Introduction to Azure PowerShell

Azure PowerShell is a set of cmdlets that you can use to manage Azure resources directly from the command line. It is built on top of the Azure SDK for .NET and allows for the automation of Azure resource management tasks.

What is Azure PowerShell?

Azure PowerShell provides a set of commands (cmdlets) that enable you to connect to your Azure subscription and manage Azure resources. You can use Azure PowerShell to perform a wide range of operations, including:

• Creating, configuring, and managing Azure virtual machines.
• Deploying and managing Azure storage accounts.
• Configuring Azure networking resources like virtual networks and load balancers.
• Managing Azure Active Directory and user identities.
• Automating deployment processes.

Getting Started with Azure PowerShell

Installation

To start using Azure PowerShell, you need to install the Azure PowerShell module. The recommended way to install is by using PowerShellGet.

Open a PowerShell session as an administrator and run the following commands:

Install-Module -Name Az -Scope CurrentUser -Repository PSGallery -Force
Install-AzureRmAccount

The Install-Module -Name Az command installs the latest version of the Azure PowerShell module. The Install-AzureRmAccount cmdlet will prompt you to sign in to your Azure account.

Connecting to Azure

Once installed, you can connect to your Azure account using the following cmdlet:

Connect-AzAccount

This will open a browser window or prompt for credentials to authenticate your session.

Common Cmdlets

Here are some basic cmdlets you'll frequently use:

• Get-AzSubscription: Lists your Azure subscriptions.
• Set-AzContext -SubscriptionId "": Sets the active subscription context.
• Get-AzResourceGroup: Lists resource groups in your current subscription.
• New-AzResourceGroup -Name "MyResourceGroup" -Location "East US": Creates a new resource group.
• Get-AzVM: Lists virtual machines in your current subscription.