get-started-with-azure-cli.md

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Get started with Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI)	Learn how to get started with Azure CLI to manage Azure resources efficiently. This guide covers sign-in, essential commands, tab completion, and interactive mode.	concept-article	azure-cli	devx-track-azurecli	azure cli, how to use azure cli, azure command line interface, azure cli commands, azure cli tutorial

Get started with Azure CLI

Azure CLI is a cross-platform tool that simplifies managing Azure resources from the command line. Optimized for automation and ease of use, it supports interactive sessions and scripting with straightforward commands that integrate seamlessly with the Azure Resource Manager model. You can start using it in your browser with Azure Cloud Shell or install it locally to use from your preferred terminal.

Install or run in Azure Cloud Shell

The easiest way to try Azure CLI is through Azure Cloud Shell, a browser-based shell with no installation required. Cloud Shell supports Bash and PowerShell and comes with the latest version of Azure CLI preinstalled.

To install Azure CLI locally, see How to install Azure CLI.

To check your version, run:

az version 

Sign in to Azure

To start using Azure CLI with a local install, sign in:

[!INCLUDE interactive-login]

Important

[!INCLUDE MFA]

After you sign in, a list of your subscriptions appears. The one marked isDefault: true is currently active. To change to a different subscription, run:

az account set --subscription "<subscription-id>" 

For more information about subscription selection, see Manage Azure subscriptions. For advanced sign-in options, see Sign in with Azure CLI.

Find commands

Azure CLI commands are organized as command groups. Each group represents an area of an Azure service. There are two options to find command groups:

• Use the az find command. For example, to search for command names containing vm, use the following example:

  az find vm 

• Use the --help argument to get a complete list of subgroups within a reference group. The following example returns all subgroups for virtual machines:

  az vm --help 

  The following example shows the relevant portion of the output.

  Subgroups: application : Manage applications for VM. availability-set : Group resources into availability sets. boot-diagnostics : Troubleshoot the startup of an Azure Virtual Machine. ... 

  The help output includes subgroups, parameters, authentication options, and examples.

  Here's another example that finds the Azure CLI commands for grouping virtual machines into availability sets, a subgroup of az vm:

  az vm availability-set --help 

  You can also use --help to get parameter lists and command examples for a reference command.

  az vm create --help 

  Here is the relevant section of the example output:

  Arguments --name [Required] : Name of the virtual machine. ... Authentication Arguments --admin-password : Password for the VM if authentication type is 'Password'. --admin-username : Username for the VM... ... Managed Service Identity Arguments ... Examples Create a VM from a custom managed image. az vm create -g MyResourceGroup -n MyVm --image MyImage ... 

• Use the reference index that lists all command groups alphabetically.

Explore samples and articles

For usage examples, see:

• The Samples index for Azure CLI examples by subject, reference group, or GitHub repo.

• The Article index to find in-depth guides. Use your keyboard find shortcut keys, like Ctrl + F, to quickly find the reference command group in which you're interested. For example, the article index for az vm looks like the following table:

  Reference subgroup	Azure CLI article showing reference use
  az vm	Output formats for Azure CLI commands
  	How to use variables in Azure CLI commands
  	Get VM information with queries
  	{More articles listed here.}
  az vm aem	New Version of Azure VM extension for SAP solutions
  	Standard Version of Azure VM extension for SAP solutions
  az vm application	{...}

Use tab completion

Azure CLI supports tab completion in Bash. To enable it in PowerShell, see Enable tab completion in PowerShell.

Understand global arguments

Common arguments available to most commands include:

Argument	Description
--help	View command help
--output	Change output format: json, jsonc, tsv, table, yaml
--query	Filter output using JMESPath
--verbose	Print more execution details
--debug	Show low-level REST calls for debugging
--subscription	Specify subscription name or ID
--only-show-errors	Suppress noncritical output

For more information, see Output formats and Query results.

Use interactive mode

Run interactive mode with:

az interactive 

Interactive mode launches an enhanced Azure CLI experience with inline help and command suggestions. For more, see Interactive Mode.

An optional VS Code extension provides similar features with autocomplete and hover tips.

Learn through tutorials and quickstarts

Get hands-on with Azure CLI basics using the onboarding tutorial. You learn how to:

• Manage your default subscription
• Create resources with randomized names
• Use environment variables
• Debug commands and parse JSON files
• Delete resources efficiently

Note

Azure CLI examples on Microsoft Learn are written for Bash. One-liners usually work across shells, but multiline scripts may require adjustments. For more information, see Learn syntax differences between Bash, PowerShell, and Cmd

Provide feedback

We welcome your feedback. Submit issues on GitHub or run:

az feedback 

See also

• Onboarding cheat sheet
• Azure CLI tutorial
• Use Azure CLI in Bash
• PowerShell considerations