Azure Cheatsheet

What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive cloud computing platform offering over 200 services. It’s essential for:

Cloud Computing: Scalable infrastructure and services
Enterprise Integration: Seamless Microsoft ecosystem integration
Hybrid Cloud: On-premises and cloud connectivity
AI & Machine Learning: Cognitive services and ML platforms
Career Growth: High demand for Azure-certified professionals

Getting Started

Azure Account Setup

Create Account: portal.azure.com
Free Tier: $200 credit for 30 days
Set Billing Alerts: Monitor costs and prevent surprises
Create Resource Groups: Organize resources logically
Configure CLI: Install and configure Azure CLI

Azure CLI Installation

# Install Azure CLI
# Windows: Download from azure.microsoft.com
# macOS: brew install azure-cli
# Linux: curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

# Login to Azure
az login

# Set subscription
az account set --subscription "Your Subscription Name"

# Verify configuration
az account show

Core Services

Virtual Machines (VMs)

Scalable compute instances in the cloud

Key Concepts

VM Sizes: B-series (burstable), D-series (general purpose), F-series (compute optimized)
Images: Windows Server, Linux distributions, custom images
Availability Sets: Protect against hardware failures
Availability Zones: Protect against datacenter failures

Common Commands

# List VMs
az vm list

# Create VM
az vm create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myVM \
    --image UbuntuLTS \
    --size Standard_B1s \
    --admin-username azureuser \
    --generate-ssh-keys

# Start/stop VM
az vm start --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM
az vm stop --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM

# Delete VM
az vm delete --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVM

VM Sizes

B1s: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM (burstable)
D2s_v3: 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM (general purpose)
F2s_v2: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM (compute optimized)
E4s_v3: 4 vCPU, 32 GB RAM (memory optimized)

Azure Storage

Scalable object storage for files and data

Storage Types

Blob Storage: Unstructured data (images, videos, documents)
File Storage: SMB/NFS file shares
Queue Storage: Message queuing
Table Storage: NoSQL key-value store

Common Commands

# Create storage account
az storage account create \
    --name mystorageaccount \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --location eastus \
    --sku Standard_LRS

# List storage accounts
az storage account list

# Create container
az storage container create \
    --name mycontainer \
    --account-name mystorageaccount

# Upload file
az storage blob upload \
    --account-name mystorageaccount \
    --container-name mycontainer \
    --name myfile.txt \
    --file ./local-file.txt

# Download file
az storage blob download \
    --account-name mystorageaccount \
    --container-name mycontainer \
    --name myfile.txt \
    --file ./downloaded-file.txt

Azure SQL Database

Managed relational database service

Service Tiers

Basic: 5 DTU, 2 GB storage
Standard: 10-3000 DTU, 250 GB-1 TB storage
Premium: 125-4000 DTU, 500 GB-4 TB storage
Hyperscale: Up to 100 TB storage

Common Commands

# Create SQL server
az sql server create \
    --name mysqlserver \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --location eastus \
    --admin-user sqladmin \
    --admin-password MyPassword123!

# Create SQL database
az sql db create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --server mysqlserver \
    --name mydatabase \
    --service-objective S0

# List databases
az sql db list --resource-group myResourceGroup --server mysqlserver

Azure Functions

Serverless compute service

Key Concepts

Triggers: HTTP, Timer, Blob, Queue, Event Hub
Bindings: Input/output connections to Azure services
Consumption Plan: Pay per execution
Premium Plan: Always warm instances

Common Commands

# Create function app
az functionapp create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --consumption-plan-location eastus \
    --runtime node \
    --runtime-version 18 \
    --functions-version 4 \
    --name myfunctionapp \
    --storage-account mystorageaccount

# Deploy function
func azure functionapp publish myfunctionapp

Azure App Service

Platform for web applications

App Service Plans

Free: 1 GB RAM, shared infrastructure
Shared: 1 GB RAM, shared infrastructure
Basic: 1.75 GB RAM, dedicated infrastructure
Standard: 1.75 GB RAM, auto-scaling
Premium: 3.5 GB RAM, advanced features

Common Commands

# Create app service plan
az appservice plan create \
    --name myAppServicePlan \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --sku FREE

# Create web app
az webapp create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --plan myAppServicePlan \
    --name mywebapp \
    --runtime "NODE|18-lts"

# Deploy from GitHub
az webapp deployment source config \
    --name mywebapp \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --repo-url https://github.com/user/repo \
    --branch main \
    --manual-integration

Networking

Virtual Network (VNet)

Isolated network environment

Key Components

Subnets: Network segments within VNet
Route Tables: Control traffic routing
Network Security Groups: Firewall rules
Load Balancers: Distribute traffic
Application Gateways: Layer 7 load balancing

Common Commands

# Create VNet
az network vnet create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myVNet \
    --address-prefix 10.0.0.0/16 \
    --subnet-name mySubnet \
    --subnet-prefix 10.0.1.0/24

# Create subnet
az network vnet subnet create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --vnet-name myVNet \
    --name mySubnet \
    --address-prefix 10.0.2.0/24

# Create NSG
az network nsg create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myNSG

# Add NSG rule
az network nsg rule create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --nsg-name myNSG \
    --name AllowSSH \
    --priority 1000 \
    --source-address-prefixes '*' \
    --source-port-ranges '*' \
    --destination-address-prefixes '*' \
    --destination-port-ranges 22 \
    --access Allow \
    --protocol Tcp

Load Balancer

Distribute incoming traffic

# Create public IP
az network public-ip create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myPublicIP \
    --allocation-method Static

# Create load balancer
az network lb create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myLoadBalancer \
    --public-ip-address myPublicIP \
    --frontend-ip-name myFrontEnd \
    --backend-pool-name myBackEndPool

# Create health probe
az network lb probe create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --lb-name myLoadBalancer \
    --name myHealthProbe \
    --protocol Http \
    --port 80 \
    --path /

Security & Identity

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)

Identity and access management

Key Concepts

Tenants: Isolated identity environments
Users: Individual accounts
Groups: Collections of users
Applications: Service principals
Roles: Permission assignments

Common Commands

# List users
az ad user list

# Create user
az ad user create \
    --display-name "John Doe" \
    --user-principal-name "john@mytenant.onmicrosoft.com" \
    --password "MyPassword123!"

# Create group
az ad group create \
    --display-name "Developers" \
    --mail-nickname "developers"

# Add user to group
az ad group member add \
    --group "Developers" \
    --member-id "user-object-id"

Key Vault

Secure storage for secrets

# Create Key Vault
az keyvault create \
    --name myKeyVault \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --location eastus

# Create secret
az keyvault secret set \
    --vault-name myKeyVault \
    --name mySecret \
    --value "MySecretValue"

# Get secret
az keyvault secret show \
    --vault-name myKeyVault \
    --name mySecret

Monitoring & Logging

Azure Monitor

Comprehensive monitoring solution

Key Features

Metrics: Performance data
Logs: Application and system logs
Alerts: Automated responses to conditions
Dashboards: Visual monitoring

Common Commands

# Create log analytics workspace
az monitor log-analytics workspace create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --workspace-name myWorkspace \
    --location eastus

# Create alert rule
az monitor metrics alert create \
    --name "High CPU Usage" \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --scopes "/subscriptions/subscription-id/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/myVM" \
    --condition "avg Percentage CPU > 80" \
    --description "Alert when CPU exceeds 80%"

Application Insights

Application performance monitoring

# Create Application Insights
az monitor app-insights component create \
    --app myAppInsights \
    --location eastus \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup

# Get instrumentation key
az monitor app-insights component show \
    --app myAppInsights \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --query instrumentationKey

DevOps & Automation

Azure DevOps

DevOps platform and services

Key Services

Azure Repos: Git repositories
Azure Pipelines: CI/CD pipelines
Azure Boards: Work item tracking
Azure Test Plans: Testing services
Azure Artifacts: Package management

ARM Templates

Infrastructure as Code

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "vmName": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "myVM"
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2021-03-01",
      "name": "[parameters('vmName')]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "Standard_B1s"
        },
        "storageProfile": {
          "imageReference": {
            "publisher": "Canonical",
            "offer": "UbuntuServer",
            "sku": "18.04-LTS",
            "version": "latest"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Deploy ARM Template

# Deploy template
az deployment group create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --template-file template.json \
    --parameters @parameters.json

AI & Machine Learning

Cognitive Services

Pre-built AI services

Key Services

Computer Vision: Image analysis
Text Analytics: Sentiment analysis
Speech Services: Speech-to-text, text-to-speech
Language Understanding: Natural language processing
Translator: Text translation

Azure Machine Learning

ML platform and services

# Create ML workspace
az ml workspace create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --workspace-name myMLWorkspace \
    --location eastus

# Create compute cluster
az ml compute create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --workspace-name myMLWorkspace \
    --name myComputeCluster \
    --size Standard_DS3_v2 \
    --min-instances 0 \
    --max-instances 4

Cost Management

Cost Optimization

# Get cost analysis
az consumption usage list \
    --start-date 2023-01-01 \
    --end-date 2023-01-31

# Create budget
az consumption budget create \
    --budget-name myBudget \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --amount 1000 \
    --category Cost \
    --time-grain Monthly

Cost Optimization Strategies

Reserved Instances: 1-3 year commitments for discounts
Spot VMs: Use spare capacity for cost savings
Auto-scaling: Scale resources based on demand
Resource tagging: Track costs by project/department
Right-sizing: Match VM sizes to workload

Best Practices

Security

Enable MFA: Multi-factor authentication
Use RBAC: Role-based access control
Encrypt data: Use Azure Key Vault
Network security: Use NSGs and firewalls
Regular updates: Keep systems patched

Cost Management

Set budgets: Monitor and control spending
Use tags: Organize and track resources
Regular reviews: Audit unused resources
Reserved instances: For predictable workloads

Operational Excellence

Infrastructure as Code: Use ARM templates
Monitoring: Set up comprehensive monitoring
Backup: Regular backups and disaster recovery
Documentation: Maintain up-to-date documentation

Learning Resources

Documentation

Azure Documentation - Official documentation
Azure Architecture Center - Reference architectures
Azure Well-Architected Framework - Best practices

Training

Microsoft Learn - Free training modules
Azure Certifications - Official certifications
Azure Friday - Weekly video series

Certifications

Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900): Entry-level certification
Azure Administrator (AZ-104): Manage Azure resources
Azure Developer (AZ-204): Develop Azure solutions
Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-305): Design Azure solutions
Azure Security Engineer (AZ-500): Implement security controls

Practice

Azure Free Account - Free services for learning
Azure Hands-on Labs - Guided practice
Azure Well-Architected Labs - Hands-on exercises

Remember: Azure is about integration and enterprise features. Start with the fundamentals, understand the Microsoft ecosystem, then expand to advanced services. Always follow security best practices and monitor costs. The Azure platform is constantly evolving, so stay updated with new services and features!