ARM Templates

One of the things I've enjoyed over the last almost 5 years of all Azure all the time is digging deep into code...specifically ARM Templates. I often make the joke that I've never been a developer in real life, but I now play a dev on TV (just like folks playing doctors on TV). The recent paradigm shift to a software defined universe sort of forced me to get better at code.

To go 1 step further, I have worked with extremely large enterprises and talked to big development teams as they realize the value of moving to the cloud. The big joke would be that I'd eventually tell them I'm not a developer and infrastructure is my background. That admission always receives a good chuckle and I rebound the conversation by saying that I had to retool my skillset now that we're no longer racking and stacking infrastructure.

So how did I do it? Well I'll be unpacking that topic quite a bit of that this year as part of my blog (plus I still feel like I'm learning, so I'll document new things I'm learning). I have also published blogs on training sites + Microsoft blogs to help folks understand how you can create automated builds for infrastructure deployment. As I start in on this topic, I wanted to provide you some awesome resources that I've used to get better at ARM Templates (plus blogs I've authored).

Microsoft Documentation Structure and Syntax of ARM Templates ARM Template Best Practices ARM Template Reference

Books Quick and Practical Guide to ARM Templates: Become Experts in Developing ARM Templates for Azure without any prior knowledge Azure Resource Manager Templates Quick Start Guide: Create, deploy, and manage Azure resources with ARM templates using best practices Courses Mastering Azure Resource Manager Azure Master Class: Manage Azure Cloud with Azure Resource Manager and ARM Templates Publications World Class ARM Templates

GitHub Repos

Azure Quickstart Templates

Learning ARM

Microsoft Learn Path Deploy and manage resources in Azure by using ARM templates

Skylines Academy Blog Series (authored by me)

An Intricate Look at ARM Templates – Part 1 – Background and History

An Intricate Look at ARM Templates – Part 2 – Prep Work and ARM Template Structure Breakdown

An Intricate Look at ARM Templates – Part 3 – Building Your First Template with Visual Studio Community

An Intricate Look at ARM Templates – Part 4 – Adding Resources to First Template

IT Ops Talk Blog Series - Replica Domain Controller (authored by me)

GitHub Code

Introduction to Building a Replica Domain Controller ARM Template

Pre-Requisites to Build a Replica Domain Controller ARM Template

Design Considerations of Building a Replica Domain Controller ARM Template

Digging into the Replica Domain Controller ARM Template Code

Desired State Configuration Extension and the Replica Domain Controller ARM Template

Desired State Configuration code: How to troubleshoot the extension

With that, you now have a lot to unpack. The beauty is you can absorb or go through what you want to in manageable chunks. If anything, I've found time management to be tough as I've grown more senior in my roles. I have also had to take on Infrastructure as Code in manageable chunks because I couldn't go through everything in an end to end fashion. Do what I did! Tackle a chapter or a video over lunch (1 a day) and I think you'll be building ARM Templates in no time!