Deploy an Azure Resource Manager template in an Azure Automation PowerShell runbook

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You can write an Azure Automation PowerShell runbook that deploys an Azure resource by using an Azure Resource Management template.

By doing this, you can automate deployment of Azure resources. You can maintain your Resource Manager templates in a central, secure location such as Azure Storage.

In this article, we create a PowerShell runbook that uses a Resource Manager template stored in Azure Storage to deploy a new Azure Storage account.

Prerequisites

To complete this tutorial, you need the following items:

Create the Resource Manager template

For this example, we use a Resource Manager template that deploys a new Azure Storage account.

In a text editor, copy the following text:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "storageAccountType": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
      "allowedValues": [
        "Standard_LRS",
        "Standard_GRS",
        "Standard_ZRS",
        "Premium_LRS"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Storage Account type"
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for all resources."
      }
    }
  },
  "variables": {
    "storageAccountName": "[concat(uniquestring(resourceGroup().id), 'standardsa')]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "name": "[variables('storageAccountName')]",
      "apiVersion": "2018-02-01",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "sku": {
          "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
      },
      "kind": "Storage", 
      "properties": {
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
      "storageAccountName": {
          "type": "string",
          "value": "[variables('storageAccountName')]"
      }
  }
}

Save the file locally as TemplateTest.json.

Save the Resource Manager template in Azure Storage

Now we use PowerShell to create an Azure Storage file share and upload the TemplateTest.json file. For instructions on how to create a file share and upload a file in the Azure portal, see Get started with Azure File storage on Windows.

Launch PowerShell on your local machine, and run the following commands to create a file share and upload the Resource Manager template to that file share.

# Login to Azure
Connect-AzureRmAccount

# Get the access key for your storage account
$key = Get-AzureRmStorageAccountKey -ResourceGroupName 'MyAzureAccount' -Name 'MyStorageAccount'

# Create an Azure Storage context using the first access key
$context = New-AzureStorageContext -StorageAccountName 'MyStorageAccount' -StorageAccountKey $key[0].value

# Create a file share named 'resource-templates' in your Azure Storage account
$fileShare = New-AzureStorageShare -Name 'resource-templates' -Context $context

# Add the TemplateTest.json file to the new file share
# "TemplatePath" is the path where you saved the TemplateTest.json file
$templateFile = 'C:\TemplatePath'
Set-AzureStorageFileContent -ShareName $fileShare.Name -Context $context -Source $templateFile

Create the PowerShell runbook script

Now we create a PowerShell script that gets the TemplateTest.json file from Azure Storage and deploys the template to create a new Azure Storage account.

In a text editor, paste the following text:

param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]
    $ResourceGroupName,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]
    $StorageAccountName,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]
    $StorageAccountKey,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]
    $StorageFileName
)



# Authenticate to Azure if running from Azure Automation
$ServicePrincipalConnection = Get-AutomationConnection -Name "AzureRunAsConnection"
Connect-AzureRmAccount `
    -ServicePrincipal `
    -TenantId $ServicePrincipalConnection.TenantId `
    -ApplicationId $ServicePrincipalConnection.ApplicationId `
    -CertificateThumbprint $ServicePrincipalConnection.CertificateThumbprint | Write-Verbose

#Set the parameter values for the Resource Manager template
$Parameters = @{
    "storageAccountType"="Standard_LRS"
    }

# Create a new context
$Context = New-AzureStorageContext -StorageAccountName $StorageAccountName -StorageAccountKey $StorageAccountKey

Get-AzureStorageFileContent -ShareName 'resource-templates' -Context $Context -path 'TemplateTest.json' -Destination 'C:\Temp'

$TemplateFile = Join-Path -Path 'C:\Temp' -ChildPath $StorageFileName

# Deploy the storage account
New-AzureRmResourceGroupDeployment -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -TemplateFile $TemplateFile -TemplateParameterObject $Parameters

Save the file locally as DeployTemplate.ps1.

Import and publish the runbook into your Azure Automation account

Now we use PowerShell to import the runbook into your Azure Automation account, and then publish the runbook. For information about how to import and publish a runbook in the Azure portal, see Manage runbooks in Azure Automation.

To import DeployTemplate.ps1 into your Automation account as a PowerShell runbook, run the following PowerShell commands:

# MyPath is the path where you saved DeployTemplate.ps1
# MyResourceGroup is the name of the Azure ResourceGroup that contains your Azure Automation account
# MyAutomationAccount is the name of your Automation account
$importParams = @{
    Path = 'C:\MyPath\DeployTemplate.ps1'
    ResourceGroupName = 'MyResourceGroup'
    AutomationAccountName = 'MyAutomationAccount'
    Type = 'PowerShell'
}
Import-AzureRmAutomationRunbook @importParams

# Publish the runbook
$publishParams = @{
    ResourceGroupName = 'MyResourceGroup'
    AutomationAccountName = 'MyAutomationAccount'
    Name = 'DeployTemplate'
}
Publish-AzureRmAutomationRunbook @publishParams

Start the runbook

Now we start the runbook by calling the Start-AzureRmAutomationRunbook cmdlet.

For information about how to start a runbook in the Azure portal, see Starting a runbook in Azure Automation.

Run the following commands in the PowerShell console:

# Set up the parameters for the runbook
$runbookParams = @{
    ResourceGroupName = 'MyResourceGroup'
    StorageAccountName = 'MyStorageAccount'
    StorageAccountKey = $key[0].Value # We got this key earlier
    StorageFileName = 'TemplateTest.json' 
}

# Set up parameters for the Start-AzureRmAutomationRunbook cmdlet
$startParams = @{
    ResourceGroupName = 'MyResourceGroup'
    AutomationAccountName = 'MyAutomationAccount'
    Name = 'DeployTemplate'
    Parameters = $runbookParams
}

# Start the runbook
$job = Start-AzureRmAutomationRunbook @startParams

The runbook runs, and you can check its status by running $job.Status.

The runbook gets the Resource Manager template and uses it to deploy a new Azure Storage account. You can see that the new storage account was created by running the following command:

Get-AzureRmStorageAccount

Summary

That's it! Now you can use Azure Automation and Azure Storage, and Resource Manager templates to deploy all your Azure resources.

Next steps