Using PowerShell for managing Azure resources

How to configure PowerShell for managing Azure resources (Windows platform)

• Login to the machine using privileged account.
• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell:

powershell

Note: You need to run cmd.exe or PowerShell.exe as administrator.

• Run the command below to find out the current PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

• In-case you currently have version older than 5.1, follow the article below to locate the download URL for upgrading to the latest version of PowerShell:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/setup/installing-windows-powershell?view=powershell-6

Also, review the article below for PowerShell installation pre-requirements:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/setup/windows-powershell-system-requirements?view=powershell-5.1

• Run the below command to check if you have PowerShellGet installed on your system:

Get-Module PowerShellGet -list | Select-Object Name,Version,Path

• In-case you don’t have PowerShellGet, run the commands below:

Install-PackageProvider Nuget -Force

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Force

For more information about installation or upgrade of PowerShellGet, see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/gallery/installing-psget

• Run the command below to install Azure cmdlet for PowerShell:

Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Force

• Run the command below to set the execution policy:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Force

• To view the installed versions of Az, run the command below:

Get-InstalledModule -Name Az | select Name,Version

• To remove older versions of Az, run the command below (update the command to the relevant version you wish to uninstall):

Get-InstalledModule -Name Az -RequiredVersion 1.5.0 | Uninstall-Module

How to configure PowerShell for managing Azure resources (CentOS platform)

• Login to the machine using privileged account.
• Run the command below to register the RedHat repository:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo

Note: The above command should be written in a single line

• Run the command below to install PowerShell:

sudo yum install -y powershell

• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell:

sudo pwsh

Note: You need to run cmd.exe or PowerShell.exe as administrator.

• Run the command below to find out the current PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

• Run the below command to check if you have PowerShellGet installed on your system:

Get-Module PowerShellGet -list | Select-Object Name,Version,Path

• In-case you don’t have PowerShellGet, run the commands below:

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet –Force

For more information about installation or upgrade of PowerShellGet, see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/gallery/installing-psget

• Run the command below to install Azure cmdlet for PowerShell:

Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Force

• To view the installed versions of Az, run the command below:

Get-InstalledModule -Name Az | select Name,Version

• To remove older versions of Az, run the command below (update the command to the relevant version you wish to uninstall):

Get-InstalledModule -Name Az -RequiredVersion 1.5.0 | Uninstall-Module

Common PowerShell commands for Azure

• Login to an Azure account:

Connect-AzAccount

• List available subscriptions:

Get-AzSubscription

• Change the context to a specific Azure subscription:

Set-AzContext -SubscriptionId <subscriptionid>

Note: Replace <subscriptionid> with the relevant subscription ID

• Run the command below to suppress warning messages:

Set-Item Env:\SuppressAzurePowerShellBreakingChangeWarnings "true"

Resource group related commands

• List available resource groups:

Get-AzResourceGroup

• Create a new Azure resource group:

New-AzResourceGroup -Name <ResourceGroupName> -Location <Location>

Note 1: Replace <ResourceGroupName> with your own relevant group name

Note 2: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Example:

New-AzResourceGroup -Name RG01 -Location "West Europe"

Networking related commands

• List available virtual networks:

Get-AzVirtualNetwork

• List available subnets

Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name <Virtual Network Name> -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> | Get-AzureRmVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig | Format-Table

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Virtual Network Name> with the relevant VNET

Note 3: Replace <Resource Group Name> with the relevant resource group name

Example:

Get-AzVirtualNetwork -Name VNET01 -ResourceGroupName RG01 | Get-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig | Format-Table

• Create a new virtual network and a new subnet:

$subnetConfig = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name <SubnetName> -AddressPrefix <Subnet address prefix CIDR>

New-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -Location <Location> -Name <Virtual network name> -AddressPrefix <Virtual network address prefix CIDR> -Subnet $subnetConfig

Note 1: The above commands should be written in a single line (for each command)

Note 2: Replace <SubnetName> with a relevant subnet name

Note 3: Replace <Subnet address prefix CIDR> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 4: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 5: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 6: Replace <Virtual network name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 7: Replace <Virtual network address prefix CIDR> with relevant value (see example below)

Example:

$subnetConfig = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name mySubnet -AddressPrefix 192.168.1.0/24

New-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName RG01 -Location "UK West" -Name VNET01 -AddressPrefix 192.168.0.0/16 -Subnet $subnetConfig

• List all available network security groups:

Get-AzNetworkSecurityGroup

• Create a new network security group:

New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -Location <Location> -Name <Network security group name>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 4: Replace <Network security group name> with relevant value (see example below)

Example:

New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName RG01 -Location "UK West" -Name myNetworkSecurityGroup

• List all available rules inside a network security group:

Get-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -Name <Network security group name> | Get-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig | Format-Table

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Network security group name> with relevant value (see example below)

Example:

Get-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName RG01 -Name myNetworkSecurityGroup | Get-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig | Format-Table

• Create a new rule inside an existing network security group:

$nsgRule = New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig -Name <Security rule name> -Protocol Tcp -Direction Inbound -Priority 1000 -SourceAddressPrefix * -SourcePortRange * -DestinationAddressPrefix * -DestinationPortRange 3389 -Access Allow

New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -Location <Location> -Name <Network security group name> -SecurityRules $nsgRule -Force

Note 1: The above commands should be written in a single line (for each command)

Note 2: Replace <Security rule name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 4: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 5: Replace <Network security group name> with relevant value (see example below)

Example:

$nsgRule = New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig -Name AllowRDP -Protocol Tcp -Direction Inbound -Priority 1000 -SourceAddressPrefix * -SourcePortRange * -DestinationAddressPrefix * -DestinationPortRange 3389 -Access Allow

New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup -ResourceGroupName RG01 -Location "West Europe" -Name myNetworkSecurityGroup -SecurityRules $nsgRule –Force

• List available public IP addresses assigned to virtual machines:

Get-AzPublicIpAddress

Virtual machine related commands

• List available virtual machines in a subscription:

Get-AzVM

• List available virtual machines in a specific resource group:

Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name>

Note: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value

• Get information about a specific virtual machine inside a resource group:

Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName <Resource group name> -Name <VM Name>

Note 1: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value

Note 2: Replace <VM Name> with the relevant value

• Start a virtual machine inside a specific resource group:

Start-AzVM -ResourceGroupName <Resource group name> -Name <VM Name>

Note 1: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value

Note 2: Replace <VM Name> with the relevant value

• Restart a virtual machine inside a specific resource group:

Restart-AzVM -ResourceGroupName <Resource group name> -Name <VM Name>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value

Note 3: Replace <VM Name> with the relevant value

• Stop a virtual machine inside a specific resource group:

Stop-AzVM -ResourceGroupName <Resource group name> -Name <VM Name>

Note 1: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value

Note 2: Replace <VM Name> with the relevant value

• List available virtual machine sizes for a region:

Get-AzVMSize -Location <Location>

Note: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

• List available virtual machine image publishers for a region:

Get-AzVMImagePublisher -Location <Location>

Note: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

• List available offer types for a publisher (such as Vendor)

Get-AzVMImageOffer -Location <Location> -PublisherName <Publisher Name>

Note 1: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 2: Replace <Publisher Name> with a relevant value (such as MicrosoftWindowsServer or RedHat)

Example:

Get-AzVMImageOffer -Location "West Europe" -PublisherName MicrosoftWindowsServer

• List available virtual machine image SKU’s for a region:

Get-AzVMImageSku -Location <Location> -PublisherName <Publisher Name> -Offer <Offer name>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 3: Replace <Publisher Name> with the relevant value (see example below)

Note 4: Replace <Offer Name> with the relevant value (see example below)

Example:

Get-AzVMImageSku -Location "West Europe" -PublisherName "MicrosoftWindowsServer" -Offer "WindowsServer"

Storage related commands

• List available storage accounts:

Get-AzStorageAccount | Select StorageAccountName, Location

• Create an empty new storage account:

New-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -AccountName <Storage account name> -Location <Location> -SkuName <Storage account type>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Storage account name> with a unique value between 3-24 characters (numbers and lower-case letters)

Note 4: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 5: Replace <Storage account type> with a value from the list below:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/azurerm.storage/set-azurermstorageaccount?view=azurermps-6.11.0

Example:

New-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName RG01 -AccountName mystorageacct01 -Location “West Europe” -SkuName Standard_LRS

• Create a new storage account and a new blob storage container:

$storageAccount = New-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -Name <Storage account name> -SkuName <Storage account type> -Location <Location> -Kind Storage

$ctx = $storageAccount.Context

$containerName = <Container name>

New-AzStorageContainer -Name $containerName -Context $ctx -Permission blob

Note 1: The above commands should be written in a single line (for each command)

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Storage account name> with a unique value between 3-24 characters (numbers and lower-case letters)

Note 4: Replace <Storage account type> with a value from the list below:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/azurerm.storage/set-azurermstorageaccount?view=azurermps-6.11.0

Note 5: Replace <Location> with the target location, from the list below:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/locations/

Note 6: Replace <Container name> with a relevant and unique value

Example:

$storageAccount = New-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName RG01 -Name mystorageacct01 -SkuName Standard_LRS -Location “West Europe” -Kind Storage

$ctx = $storageAccount.Context

$containerName = "quickstartblobs"

New-AzStorageContainer -Name $containerName -Context $ctx -Permission blob

• Remove a storage account:

Remove-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -AccountName <Storage account name> –Force

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Resource Group Name> with relevant value (see example below)

Note 3: Replace <Storage account name> with the relevant value

Example:

Remove-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName RG01 -AccountName mystorageacct01 –Force