Back up an app using CLI
This sample script creates an app in App Service with its related resources, and then creates a one-time backup for it.
If you don't have an Azure subscription, create an Azure free account before you begin.
Use Azure Cloud Shell
Azure hosts Azure Cloud Shell, an interactive shell environment that you can use through your browser. You can use either Bash or PowerShell with Cloud Shell to work with Azure services. You can use the Cloud Shell preinstalled commands to run the code in this article without having to install anything on your local environment.
To start Azure Cloud Shell:
| Option | Example/Link |
|---|---|
| Select Try It in the upper-right corner of a code block. Selecting Try It doesn't automatically copy the code to Cloud Shell. | ![]() |
| Go to https://shell.azure.com, or select the Launch Cloud Shell button to open Cloud Shell in your browser. | ![]() |
| Select the Cloud Shell button on the menu bar at the upper right in the Azure portal. | ![]() |
To run the code in this article in Azure Cloud Shell:
Start Cloud Shell.
Select the Copy button on a code block to copy the code.
Paste the code into the Cloud Shell session by selecting Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows and Linux or by selecting Cmd+Shift+V on macOS.
Select Enter to run the code.
If you choose to install and use the CLI locally, you need Azure CLI version 2.0 or later. To find the version, run az --version. If you need to install or upgrade, see Install the Azure CLI.
Sample script
#!/bin/bash
groupname="myResourceGroup"
planname="myAppServicePlan"
webappname=mywebapp$RANDOM
storagename=mywebappstorage$RANDOM
location="WestEurope"
container="appbackup"
backupname="backup1"
expirydate=$(date -I -d "$(date) + 1 month")
# Create a Resource Group
az group create --name $groupname --location $location
# Create a Storage Account
az storage account create --name $storagename --resource-group $groupname --location $location \
--sku Standard_LRS
# Create a storage container
az storage container create --account-name $storagename --name $container
# Generates an SAS token for the storage container, valid for one month.
# NOTE: You can use the same SAS token to make backups in App Service until --expiry
sastoken=$(az storage container generate-sas --account-name $storagename --name $container \
--expiry $expirydate --permissions rwdl --output tsv)
# Construct the SAS URL for the container
sasurl=https://$storagename.blob.core.windows.net/$container?$sastoken
# Create an App Service plan in Standard tier. Standard tier allows one backup per day.
az appservice plan create --name $planname --resource-group $groupname --location $location \
--sku S1
# Create a web app
az webapp create --name $webappname --plan $planname --resource-group $groupname
# Create a one-time backup
az webapp config backup create --resource-group $groupname --webapp-name $webappname \
--backup-name $backupname --container-url $sasurl
# List statuses of all backups that are complete or currently executing.
az webapp config backup list --resource-group $groupname --webapp-name $webappname
Clean up deployment
After the sample script has been run, the following command can be used to remove the resource group and all resources associated with it.
az group delete --name myResourceGroup
Script explanation
This script uses the following commands. Each command in the table links to command specific documentation.
| Command | Notes |
|---|---|
az group create |
Creates a resource group in which all resources are stored. |
az storage account create |
Creates a storage account. |
az storage container create |
Creates an Azure storage container. |
az storage container generate-sas |
Generates an SAS token for an Azure storage container. |
az appservice plan create |
Creates an App Service plan. |
az webapp create |
Creates an App Service app. |
az webapp config backup create |
Creates a backup for an App Service app. |
az webapp config backup list |
Gets a list of backups for an App Service app. |
Next steps
For more information on the Azure CLI, see Azure CLI documentation.
Additional App Service CLI script samples can be found in the Azure App Service documentation.


