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Azure

Azure CLI Complete Guide: Install, Configure and Essential Commands

Ninja·March 24, 2026·6 min read

Overview

This tutorial walks you through everything you need to know to use the Azure Command-Line Interface (Azure CLI) effectively — from installation to managing real Azure resources. Whether you're preparing for the AZ-104 Azure Administrator exam or working in a production environment, the Azure CLI is a foundational tool you'll use daily.

By the end of this guide you will be able to install and configure the Azure CLI, authenticate to Azure, manage resource groups and virtual machines, and write reusable CLI scripts.

Prerequisites

  • An active Azure subscription (free tier works)
  • Basic familiarity with a terminal (bash or PowerShell)
  • Administrator or sudo access on your local machine

Why This Matters for AZ-104

The AZ-104 exam tests your ability to manage Azure resources using both the portal and the CLI. Many scenario-based questions assume you know equivalent CLI commands for tasks like creating VMs, managing storage accounts, and configuring networking. Mastering the CLI also makes you faster in real deployments.

Getting Started

Installing the Azure CLI

The Azure CLI is cross-platform and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Choose the method that matches your environment.

Ubuntu / Debian:

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

macOS (Homebrew):

brew update && brew install azure-cli

Windows (winget):

winget install -e --id Microsoft.AzureCLI

After installation, verify the version:

az --version

You should see output listing the CLI version, Python version, and installed extensions. If the command is not found, restart your terminal and try again.

Authenticating to Azure

The most common authentication method for interactive use is device code flow or browser-based login:

az login

This opens a browser window where you sign in with your Azure credentials. For headless or automation environments, use a service principal:

az login --service-principal \
  --username $APP_ID \
  --password $CLIENT_SECRET \
  --tenant $TENANT_ID

After login, list your available subscriptions:

az account list --output table

Set the active subscription you want to work with:

az account set --subscription "My Production Subscription"

Core Resource Management Commands

Every Azure resource lives inside a resource group. Understanding how to manage resource groups is critical for both the exam and day-to-day administration.

Working with Resource Groups

Create a resource group in the East US region:

az group create \
  --name rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --location eastus

List all resource groups in your subscription:

az group list --output table

Show details of a specific resource group:

az group show --name rg-cloudninjas-demo

Delete a resource group and all its contents (use with caution):

az group delete --name rg-cloudninjas-demo --yes --no-wait

Common Pitfall: The --no-wait flag returns control to your terminal immediately but deletion continues in the background. Do not recreate resources in the same group until deletion completes. Verify with az group show — it will return an error once the group is gone.

Deploying and Managing Virtual Machines

Creating a VM is one of the most common AZ-104 tasks. Here is a complete working example:

az vm create \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --name vm-webserver-01 \
  --image Ubuntu2204 \
  --size Standard_B2s \
  --admin-username azureuser \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --location eastus

The --generate-ssh-keys flag automatically creates an SSH key pair in ~/.ssh/ if one does not already exist. The public key is installed on the VM.

Open port 80 for web traffic after the VM is created:

az vm open-port \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --name vm-webserver-01 \
  --port 80

Get the public IP address of your VM:

az vm show \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --name vm-webserver-01 \
  --show-details \
  --query publicIps \
  --output tsv

Stop (deallocate) a VM to stop billing for compute:

az vm deallocate \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --name vm-webserver-01

Advanced CLI Techniques and Best Practices

Using JMESPath Queries

The --query flag uses JMESPath syntax to filter JSON output. This is extremely useful in scripts where you need to extract specific values.

List only the names and locations of all VMs in a resource group:

az vm list \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --query "[].{Name:name, Location:location, Size:hardwareProfile.vmSize}" \
  --output table

Extract the storage account key for use in a script:

STORAGE_KEY=$(az storage account keys list \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --account-name mystorageaccount001 \
  --query "[0].value" \
  --output tsv)

echo "Key retrieved: ${STORAGE_KEY:0:10}..."

Configuring CLI Defaults

Set default values so you do not have to repeat flags in every command:

az configure --defaults group=rg-cloudninjas-demo location=eastus

Now commands like az vm list will automatically use the default resource group. Clear defaults when switching projects:

az configure --defaults group='' location=''

Output Formats

The Azure CLI supports multiple output formats. Choose the right one for your use case:

  • json — default, full detail, ideal for scripting
  • table — human-readable columns, great for quick review
  • tsv — tab-separated, ideal for variable assignment in bash
  • yaml — readable structured output
  • none — suppresses output, useful in CI/CD pipelines
# Human-readable table output
az account list --output table

# Assign a value to a variable using tsv
SUBSCRIPTION_ID=$(az account show --query id --output tsv)
echo $SUBSCRIPTION_ID

Working with Storage Accounts

Create a storage account with locally redundant storage:

az storage account create \
  --name mystorageaccount001 \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --location eastus \
  --sku Standard_LRS \
  --kind StorageV2

Create a blob container inside the storage account:

az storage container create \
  --name mycontainer \
  --account-name mystorageaccount001 \
  --auth-mode login

Best Practice: Always use --auth-mode login instead of passing account keys directly in commands. This leverages your Azure AD identity and avoids exposing secrets in shell history.

Exam Tips for Azure Administrator (AZ-104)

Key Concepts That Appear on the Exam

  • The difference between az vm stop (OS shutdown, still billed) and az vm deallocate (compute released, not billed)
  • Resource locks: use az lock create to protect resources from accidental deletion
  • RBAC assignments are managed with az role assignment create
  • The CLI uses Azure Resource Manager (ARM) under the hood — the same API as the portal

Common Exam Scenarios

  1. You need to prevent a resource group from being deleted — use a CanNotDelete lock
  2. You must assign a user the Contributor role on a specific resource group — use az role assignment create
  3. You need to resize a VM — use az vm resize after deallocating

Quick Reference Commands

# Create a resource lock
az lock create \
  --name DoNotDelete \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --lock-type CanNotDelete

# Assign a role to a user
az role assignment create \
  --assignee user@example.com \
  --role Contributor \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo

# Resize a VM
az vm deallocate --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo --name vm-webserver-01
az vm resize \
  --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo \
  --name vm-webserver-01 \
  --size Standard_B4ms
az vm start --resource-group rg-cloudninjas-demo --name vm-webserver-01

# List available VM sizes in a region
az vm list-sizes --location eastus --output table

Summary

You now have a solid foundation for using the Azure CLI in both real-world and exam scenarios. Here are the key takeaways:

  • Install the CLI with a single command and authenticate using az login
  • Every resource lives in a resource group — managing groups is fundamental
  • Use --query with JMESPath to filter output and assign values to variables
  • Prefer az vm deallocate over az vm stop to avoid unnecessary compute charges
  • Set CLI defaults with az configure to speed up repeated workflows
  • Use --auth-mode login for storage operations to avoid exposing keys

Next Steps: Practice creating and destroying resource groups, VMs, and storage accounts in a sandbox subscription. Combine CLI commands into bash scripts to automate multi-step deployments. When you are comfortable, explore Azure Bicep and ARM templates for infrastructure-as-code deployments.

Ready to go deeper? Check out the full AZ-104 Azure Administrator Certification Guide on CloudNinjas.ca for study plans, practice questions, and lab exercises.