Post
Ask Question

Azure Bicep: Power of Variables for Efficient Deployment

Introduction

Hello everyone! We’ve been on an exciting journey exploring Azure Bicep. We’ve seen what it is, and how it compares to ARM templates, set up our environment, dived into its syntax, and explored parameters, and resources. Today, we’re going to take another step forward. We’ll explore one of the key components of Azure Bicep - Variables. So, let’s get started.

Logging in to Azure

Before we start, let’s ensure we’re logged into Azure. Here’s how you can do it.

  1. Open your terminal or command prompt: You can use any terminal or command prompt that you’re comfortable with.
  2. Log in to Azure: Use the az login command to log in to Azure. 
    # Log in to Azure
az login
  3. Set your subscription: Use the az account set command to set your subscription. 
    # Set your subscription
az account set --subscription "YourSubscriptionName"

Azure Bicep Variables

Variables in Azure Bicep are like the constants in your Bicep file. They allow you to define a value once and use it in multiple places in your Bicep file. This makes your Bicep files more flexible and reusable.

You can define a variable using the var keyword. Here’s an example.

var location = 'westus';

In this example, location is a variable with a value of ‘westus’. This variable can be used in the location property of a resource.

Here’s an example of a Bicep file that uses a variable.

param storageAccountName string = 'mystorageaccount'

var location = 'westus'

resource storageAccount 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts@2021-04-01' = {
  name: storageAccountName
  location: location
  sku: {
    name: 'Standard_LRS'
  }
  kind: 'StorageV2'
}

In this example, the location property of the storage account resource is set to the location variable.

Conclusion

Well done! You’ve just learned how to use variables in Azure Bicep. Variables are a powerful feature that allows you to define a value once and use it in multiple places in your Bicep file. In our next session, we’ll explore outputs in Azure Bicep. So, stay tuned and keep learning!


Similar Articles