AzureRM Provider

The Azure Resource Manager (AzureRM) Provider enables you to automate the provisioning and management of resources in Microsoft Azure. Whether you're deploying virtual machines, configuring networking, or managing Azure-specific services like Azure Functions and CosmosDB, this provider is essential for infrastructure as code in Azure environments.

Key Features:

  • Deploy virtual machines, storage accounts, and databases.
  • Configure networking resources like virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups.
  • Manage Azure-specific services such as Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Azure App Services.
  • Automate role-based access control (RBAC) for secure resource management.

Example Use Case: Creating a Resource Group
Resource groups are foundational in Azure as they organize resources for management and billing. Here’s how to create one using the AzureRM Provider:

provider "azurerm" {
  features {}
}

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
  name     = "example-resources"
  location = "West US"

  tags = {
    Environment = "Development"
    Department  = "IT"
  }
}

What’s Happening Here?

  • The provider block initializes the AzureRM Provider with default settings.
  • The azurerm_resource_group resource creates a resource group named example-resources in the West US region.
  • Tags are added to categorize the resource group by environment and department.

Advanced Tip:
To ensure compliance and consistency, define policies for resource groups using Azure Policy. For example, enforce a specific tag structure:

resource "azurerm_policy_assignment" "tag_policy" {
  name                 = "enforce-tags"
  scope                = azurerm_resource_group.example.id
  policy_definition_id = "/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/policyDefinitions/taggingPolicy"
  display_name         = "Tag Policy"
  description          = "Ensures all resources have the required tags."
}

This assignment ensures that all resources within the resource group follow the tagging policy.

Glossary