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☁️ Azure CLI – Full Practical Tutorial

1️⃣ What is Azure CLI?

Azure CLI (az) is a cross-platform command-line tool to:

  • Create and manage Azure resources
  • Automate infrastructure
  • Use in CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps)
  • Avoid portal clicking

✔ Works on Linux, macOS, Windows ✔ Used heavily in DevOps

2️⃣ Install Azure CLI

Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

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

Verify

az version

3️⃣ Login & Account Basics

Login

az login

Browser opens → authenticate.

List Subscriptions

az account list --output table

Set Default Subscription

az account set --subscription "<SUBSCRIPTION_ID>"

Show Current Context

az account show

4️⃣ Resource Groups (Foundation)

Create Resource Group

az group create \
  --name rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --location eastus

List Resource Groups

az group list --output table

Delete Resource Group

az group delete \
  --name rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --yes --no-wait

5️⃣ App Service (Backend) via Azure CLI

Create App Service Plan (Linux)

az appservice plan create \
  --name asp-pay2chat-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --sku B1 \
  --is-linux

Create Web App (Node.js)

az webapp create \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --plan asp-pay2chat-dev \
  --runtime "NODE|18-lts"

View Web App

az webapp show \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev

6️⃣ App Settings (Environment Variables)

Add App Settings

az webapp config appsettings set \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --settings \
  NODE_ENV=production \
  PORT=8080

List App Settings

az webapp config appsettings list \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --output table

7️⃣ Enable Managed Identity (Very Important)

az webapp identity assign \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev

Verify

az webapp identity show \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev

8️⃣ Azure Key Vault (CLI-Only Workflow)

Create Key Vault

az keyvault create \
  --name kv-pay2chat-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --location eastus

Add Secret

az keyvault secret set \
  --vault-name kv-pay2chat-dev \
  --name DB-CONNECTION-STRING \
  --value "postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db"

Get Secret (manual)

az keyvault secret show \
  --vault-name kv-pay2chat-dev \
  --name DB-CONNECTION-STRING

9️⃣ Grant Key Vault Access to App Service

Get Managed Identity Object ID

az webapp identity show \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --query principalId \
  --output tsv

Assign Key Vault Policy

az keyvault set-policy \
  --name kv-pay2chat-dev \
  --object-id <PRINCIPAL_ID> \
  --secret-permissions get list

🔟 Use Key Vault Reference in App Settings

az webapp config appsettings set \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --settings \
  DB_URL="@Microsoft.KeyVault(SecretUri=https://kv-pay2chat-dev.vault.azure.net/secrets/DB-CONNECTION-STRING/)"

✔ No SDK ✔ No secrets in code ✔ Auto rotation

1️⃣1️⃣ Deployment via Azure CLI (Zip Deploy)

zip -r app.zip .

az webapp deploy \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --src-path app.zip \
  --type zip

1️⃣2️⃣ Logs & Monitoring

Stream Logs

az webapp log tail \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev

Enable Logs

az webapp log config \
  --name pay2chat-backend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --application-logging filesystem \
  --level information

1️⃣3️⃣ Static Web Apps (CLI)

az staticwebapp create \
  --name raiden-frontend-dev \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --source https://github.com/username/repo \
  --branch Development \
  --app-location "/" \
  --output-location "build"

1️⃣4️⃣ Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Assign Role

az role assignment create \
  --assignee user@domain.com \
  --role "Contributor" \
  --resource-group rg-pay2chat-dev

List Roles

az role assignment list --output table

1️⃣5️⃣ Clean-up (Very Important)

az group delete \
  --name rg-pay2chat-dev \
  --yes --no-wait

1️⃣6️⃣ Azure CLI in GitHub Actions

- name: Azure Login
  uses: azure/login@v2
  with:
    creds: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CREDENTIALS }}

- name: Create Resource Group
  run: |
    az group create --name rg-ci-dev --location eastus

1️⃣7️⃣ Must-Know Azure CLI Commands (Cheat Sheet)

az help
az find "webapp"
az configure --defaults location=eastus
az resource list --output table
az upgrade

1️⃣8️⃣ Real-World Best Practices ⭐

✔ Use CLI for automation ✔ Use Bicep/Terraform for infra-as-code ✔ Never hardcode secrets ✔ Prefer Managed Identity ✔ Use --output table for readability ✔ Use --query for scripting

What You Should Practice Next

  • Deploy App Service only using CLI
  • Key Vault + Managed Identity via CLI
  • CI/CD with Azure CLI
  • Automate cleanup scripts
  • Combine CLI + Terraform/Bicep