Azure Blueprints is a powerful tool for managing and enforcing governance across your Azure resources. It allows you to create a repeatable and consistent deployment process.
By using Azure Blueprints, you can simplify the process of setting up and managing your Azure resources, and ensure that they meet your organization's security and compliance requirements. Azure Blueprints provides a centralized location for storing and managing your blueprints, making it easier to track and manage changes.
Azure Blueprints can be used to deploy a wide range of Azure resources, including virtual machines, storage accounts, and networks. By using Azure Blueprints, you can ensure that your Azure resources are deployed consistently and in compliance with your organization's policies.
What Is Azure Blueprints?
Azure Blueprints is a service that allows you to package all the components of your deployment together, making it super easy to "stamp" your blueprint on any environment.
This service is designed to facilitate the rapid and consistent deployment of Azure resources that conform to an organisation's specific standards and requirements.
Without Azure Blueprints, deployment processes can take a long time because every team wants to sign-off on your deployment, making it difficult to replicate.
Azure Blueprints provides a structured way to implement governance and set up complex environments efficiently, using a collection of predefined templates known as "Blueprints".
Key Concepts
Azure blueprints offer a repeatable and consistent approach to provisioning and managing infrastructure.
They provide a way to capture and apply a set of configurations and policies to multiple environments.
This helps to ensure consistency and reduces errors in deployment.
With blueprints, you can define a template for your infrastructure, including virtual networks, subnets, and security groups.
This template can then be applied to different environments, such as development, testing, and production.
This helps to streamline the deployment process and reduce the time it takes to set up new environments.
Functions
Functions are an essential part of Azure Blueprints, allowing you to create complex expressions in your blueprint definitions and artifacts.
We support a variety of functions, including concat() and parameters(), which can be used to perform specific tasks.
For example, you can use the concat() function to concatenate strings, making it easier to create custom expressions.
The Functions for use with Azure Blueprints doc provides a full reference of functions and their usage, so be sure to check it out for more information.
Push the Definition
Pushing the definition to Azure can be a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze.
You should see a new blueprint definition in Azure after running the command. This is where the magic happens, and your blueprint starts to take shape.
Missing a required property will result in a 400 bad request. This could be due to a variety of reasons, so make sure your blueprint and artifacts have all the necessary properties.
Parameters in an artifact must be found in the main blueprint file. If you're using a parameter in an artifact, ensure it's defined in the main blueprint.json.
PolicyDefinitionId or RoleDefinitionId does not exist, and it's causing issues. If you're referencing a custom policy or custom role, double-check that it exists at or above the management group where the blueprint is saved.
Here are some common errors to watch out for:
- Missing a required property
- Parameters in an artifact are not found in the main blueprint file
- PolicyDefinitionId or roleDefinitionId does not exist
These errors can be frustrating, but knowing what to look out for can save you a lot of time and headache.
Blueprint Structure
Azure blueprints are a powerful tool for managing and governing your Azure resources. They allow you to define a repeatable and consistent deployment process.
A blueprint is essentially a template that outlines the resources and configuration required for a specific solution or application. This template includes the necessary parameters, such as subscription and resource group, to ensure that the deployment is accurate and reliable.
By using blueprints, you can deploy resources in a standardized way, reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
Structure of Artifacts
A blueprint consists of the main blueprint json file and a series of artifact json files.
All artifacts share common properties, including the Kind, which can be Type and properties that define the artifact itself.
The Kind for each artifact type is always Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/artifacts.
Some properties of properties are common, while others are specific to each type.
You can use the New-AzBlueprintArtifact cmdlet to convert a standard ARM template into a blueprint artifact.
Here's a breakdown of the Kind property:
This is useful for understanding the structure of your artifacts and how they fit into the overall blueprint.
Permissions
Permissions play a crucial role in Azure Blueprints, and understanding them is essential to successfully using the feature. To use blueprints, you must be granted permissions through Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC).
Your account must have read access to the scope where the blueprint definition is located to read or view a blueprint in the Azure portal. To create blueprints, your account needs specific permissions, including Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/write, Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/artifacts/write, and Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/versions/write.
The blueprint definition permissions must be granted or inherited on the management group or subscription scope where it is saved. To delete blueprints, your account needs Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/delete, Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/artifacts/delete, and Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprints/versions/delete permissions.
Assigning or unassigning a blueprint requires Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprintAssignments/write and Microsoft.Blueprint/blueprintAssignments/delete permissions, respectively. These permissions must be granted on a subscription scope or be inherited onto a subscription scope.
Azure provides built-in roles that include blueprint-related permissions. Here are some of the built-in roles and their descriptions:
If the built-in roles don't fit your security needs, consider creating a custom role.
Blueprint Parameters
Blueprint parameters are variables that can be used to input custom values during the Blueprint Assignment. These parameters can be configured for different aspects, such as the size of Virtual Machines, the network range, or database capacities.
You can define parameters in the main blueprint file and reference them in any artifact. Parameters can be used to pass values to ARM templates, policies, or initiatives. They can also be used to define a pre-determined value for all uses of the blueprint or to enable that decision to be made at the time of assignment.
Parameters can be displayed differently during assignment in the Azure Portal, depending on how they are referenced. If a parameter is used by multiple artifacts, it will be displayed as a blueprint parameter. If it's used by a single artifact, it will be displayed only in the context of that artifact.
Parameters
Parameters are a crucial part of Azure Blueprints, allowing you to input custom values during the Blueprint Assignment.
You can pass parameters to either a policy/initiative or an ARM template when adding an artifact to a blueprint, giving you the flexibility to decide whether to provide a defined value for each blueprint assignment or to allow each blueprint assignment to provide a value at assignment time.
A blueprint can have its own parameters, but these can currently only be created if a blueprint is generated from the REST API instead of through the Portal.
Parameters are defined in the main blueprint file and can be referenced in any artifact.
You can use the same properties you can in an ARM template like defaultValue, allowedValues, etc. when defining parameters.
Parameters are displayed during assignment in the Azure Portal according to how they are referenced, whether it's as a blueprint parameter or in the context of a single artifact.
The use of parameters significantly enhances the Blueprint's flexibility and reusability, allowing the same Blueprint to be tailored to suit different environments or needs without altering the underlying logic or structure.
If a parameter is used by multiple artifacts, it will be displayed as a blueprint parameter.
Lock Foundational Resources
Locking foundational resources is a crucial step in maintaining the integrity of your blueprint. This involves limiting access to key infrastructure that's shared across subscriptions, as explained in Example 1.
Avoiding unwanted changes and misconfigurations is essential, even by subscription owners, to prevent affecting multiple applications. This can be achieved by configuring exceptions to match your specific needs.
Resource locking allows you to protect resources that your blueprint is governing. This ensures that no unauthorized changes can occur, safeguarding the stability of your infrastructure.
By locking foundational resources, you can prevent unwanted changes and misconfigurations from affecting multiple applications. This is especially important for shared infrastructure across subscriptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is replacing Azure Blueprints?
Azure Blueprints is being replaced by Template Specs and Deployment Stacks, which provide a more flexible and scalable way to manage and deploy resources. Migrate your existing blueprints to these new formats by July 11, 2026, to ensure continued functionality.
Sources
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/blueprints/overview
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/blueprints
- https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/itopstalkblog/azure-blueprints-vs-azure-resource-manager-template-specs/2176909
- https://github.com/Azure/azure-blueprints
- https://www.theknowledgeacademy.com/blog/azure-blueprints/
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