Managing Azure Resource Providers with 'az provider' (with examples)

The az provider command is a powerful tool found within Azure’s command-line interface (CLI), commonly known as azure-cli or az. This command is primarily used to manage resource providers in Azure, which are essential for provisioning and managing resources within your Azure subscription. Resource providers are responsible for understanding and implementing Azure services, such as compute and storage. The az provider command lets users register, unregister, and manage these providers, ensuring that their Azure environment is properly configured for deploying and managing resources.

Registering a Provider

Code:

az provider register --namespace Microsoft.PolicyInsights

Motivation:

In the Azure ecosystem, registering a provider is an important step when you want to start using or deploying services associated with that provider. By registering the Microsoft.PolicyInsights provider, you gain access to Azure Policy Insights, which is useful for viewing and analyzing the compliance status of your resources in Azure. It is a necessary first step to ensure that these insights can be integrated and managed within your Azure Dashboard or via automation scripts.

Explanation:

• az provider register: Initializes the process to register a new provider to the Azure subscription.
• --namespace Microsoft.PolicyInsights: Specifies the exact namespace of the provider you wish to register. In this instance, Microsoft.PolicyInsights is the namespace for the Policy Insights services, which include monitoring and compliance tools within Azure.

Example Output:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.PolicyInsights",
  "namespace": "Microsoft.PolicyInsights",
  "registrationState": "Registering"
}

Unregistering a Provider

Code:

az provider unregister --namespace Microsoft.Automation

Motivation:

There are scenarios where you might want to discontinue the use of services provided by a particular provider or reduce the complexity of your Azure subscription. Unregistering Microsoft.Automation is a crucial step if you wish to disable automation services, which can help in minimizing resource management overhead and reduce costs if those automation features are no longer needed.

Explanation:

• az provider unregister: This tells Azure to remove the specified provider from the list of available providers for the subscription.
• --namespace Microsoft.Automation: This indicates the specific provider you wish to unregister, namely Microsoft.Automation, which includes services related to Azure Automation features such as runbooks and configuration management.

Example Output:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Automation",
  "namespace": "Microsoft.Automation",
  "registrationState": "Unregistering"
}

Listing All Providers for a Subscription

Code:

az provider list

Motivation:

Being able to list all providers is vital for administrators who need to audit, manage, or optimize cloud resources in Azure. It provides a comprehensive view of what’s currently available and enabled under the subscription. This command is useful for tracking trends in service utilization, troubleshooting issues, or strategizing cloud resource deployments by understanding the resource capabilities currently registered within the subscription.

Explanation:

• az provider list: Initiates a command to retrieve a list of all resource providers currently registered and available for use in the particular Azure subscription.

Example Output:

[
  {
    "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.AzureActiveDirectory",
    "namespace": "Microsoft.AzureActiveDirectory",
    "registrationState": "Registered"
  },
  ...
]

Showing Information About a Specific Provider

Code:

az provider show --namespace Microsoft.Storage

Motivation:

Obtaining detailed information about specific providers is crucial for planning storage solutions and ensuring compatibility and integration with other services within Azure. By examining the Microsoft.Storage provider, a user can assess storage capabilities like Azure Blob Storage, Azure Files, and more, thus aiding in resource management strategies and confirming service requirements.

Explanation:

• az provider show: Activates a command that fetches detailed information about a specified provider.
• --namespace Microsoft.Storage: Identifies the provider for which you want to obtain information. The Microsoft.Storage namespace includes various storage services essential for data housing solutions in Azure.

Example Output:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/providers/Microsoft.Storage",
  "namespace": "Microsoft.Storage",
  "resourceTypes": [
    {
      "resourceType": "storageAccounts",
      "locations": [
        "eastus",
        "westus"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Listing All Resource Types for a Specific Provider

Code:

az provider list --query "[?namespace=='Microsoft.Network'].resourceTypes[].resourceType"

Motivation:

Understanding the different resource types available for a particular provider allows for comprehensive network management and optimization within the Azure environment. By querying resource types for Microsoft.Network, users can identify all networking services like virtual networks, network security groups, and load balancers, assisting in better architecture design and provisioning of network-related resources.

Explanation:

• az provider list: Executes a command to list providers.
• --query "[?namespace=='Microsoft.Network'].resourceTypes[].resourceType": Utilizes a JMESPath query to filter the results, specifically retrieving resource types under the Microsoft.Network namespace. It directs the command to output only the relevant resource types, offering a targeted view of networking services available.

Example Output:

[
  "virtualNetworks",
  "networkInterfaces",
  "loadBalancers",
  ...
]

Conclusion:

The az provider command offers efficient management of Azure resource providers through various subcommands. Users can register necessary services, unregister obsolete ones, list available providers, retrieve detailed information, and list resource types, thereby maintaining a well-managed Azure environment. These functionalities collectively empower users to effectively handle their resource provisioning and management tasks within Azure.