Managing Resource Groups with Azure CLI (with examples)

Azure CLI provides a set of commands to manage resource groups and template deployments in Azure. Resource groups are used to organize and manage related resources in Azure, while template deployments are used to provision resources based on predefined templates. In this article, we will explore different use cases of the az group command, including creating a new resource group, checking if a resource group exists, deleting a resource group, and waiting for a resource group to meet a certain condition.

Example 1: Creating a new resource group

To create a new resource group, you can use the az group create command followed by the --name and --location arguments. The --name argument specifies the name of the resource group, and the --location argument specifies the Azure region in which the resource group will be created.

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

Motivation: Creating a new resource group is the first step in organizing and managing resources in Azure. By creating a resource group, you can logically group related resources together and easily manage them as a single entity.

Explanation:

• --name: Specifies the name of the resource group. In the example above, the name is “myResourceGroup”.
• --location: Specifies the Azure region in which the resource group will be created. In the example above, the location is “eastus”.

Example output:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup",
  "name": "myResourceGroup",
  "location": "eastus",
  "tags": {},
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  }
}

Example 2: Checking if a resource group exists

To check if a resource group exists, you can use the az group exists command followed by the --name argument. The --name argument specifies the name of the resource group.

az group exists --name myResourceGroup

Motivation: Before performing any actions on a resource group, it is useful to check if the resource group exists or not. This command helps to avoid errors and verify the availability of the resource group.

Explanation:

• --name: Specifies the name of the resource group. In the example above, the name is “myResourceGroup”.

Example output:

true

Example 3: Deleting a resource group

To delete a resource group, you can use the az group delete command followed by the --name argument. The --name argument specifies the name of the resource group.

az group delete --name myResourceGroup

Motivation: When a resource group is no longer needed or if you want to clean up resources, you can delete the resource group. Deleting a resource group deletes all the resources contained within it.

Explanation:

• --name: Specifies the name of the resource group. In the example above, the name is “myResourceGroup”.

Example output:

{}

Example 4: Waiting for a condition of the resource group to be met

To wait until a condition of the resource group is met, you can use the az group wait command followed by the --name and --created|deleted|exists|updated arguments. The --name argument specifies the name of the resource group, and the --created|deleted|exists|updated argument specifies the condition to wait for.

az group wait --name myResourceGroup --created

Motivation: In certain scenarios, you may want to wait until a specific condition of a resource group is met before continuing with further actions. For example, you may want to wait until a resource group is created before provisioning resources inside it.

Explanation:

• --name: Specifies the name of the resource group. In the example above, the name is “myResourceGroup”.
• --created: Specifies to wait until the resource group is created. Other options for the condition are --deleted, --exists, and --updated.

Example output:

{
  ...,
  "provisioningState": "Succeeded",
  ...
}

Conclusion

Resource management is an important aspect of working with Azure, and the az group command in Azure CLI provides a convenient way to create, check, delete, and wait for resource groups. By leveraging these commands, you can organize and manage resources in Azure effectively and efficiently.

In this article, we covered various use cases of the az group command, including creating a new resource group, checking if a resource group exists, deleting a resource group, and waiting for a resource group to meet a certain condition. By following the examples provided, you can utilize these commands to manage your resource groups with ease.