Azure Resource Management

1. Azure and DevOps: ARM & ARM
Boston Azure User Group – Nov. 14, 2017
Jim O’Neil
Senior Architect, BlueMetal
Azure MVP

2. DEFINITIONS
Azure
1. the blue color of the clear sky1
2. the unclouded sky1
3. Microsoft’s public cloud
1 Merriam-Webster.com

3. DEFINITIONS
DevOps
1. a portmanteau
2. a type of agile relationship between
development and IT Operations 2
3. a practice that everyone thinks everyone else
is doing
2 https://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/devops_development_operations.html

4. DEFINITIONS
ARM
1. Azure Resource Management
2. Attract, Retain, and Motivate3
3. Anxiety Reaction, Mild3
3 http://www.abbreviations.com

5. IF JOHN DONNE WERE ALIVE TODAY
“No service is an island,
entire of itself”

6. WHY ARE DEVOPS IMPORTANT FOR THE CLOUD?
Modern applications are:
• Agile
• Composed vs. Monolithic
• Dynamically scalable
• Available 24x7

7. LIKE THIS…

8. Deployment (“Infrastructure as Code”)
Templates
Parameter File
Organization
Resource Provider
Resource Group
Governance
RBAC
Policies
Tags
Key ARM Components

9. {
"$schema":
"https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-
01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters" : {},
"variables" : {},
"resources" : [],
"outputs" : {}
}
ARM Template Structure

10. {
"apiVersion": “2015-08-01",
"name": "[variables('webSiteName')]",
"type": "Microsoft.Web/sites",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
“comments": “This is the primary website”,
"tags": { },
"dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"name": "[variables('webSiteName')]",
"serverFarmId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Web/serverfarms', parameters('hostingPlanName'))]"
}
}
ARM Resource Sample

11. LET’S TINKER

12. Nested resources
Linked templates
Incremental vs. Complete
Condition element
Copy element
SecureString/SecureObject
Service Principal Account
STUFF WE MIGHT NOT HAVE TALKED ABOUT

13. • Not everything is template-able or consistent
• Use JSONLint
• Use objects as parameters for services (vs. scalars)
• Use outputs to pass on value for additional processing
• Pay attention to API Version in samples
• Be cognizant of dependencies (“dependsOn”)
• For debugging
• Test-AzureRMResourceGroupDeployment cmdlet
• Set $VerbosePreference = “continue”
• Add resources created to output section
Tips and Tricks

14. • REST API: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/resources/
• Resource Manager Schemas: https://github.com/Azure/azure-
resource-manager-schemas
• Quickstart Templates: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-
us/resources/templates/
• Quickstart Templates (GitHub): https://github.com/Azure/azure-
quickstart-templates
• Template Functions: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-
resource-manager/resource-group-template-functions
• Resource Explorer: https://resources.azure.com
• Template Building Blocks (P&P): https://github.com/mspnp/template-
building-blocks/wiki
Key Resources