t hardcode Service Principals: Use Workload Identity Federation (OIDC) in GitHub Actions instead of secrets.

References

• Azure CLI Documentation