Azure CLI and Cloud Shell

While the Azure Portal provides a rich graphical interface, many tasks are faster, more repeatable, and more scriptable when performed from the command line. Azure provides two primary command-line tools — the Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell — along with Azure Cloud Shell, a browser-based shell environment that comes pre-configured with both.

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What is the Azure CLI?

The Azure CLI (az) is a cross-platform command-line tool for managing Azure resources. It is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and can also be used directly in Azure Cloud Shell.

Key characteristics of the Azure CLI:

• Cross-platform — runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Consistent syntax — commands follow the pattern az <group> <subgroup> <action> --parameters
• Output formats — supports JSON (default), table, TSV, and YAML output
• Scriptable — designed for use in Bash and shell scripts
• Idempotent — many commands can be run repeatedly without unintended side effects

Installing the Azure CLI

You can install the Azure CLI on your local machine:

# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install azure-cli

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

# Windows (using MSI installer or winget)
winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI

After installation, verify it is working:

az version

Signing In

Before using the CLI, you must authenticate:

# Interactive browser-based login
az login

# Login with a specific tenant
az login --tenant <tenant-id>

# Login using a service principal (for automation)
az login --service-principal -u <app-id> -p <password> --tenant <tenant-id>

After logging in, you can set the default subscription:

az account set --subscription "My Subscription Name"

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Common Azure CLI Commands

Here are some of the most frequently used Azure CLI commands:

Resource Groups

# Create a resource group
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location uksouth

# List all resource groups
az group list --output table

# Delete a resource group (and all resources inside it)
az group delete --name myResourceGroup --yes --no-wait

Virtual Machines

# Create a Linux VM
az vm create \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name myVM \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys

# List all VMs in a resource group
az vm list --resource-group myResourceGroup --output table

# Stop (deallocate) a VM
az vm deallocate --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM

# Start a VM
az vm start --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM

Storage Accounts

# Create a storage account
az storage account create \
  --name mystorageaccount \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --location uksouth \
  --sku Standard_LRS

# List storage accounts
az storage account list --output table

Getting Help

Every command supports the --help flag:

az vm --help
az vm create --help

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Output Formats

By default, the Azure CLI returns results in JSON. You can change this:

# Table format — human-readable columns
az vm list --output table

# TSV format — tab-separated values for scripting
az vm list --output tsv

# JSON format (default) — full detail
az vm list --output json

# YAML format
az vm list --output yaml

You can also use the --query parameter with JMESPath expressions to filter results:

# Get just the names of all VMs
az vm list --query "[].name" --output tsv