Bicep modules

Bicep enables you to organize deployments into modules. A module is just a Bicep file that is deployed from another Bicep file. With modules, you improve the readability of your Bicep files by encapsulating complex details of your deployment. You can also easily reuse modules for different deployments.

To share modules with other people in your organization, create a template spec or private registry. Template specs and modules in the registry are only available to users with the correct permissions.

Tip

The choice between template specs and private registries is mostly a matter of preference. If you're deploying templates or Bicep files without other project artifacts, template specs are an easier option. If you're deploying project artifacts with the templates or Bicep files, you can integrate the private registry with your development work and then more easily deploy all of it from the registry.

Bicep modules are converted into a single Azure Resource Manager template with nested templates.

Microsoft Learn

To learn more about modules, and for hands-on guidance, see Create composable Bicep files by using modules on Microsoft Learn.

Definition syntax

The basic syntax for defining a module is:

module <symbolic-name> '<path-to-file>' = {
  name: '<linked-deployment-name>'
  params: {
    <parameter-names-and-values>
  }
}

So, a simple, real-world example would look like:

module stgModule '../storageAccount.bicep' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'examplestg1'
  }
}

Use the symbolic name to reference the module in another part of the Bicep file. For example, you can use the symbolic name to get the output from a module. The symbolic name may contain a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and underscore (_). The name can't start with a number. A module can't have the same name as a parameter, variable, or resource.

The path can be either a local file or a file in a registry. For more information, see Path to module.

The name property is required. It becomes the name of the nested deployment resource in the generated template.

If you need to specify a scope that is different than the scope for the main file, add the scope property. For more information, see Set module scope.

// deploy to different scope
module <symbolic-name> '<path-to-file>' = {
  name: '<linked-deployment-name>'
  scope: <scope-object>
  params: {
    <parameter-names-and-values>
  }
}

To conditionally deploy a module, add an if expression. The use is similar to conditionally deploying a resource.

// conditional deployment
module <symbolic-name> '<path-to-file>' = if (<condition-to-deploy>) {
  name: '<linked-deployment-name>'
  params: {
    <parameter-names-and-values>
  }
}

To deploy more than one instance of a module, add the for expression. You can use the batchSize decorator to specify whether the instances are deployed serially or in parallel. For more information, see Iterative loops in Bicep.

// iterative deployment
@batchSize(int) // optional decorator for serial deployment
module <symbolic-name> '<path-to-file>' = [for <item> in <collection>: {
  name: '<linked-deployment-name>'
  params: {
    <parameter-names-and-values>
  }
}]

Like resources, modules are deployed in parallel unless they depend on other modules or resources. Typically, you don't need to set dependencies as they're determined implicitly. If you need to set an explicit dependency, you can add dependsOn to the module definition. To learn more about dependencies, see Resource dependencies.

module <symbolic-name> '<path-to-file>' = {
  name: '<linked-deployment-name>'
  params: {
    <parameter-names-and-values>
  }
  dependsOn: [
    <symbolic-names-to-deploy-before-this-item>
  ]
}

Path to module

The file for the module can be either a local file or an external file. The external file can be in template spec or a Bicep module registry. All fo these options are shown below.

Local file

If the module is a local file, provide a relative path to that file. All paths in Bicep must be specified using the forward slash (/) directory separator to ensure consistent compilation across platforms. The Windows backslash (\) character is unsupported. Paths can contain spaces.

For example, to deploy a file that is up one level in the directory from your main file, use:

module stgModule '../storageAccount.bicep' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'examplestg1'
  }
}

File in registry

If you've published a module to a registry, you can link to that module. Provide the name for the Azure container registry and a path to the module. Specify the module path with the following syntax:

module <symbolic-name> 'br:<registry-name>.azurecr.io/<file-path>:<tag>' = {
  • br is the schema name for a Bicep registry.
  • file path is called repository in Azure Container Registry. The file path can contain segments that are separated by the / character.
  • tag is used for specifying a version for the module.

For example:

module stgModule 'br:exampleregistry.azurecr.io/bicep/modules/storage:v1' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'examplestg1'
  }
}

When you reference a module in a registry, the Bicep extension in Visual Studio Code automatically calls bicep restore to copy the external module to the local cache. It takes a few moments to restore the external module. If intellisense for the module doesn't work immediately, wait for the restore to complete.

The full path for a module in a registry can be long. Instead of providing the full path each time you want to use the module, you can configure aliases in the bicepconfig.json file. The aliases make it easier to reference the module. For example, with an alias, you can shorten the path to:

module stgModule 'br/ContosoModules:storage:v1' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'examplestg1'
  }
}

File in template spec

After creating a template spec, you can link to that template spec in a module. Specify the template spec in the following format:

module <symbolic-name> 'ts:<sub-id>/<rg-name>/<template-spec-name>:<version>' = {

However, you can simplify your Bicep file by creating an alias for the resource group that contains your template specs. When using an alias, the syntax becomes:

module <symbolic-name> 'ts/<alias>:<template-spec-name>:<version>' = {

The following module deploys a template spec to create a storage account. The subscription and resource group for the template spec is defined in the alias named ContosoSpecs.

module stgModule 'ts/ContosoSpecs:storageSpec:2.0' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'examplestg1'
  }
}

Parameters

The parameters you provide in your module definition match the parameters in the Bicep file.

The following Bicep example has three parameters - storagePrefix, storageSKU, and location. The storageSKU parameter has a default value so you don't have to provide a value for that parameter during deployment.

@minLength(3)
@maxLength(11)
param storagePrefix string

@allowed([
  'Standard_LRS'
  'Standard_GRS'
  'Standard_RAGRS'
  'Standard_ZRS'
  'Premium_LRS'
  'Premium_ZRS'
  'Standard_GZRS'
  'Standard_RAGZRS'
])
param storageSKU string = 'Standard_LRS'

param location string

var uniqueStorageName = '${storagePrefix}${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'

resource stg 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2021-04-01' = {
  name: uniqueStorageName
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: storageSKU
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
  properties: {
    supportsHttpsTrafficOnly: true
  }
}

output storageEndpoint object = stg.properties.primaryEndpoints

To use the preceding example as a module, provide values for those parameters.

targetScope = 'subscription'

@minLength(3)
@maxLength(11)
param namePrefix string

resource demoRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' existing = {
  name: 'demogroup1'
}

module stgModule '../create-storage-account/main.bicep' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  scope: demoRG
  params: {
    storagePrefix: namePrefix
    location: demoRG.location
  }
}

output storageEndpoint object = stgModule.outputs.storageEndpoint

Set module scope

When declaring a module, you can set a scope for the module that is different than the scope for the containing Bicep file. Use the scope property to set the scope for the module. When the scope property isn't provided, the module is deployed at the parent's target scope.

The following Bicep file creates a resource group and a storage account in that resource group. The file is deployed to a subscription, but the module is scoped to the new resource group.

// set the target scope for this file
targetScope = 'subscription'

@minLength(3)
@maxLength(11)
param namePrefix string

param location string = deployment().location

var resourceGroupName = '${namePrefix}rg'

resource newRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' = {
  name: resourceGroupName
  location: location
}

module stgModule '../create-storage-account/main.bicep' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  scope: newRG
  params: {
    storagePrefix: namePrefix
    location: location
  }
}

output storageEndpoint object = stgModule.outputs.storageEndpoint

The next example deploys storage accounts to two different resource groups. Both of these resource groups must already exist.

targetScope = 'subscription'

resource firstRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' existing = {
  name: 'demogroup1'
}

resource secondRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' existing = {
  name: 'demogroup2'
}

module storage1 '../create-storage-account/main.bicep' = {
  name: 'westusdeploy'
  scope: firstRG
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'stg1'
    location: 'westus'
  }
}

module storage2 '../create-storage-account/main.bicep' = {
  name: 'eastusdeploy'
  scope: secondRG
  params: {
    storagePrefix: 'stg2'
    location: 'eastus'
  }
}

Set the scope property to a valid scope object. If your Bicep file deploys a resource group, subscription, or management group, you can set the scope for a module to the symbolic name for that resource. Or, you can use the scope functions to get a valid scope.

Those functions are:

The following example uses the managementGroup function to set the scope.

param managementGroupName string

module mgDeploy 'main.bicep' = {
  name: 'deployToMG'
  scope: managementGroup(managementGroupName)
}

Output

You can get values from a module and use them in the main Bicep file. To get an output value from a module, use the outputs property on the module object.

The first example creates a storage account and returns the primary endpoints.

@minLength(3)
@maxLength(11)
param storagePrefix string

@allowed([
  'Standard_LRS'
  'Standard_GRS'
  'Standard_RAGRS'
  'Standard_ZRS'
  'Premium_LRS'
  'Premium_ZRS'
  'Standard_GZRS'
  'Standard_RAGZRS'
])
param storageSKU string = 'Standard_LRS'

param location string

var uniqueStorageName = '${storagePrefix}${uniqueString(resourceGroup().id)}'

resource stg 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2021-04-01' = {
  name: uniqueStorageName
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: storageSKU
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
  properties: {
    supportsHttpsTrafficOnly: true
  }
}

output storageEndpoint object = stg.properties.primaryEndpoints

When used as module, you can get that output value.

targetScope = 'subscription'

@minLength(3)
@maxLength(11)
param namePrefix string

resource demoRG 'Microsoft.Resources/resourceGroups@2021-04-01' existing = {
  name: 'demogroup1'
}

module stgModule '../create-storage-account/main.bicep' = {
  name: 'storageDeploy'
  scope: demoRG
  params: {
    storagePrefix: namePrefix
    location: demoRG.location
  }
}

output storageEndpoint object = stgModule.outputs.storageEndpoint

Next steps