Azure CLI Setup | Login, Subscriptions & Defaults

You will install the Azure CLI, authenticate, select the right subscription, and set defaults so later commands are short and safe. By the end you will have a reproducible az workflow ready for every other Azure lab.

Learning Objectives

Authenticate interactively and view your subscriptions.
Set the active subscription and default resource group/location.
Create a service principal for automation.
Time: ~1 hour · Difficulty: Beginner · Prereqs: an Azure account.

Architecture Overview

Environment Setup

You will need: the Azure CLI (install docs) and an Azure account.

Before you begin: know which subscription you should deploy into to avoid surprise billing.

Step-by-Step Execution

Authenticate

az login

Opens a browser to sign in to Microsoft Entra ID.

Select the subscription

$ az account list -o table && az account set --subscription "Pay-As-You-Go"

Name IsDefault Pay-As-You-Go True

Set defaults to shorten commands

az configure --defaults group=tyf-rg location=eastus

Create a service principal for automation

A service principal lets pipelines authenticate without your personal account.

az ad sp create-for-rbac --name tyf-ci --role Contributor --scopes /subscriptions/$(az account show --query id -o tsv)

Progress So Far

graph LR A[01 Login] -->|done| B[02 Subscription] B -->|done| C[03 Defaults] C -->|done| D[04 Service principal] style A fill:#1a4a1a,stroke:#00ff00,color:#fff style B fill:#1a4a1a,stroke:#00ff00,color:#fff style C fill:#1a4a1a,stroke:#00ff00,color:#fff style D fill:#1a4a1a,stroke:#00ff00,color:#fff

Testing & Validation

az account show -o table && az group create -n tyf-rg -l eastus

You should see your active subscription and a created resource group using your defaults. If so, your CLI is ready.

Troubleshooting

az: command not found: the CLI is not on PATH; reinstall or restart your shell.
Wrong subscription used: always confirm with az account show before deploying.
SP secret printed once: store it immediately in a secret manager; it is not retrievable later.

Extension Ideas

Deploy your first network in Virtual Network Deployment.
Use the service principal in GitHub Actions.
Codify everything with Infrastructure as Code.

Key Results

Authenticated and confirmed the correct subscription.
Set defaults that shorten and de-risk every later command.
Created a least-privilege service principal for automation.
Validated by creating a resource group from defaults.

Azure CLI Setup: Authenticate and Configure Defaults