Microsoft Azure Advanced: Deployment Templates

Name: Microsoft Azure Advanced: Deployment Templates
Author: Steven Burnley

Learn about Azure resource manager templates and how they can be used to create resources

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Course: On-Demand

Hello. In this lesson, I'll show you what Azure Resource Manager templates are, and how they can be used in the Azure portal to create resources in a consistent way. Azure Resource Manager or ARM templates give you the ability as an Azure administrator to communicate directly with the Azure Resource Manager engine to create resources. Normally, administrators would use the graphical portal or the command prompt using Azure CLI or PowerShell to create resources. ARM templates can be used in all of these environments to answer all the questions that are needed to create resources. This gives architects and administrators the ability to create an architecture of JSON documents that can render things like SQL servers, networks, virtual machines, application services, containers. Everything that can be hosted in Azure can be deployed with an ARM template. This also allows you to take resources that might have been created in a development or a test environment and export their configuration so that identical resources can be created in production. The Azure Resource Manager is the non -graphical engine that runs the Azure Cloud. You communicate with the Azure Resource Manager through the Azure portal or through the Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI software development kit languages. What you will now learn how to do is create templates that the Azure Resource Manager understands. That way, you can use all of the above tools to pass these templates directly to the Azure Resource Manager and have resources created without being prompted to enter any information. The templates provide all the information that the ARM needs to complete the task. Here you can see the ARM template was deployed, for example, through PowerShell at the command prompt. The ARM template consists of two files. There is the template file itself written in the JSON or JavaScript object notation. It is also provided along with an ARM template parameter file. The ARM template JSON file does not change for each implementation. It contains the core information that never changes when you build resources, such as the hardware platform or the name of the subscription or resource group. But the template parameter file provides information that must change every time you deploy a resource of this type. So an ARM template file might contain things like the virtual machine name or the IP address that you wanted associated with a particular machine. These values would need to be unique. By deploying the template file and the parameter file together, you're able to create resources to build potentially an entire solution. In this example, the template and parameter file have created a web user interface, an API web service, and a SQL database. It's also possible for these files to link to other files. In order to create consistency in your organization, you might have consistent standards for things like what storage accounts you'd like to create, what application service parameters you'd like to enable, or what networking decisions you would like to make. If you make these decisions at an organization level, you can have your templates reference these core files to guarantee that all templates execute the same way. The ability to create this parent -child relationship gives architects and administrators the ability to reuse some of the definitions that they've put in for part of their environments that they want to be consistent across all implementations. An example of this would be a definition for the type of hard disks that you would like to purchase when building virtual machines. If you chose to purchase premium hard disks, for example, you could put that in your storage JSON file and have all virtual machine templates linked to this common definition, guaranteeing a synchronization of your virtual machine disks across all future implementations. One note to remember about ARM templates is that they only are valid when the object is created. Changes to the ARM template will not impact resources that have already been created. This is simply a blueprint for new object creation. Stay tuned for the next lesson where I show you how to download sample ARM templates from the QuickStart website and execute them to create resources in our Azure subscription. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Steven Burnley 3 Lessons · 20m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In this course, you will learn about Azure resource manager templates and how Azure administrators can use ARM templates to create resources in a consistent way. Azure resources can be created from the browser-based portal by navigating the graphical screens. This is a convenient way to create resources, but it can be error-prone and time-consuming if an administrator needs to create many resources with a common configuration. ARM templates provide a way to create resources from a script template, eliminating variety and human error from your resource creation process. These templates can also provide a template for collecting information from an administrator during the template execution. This is necessary for resource parameters that must be unique, such as the name of a virtual machine. By combining ARM templates with parameter files, administrators can achieve a higher level of consistency while still providing the flexibility team members need when creating resources in Azure.

What You'll Learn

Understand what Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates can do and how administrators use them to create resources consistently
Review the format of an ARM template and a parameter file
Visit the Azure quickstart gallery to view common ARM templates
Export ARM templates from existing Azure resources
Create and deploy ARM templates to provision Azure resources from a script template
Combine ARM templates with parameter files to capture unique resource parameters during execution

Key Takeaways

ARM templates let Azure administrators create resources from a script template, eliminating variety and human error from the resource creation process.
Creating resources through the browser-based Azure portal is convenient but can be error-prone and time-consuming when many resources share a common configuration.
ARM templates can collect information from an administrator during execution, which is necessary for resource parameters that must be unique, such as a virtual machine name.
Combining ARM templates with parameter files gives administrators higher consistency while still providing the flexibility team members need when creating resources in Azure.
The Azure quickstart gallery provides common ARM templates, and templates can also be exported from existing resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this course for?

It is for Azure administrators who want to create Azure resources in a consistent way using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates instead of manually navigating the browser-based portal.

What topics does this course cover?

It covers Azure Resource Manager templates, quickstart templates, and creating and deploying ARM templates, including reviewing the format of an ARM template and a parameter file.

Why use ARM templates instead of the Azure portal?

Creating resources from the portal is convenient but can be error-prone and time-consuming for many resources with a common configuration; ARM templates create resources from a script template, eliminating variety and human error.

What are parameter files used for in this course?

Parameter files are combined with ARM templates to capture resource parameters that must be unique, such as the name of a virtual machine, giving consistency while still allowing flexibility.

What skills will I gain from this course?

The course covers skills including Azure API Management, Azure Blueprints, Resource Management Systems, Template Toolkits, Templates, and Windows Template Libraries.