Book Image

Azure Resource Manager Templates Quick Start Guide

By : Ritesh Modi
Book Image

Azure Resource Manager Templates Quick Start Guide

By: Ritesh Modi

Overview of this book

Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates are declarations of Azure resources in the JSON format to provision and maintain them using infrastructure as code. This book gives practical solutions and examples for provisioning and managing various Azure services using ARM templates. The book starts with an understanding of infrastructure as code, a refresher on JSON, and then moves on to explain the fundamental concepts of ARM templates. Important concepts like iteration, conditional evaluation, security, usage of expressions, and functions will be covered in detail. You will use linked and nested templates to create modular ARM templates. You will see how to create multiple instances of the same resources, how to nest and link templates, and how to establish dependencies between them. You will also learn about implementing design patterns, secure template design, the unit testing of ARM templates, and adopting best practices. By the end of this book, you will understand the entire life cycle of ARM templates and their testing, and be able to author them for complex deployments.

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Table of Contents (12 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: ARM Template Foundational Skills
Section 1: ARM Template Foundational Skills
2
Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
What is configuration management?
Infrastructure as Code
What are ARM templates?
Designing ARM templates
A brief primer on JSON
Azure Resource Manager
Summary
3
Azure Resource Manager Templates
Azure Resource Manager Templates
Setting up the development environment
ARM template structure
Writing your first template
Template deployment
Parameters
Variables
Summary
4
Understanding Core Elements of ARM Templates
Understanding Core Elements of ARM Templates
ARM template expressions
ARM template functions
Resources
A complete template
Nesting resources
Understanding dependsOn
Using references
Understanding resourceId
Using linked templates
Nested templates
Summary
5
Advance Template Features
Advance Template Features
Creating multiple instances of a resource type
Creating multiple instances of a resource type, using Serial mode
Creating multiple instances of a resource property
Using copy to generate multiple variables
Conditions in ARM templates
Advanced deployments
Summary
6
Section 2: ARM Template Advanced Concepts
Section 2: ARM Template Advanced Concepts
7
IaaS Solutions Using Templates
IaaS Solutions Using Templates
Configuration inside an Azure virtual machine
Protecting scripts using SAS tokens
Using protectedSettings
CustomScriptExtension as separate resource
Summary
8
Unit Testing ARM Templates
Unit Testing ARM Templates
Unit testing
Unit testing ARM templates
Retrieving outputs from ARM templates
Using Pester
Setting up the test harness
Summary
9
Design Patterns
Design Patterns
Why use modular ARM templates?
Scenario
Technical prerequisites
Deploying the solution
Template patterns
Redefining resources in the same template
Summary
10
ARM Template Best Practices
ARM Template Best Practices
Use resourceId function
Generate Resource Identifier used multiple times
Use Comments
Use Tags for resources and resource groups
Use parameters sparingly
Group related parameters
Order parameters alphabetically
Constraint parameters if possible
Parameter's defaultValue and API versions
Declare All Resources as top-level resources
Output Resource Properties and Configuration
Resource-naming conventions
Storage of Linked templates
Resource Dependencies
Using Key Vaults for secrets
Using ContentVersion
Deployment – Best Practices
Summary
11
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Designing ARM templates

ARM templates are one of the foundational pillars for the successful deployment of solutions on Azure. Authoring the right set of ARM templates—that are modular, reusable, and generic—is the first major task for ARM templates. The other aspect is the management and governance of these ARM templates. It is absolutely crucial to design the ARM template in a way that it can evolve over a period of time as well as be managed effectively.

The process for designing an ARM template is as follows:

  • Identification of resources: This is the first step when designing ARM templates for a solution; it involves the identification of resources and their count. There are many resources that provide similar features; however, there are differences between them. It is advised to read the fine print of those resources before selecting them for the solution.
    • ...
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