Perform bulk updates

Mastering this skill is crucial for managing resources efficiently in the Azure environment. This article will walk you through the various ways you can perform bulk updates in Azure, mainly using Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.

I. The Use of Azure PowerShell for Bulk Operations

Azure PowerShell is a set of cmdlets for managing Azure resources directly from the PowerShell command line. PowerShell provides full access to all the functionalities provided by Azure’s RESTful API.

To get started, you need to have Azure PowerShell installed and then sign in with your Azure account using the Connect-AzAccount command. Once signed in, you can then perform a number of bulk operations.

Here’s an example of using Azure PowerShell to bulk update multiple app service settings:

$webApps= Get-AzResource –ResourceType “Microsoft.Web/sites”
$webApps | ForEach-Object {
Set-AzWebApp -ResourceGroupName $_.ResourceGroupName -Name $_.Name `
-AppSettings @{“KEY1” = “VALUE1”; “KEY2” = “VALUE2”}
}

In this script, the Get-AzResource cmdlet gets all web apps in your Azure subscription (`$webApps`), loops through each one (`ForEach-Object`), and updates the `AppSettings` using the `Set-AzWebApp` cmdlet to the defined values.

II. Utilizing Azure CLI

Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is another efficient way to manage Azure resources. It is designed to make scripting easy, reliable, and predictable.

Here’s an example of how to perform bulk operations using Azure CLI with iterating over several resources. Let’s update the tags of all VMs in a specific resource group:

az login
vms=$(az vm list -g YourResourceGroup –query “[].{name:name}” -o tsv)
for vm in $vms
do
az vm update –name $vm –resource-group YourResourceGroup –set tags.TagName=TagValue
done

The script first lists all the VMs in the given resource group. It then uses a `for` loop to iterate through the VM names and update the `tags` property of each VM.

III. Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates

ARM templates are a great way to set up resources on Azure. They are declarative JSON files that define the resources you need.

For bulk updating, you can deploy resources with specific configurations using ARM templates. If a resource with the same name already exists in your Azure Resource Group, the deployed template will update the existing resources with the new settings defined in the ARM template.

Here’s an example of an ARM template that updates a Storage Account’s properties:

{
“$schema”: “https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#”,
“contentVersion”: “1.0.0.0”,
“parameters”: {
“storageAccounts_name”: {
“defaultValue”: “examplestorage”,
“type”: “String”
}
},
“resources”: [
{
“type”: “Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts”,
“apiVersion”: “2021-04-01”,
“name”: “[parameters(‘storageAccounts_name’)]”,
“location”: “[resourceGroup().location]”,
“sku”: {
“name”: “Standard_GRS”
}
}
]
}

The template is structured in such a way that if a Storage Account with the same name (`examplestorage`) but a different `sku.name` exists in the target resource group, the `sku.name` will be updated to `Standard_GRS`.

To sum up, when it comes to Azure management, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, and ARM templates are your main tools to perform bulk operations such as updates or changes on your Azure resources effectively.

For aspiring candidates of AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator exam, an understanding of the use of these tools is essential to not only pass the exam but also to perform efficient and streamlined Azure administration. Keep practicing on each of these, the more comfortable you become, the better your command will get in handling an Azure environment.

Practice Test

True or False: Microsoft Azure does not support bulk updates.

• True
• False

Answer: False

Explanation: Azure does have capabilities for handling bulk data modifications efficiently and in flexible ways using the appropriate APIs and services.

Upon performing a bulk update of Azure Virtual Machines, can you change the virtual network a virtual machine is linked to?

• Yes
• No

Answer: No

Explanation: For Azure Virtual Machines, you can’t change the virtual network they are connected to, even in a bulk update operation.

Which among the following services can be used to perform bulk updates in Azure?

• a) Azure Data Factory
• b) Azure Media Services
• c) Azure Service Bus

Answer: a) Azure Data Factory

Explanation: Azure Data Factory is used for big data analytics and can also be used to perform ETL (Extract, Transfer, Load) operations including bulk updates.

The Update management feature can be used for performing updates on a large number of machines in Azure.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: a) True

Explanation: Azure Update management feature can manage the process of configuring and managing updates for all OS types in Azure cloud environment.

What types of bulk updates can you perform in Azure for cloud services?

• a) Update hardware settings
• b) Update application settings
• c) Both of the above

Answer: b) Update application settings

Explanation: While you can perform bulk updates for many aspects in Azure cloud services, you cannot perform bulk updates for hardware settings.

Azure Batch service can be used to run an application in parallel across many processing resources.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: a) True

Explanation: Azure Batch is designed to execute applications in parallel and at high performance levels, often part of massive updates operations.

You can roll back a bulk update in Microsoft Azure.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: b) False

Explanation: Azure does not provide a direct rollback mechanism for bulk updates. Proper planning and checkpointing are essential before performing bulk updates.

Azure CLI is used for automated test runs and bulk updates deployment in Azure environment.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: a) True

Explanation: Azure Command Line Interface (CLI) is a command line tool which supports scripting language commands to automate Azure tasks including bulk updates.

It is not possible to perform bulk updates to Azure DevTest Labs services.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: b) False

Explanation: It is possible to perform bulk updates in Azure DevTest Labs using APIs provided by the service.

Automated bulk updates via scripts can be executed on an Azure Active Directory.

• a) True
• b) False

Answer: a) True

Explanation: Azure Active Directory supports batch operations or bulk updates via REST APIs and scripts.

Interview Questions

What is the Azure PowerShell command used for performing bulk updates?

The “Update-AzVM” command is used in Azure PowerShell for performing bulk updates on virtual machines.

True or false: Azure CLI can be used to perform bulk updates?

True, Azure CLI can be used for performing bulk updates.

In Azure, how does the bulk update of Network Security Group (NSG) rules be performed?

Bulk updates NSG rules can be done using network command-line tools, Azure PowerShell, or the Azure portal.

Which method to perform bulk updates would be most suitable for someone comfortable working with Graphical User Interface?

Azure portal would be the most suitable method for someone comfortable working with GUI as it allows for bulk updates via the Resource Explorer.

Which tool does Azure provide to execute bulk data modifications on SQL database units?

Azure provides the Bulk copy program (bcp) to execute bulk data modifications on SQL database units.

How can you perform bulk updates on Azure Cosmos DB?

Bulk updates on Azure Cosmos DB can be performed using transactional batches in the .NET SDK or bulk executor library.

Can you perform bulk updates on resources in Azure Resource Manager?

Yes, performing bulk updates on resources in Azure Resource Manager can be done using Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI or the Azure portal.

Is it possible to perform bulk updates in Azure through REST API endpoints?

Yes, Azure offers REST API endpoints for different services that allow for bulk updates, examples include Azure Batch and Azure Data Factory.

What is a necessary prerequisite when using Azure data factory for performing data bulk operations?

The necessary prerequisite when using Azure Data Factory for data bulk operations is the creation of data pipelines.

When performing bulk updates, what is considered good practice?

When performing bulk updates, it’s considered good practice to test the updates in the lowest environment first to identify potential issues prior to applying the update to all data.

Aside from PowerShell and CLI, which other Azure service allows for performing bulk updates using a script?

Azure Cloud Shell also allows performing bulk updates using a script.

What Azure Blob Storage component facilitates bulk operations?

The Azure Blob Storage offers the Azure Storage Data Movement library which is designed for high-performance uploading, downloading, and copying Azure Storage.

Is it possible to perform bulk updates using Azure portal?

Yes, bulk updates can be executed through the Azure portal, although they might be less efficient than using command-line tools for large-scale changes.

Can Azure Batch be used for bulk updates?

Yes, Azure Batch can be used to run large-scale parallel and high-performance computing (HPC) applications efficiently in the cloud.

Are bulk operations supported Azure Table storage?

Yes, Azure Table storage supports batch operations which permit up to 100 operations in a single batch.