Azure Group Setup and Management Explained

Azure groups are a powerful way to manage your Azure resources.

You can create an Azure group to organize your resources by location, project, or department.

To set up an Azure group, you'll need to create a resource group, which is a container that holds related resources for an application or solution.

Azure groups can also be used to manage access and permissions for your resources, by assigning roles to users and groups.

A resource group is a container that enables you to manage related resources for an Azure solution. You can deploy, update, and delete them together.

A resource group can have up to 800 instances of a resource type, but some resource types are exempt from this limit. This is important to consider when defining your resource group.

You can add or remove a resource to a resource group at any time, and you can move a resource from one group to another. This gives you flexibility in managing your resources.

Here are some key points to consider when defining your resource group:

Management groups are also an important part of Azure organization. A single directory can support up to 10,000 management groups, and a management group tree can support up to six levels of depth.

A resource group is a container that enables you to manage related resources for an Azure solution. You can deploy an update to the resource group and have confidence that the resources are updated in a coordinated operation.

All resources in a resource group should share the same lifecycle, deployed, updated, and deleted together. If one resource needs to exist on a different deployment cycle, it should be in another resource group.

A resource group can contain up to 800 instances of a resource type, with some resource types exempt from this limit. You can check the resource group limits for more information.

You can add or remove a resource to a resource group at any time and move a resource from one resource group to another group. For more information, see Move resources to new resource group or subscription.

A resource group can be used to scope access control for administrative actions, and you can assign Azure Policies, Azure roles, or resource locks to manage it. You can also apply tags to a resource group, but the resources in the group don't inherit those tags.

Here are some key facts about resource groups:

A management group is a container that enables you to organize and manage multiple subscriptions. You can create a hierarchy of management groups to structure your subscriptions.

A single directory can support up to 10,000 management groups, and a management group tree can support up to six levels of depth. Each management group and subscription can support only one parent, but each management group can have many children.

The root management group is a special management group that serves as the top-level hierarchy for each directory. It's a fixed group that can't be moved or deleted.

Each directory has only one root management group, and it's automatically created when the directory is set up. This group is the foundation for all management groups and subscriptions within the directory.

The root management group has a default display name of "Tenant root group" and its ID is the same as the Microsoft Entra tenant ID. To change the display name, you need to have the Owner or Contributor role on the root management group.

Here are some key facts about the root management group:

Assignments of user access or policy on the root management group apply to all resources within the directory, making it an important scope to evaluate and define carefully.

Active Directory and Azure Active Directory have some key differences in their group functionality. Active Directory is mainly used in local networks.

In Active Directory, there are security groups and distribution groups. Security groups are used for access to resources. Distribution groups are used for email distribution lists.

Azure AD, on the other hand, offers security groups as well as Microsoft 365 groups, device security groups, and application security groups. Microsoft 365 groups are groups hosted in the cloud.

On-premises Active Directory objects must meet Azure AD requirements before synchronization can occur. This includes allowed characters in user names.

Changes to group memberships or user attributes are made in the on-premises Active Directory environment and then synchronized with Azure AD. This can take some getting used to for administrators.

By default, synchronization occurs every 30 minutes, but this interval may need to be adjusted depending on the organization's specific needs and environment size.

Azure Group Setup is a crucial step in organizing your resources and managing access. By default, the root management group's display name is Tenant root group, and it operates as a management group.

To set up Azure groups, you'll need to create a root management group in the directory, which will become the parent of all existing subscriptions. This ensures a single hierarchy within the directory, allowing administrative customers to apply global access and policies.

You can create a hierarchy of management groups and subscriptions to organize your resources into a logical structure. This is useful for unified policy and access management, and can be done by building a flexible structure of management groups and subscriptions.

Here are some key facts to keep in mind when setting up Azure groups:

When you create a resource group, you need to provide a location for that resource group. This is because the resource group stores metadata about the resources, and specifying a location ensures that data is stored in a particular region for compliance reasons.

The location you choose for your resource group will determine where that metadata is stored. It's recommended to select a location close to where your control operations originate, typically the one closest to your current location.

You may be wondering why a resource group needs a location, and if the resources can have different locations than the resource group. The answer is that the resource group location matters for control plane operations, which are routed through the resource group's location.

If a resource group's region is temporarily unavailable, you may not be able to update resources in the resource group because the metadata is unavailable. However, resources in other regions will still function as expected, but you may not be able to update them.

To reduce the impact of regional outages, it's recommended to locate resources in the same region as the resource group. This is because colocating your resource and resource group region reduces the risk of region unavailability.

Each directory has a single top-level management group called the root management group. This root management group is built into the hierarchy to have all management groups and subscriptions fold up to it.

The root management group allows for the application of global policies and Azure role assignments at the directory level. This means that any assignment of user access or policy on the root management group applies to all resources within the directory.

By default, the root management group's display name is Tenant root group. To change the display name, your account must have the Owner or Contributor role on the root management group.

The root management group can't be moved or deleted, unlike other management groups. All subscriptions and management groups fold up into one root management group within the directory.

Here are some key facts about the root management group:

Connecting your on-premises Active Directory to Azure AD is a crucial step in setting up Azure groups.

Synchronized groups in Azure AD typically originate in on-premises Active Directory environments.

These groups play a critical role in hybrid IT environments, enabling seamless integration between on-premises AD and Azure.

To synchronize groups and users, use tools like Azure AD Connect or Azure AD Connect Cloud Sync, which are provided by Microsoft.

These tools synchronize not only groups and users, but also passwords, improving the user experience by enabling a common identity for users locally and in the cloud.

Moving and subscriptions can be a bit tricky, but understanding the requirements can make the process much smoother. To move a child subscription or management group, you need to have role assignments applied to three things: the child subscription or management group, the target parent management group, and the current parent management group.

The root management group is a special case, though - you don't need permissions on it to move an item, since it's the default landing spot for all new management groups and subscriptions. This is because all subscriptions and management groups fold up into one root management group within the directory.

If you're moving a management group or subscription, you'll need management group write permissions and role assignment write permissions on the child subscription or management group, as well as management group write access on the target parent management group and the existing parent management group.

Here's a quick rundown of the permissions you'll need to move a management group or subscription:

Keep in mind that if the target or existing parent management group is the root management group, the permission requirements don't apply. Also, if you're directly assigned to the Owner role for the subscription, you can move it to any management group where you have the Contributor role.

Azure Group Security is a crucial aspect of Azure AD. Security groups are primarily used to grant or deny access rights to resources in Azure and its associated services.

Security groups can be used to control access to applications, SharePoint sites, or file shares. Membership in a security group can also be used to send emails to a group of users in Exchange Online.

Security groups in Azure AD differ between dynamic groups and synchronized groups.

Security in Azure AD relies heavily on security groups, which are used to grant or deny access rights to resources in Azure and its associated services.

Security groups can be used to control access to applications, such as a specific application, or to a SharePoint site, or even a file share.

Membership in a security group can be used to send emails to a group of users in Exchange Online, making it a useful tool for communication.

Security groups in Azure AD differ between dynamic groups and synchronized groups, with the "Assigned" membership type allowing admins to permanently assign users to groups.

Admins can use the "Assigned" membership type to assign users to groups, similar to Active Directory.

Azure AD uses Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage access to resources, where users or groups are assigned roles and each role has specific permissions.

You can assign Azure roles to management groups, which inherit these permissions down the hierarchy to resources. For example, assigning the Azure role VM Contributor to a management group gives users the ability to contribute to VMs under that group.

The following table shows the list of Azure roles and their supported actions on management groups:

You can define a management group as an assignable scope in an Azure custom role definition, which is available for assignment on that management group and any management group, subscription, resource group, or resource under it.

Azure Group Management is a powerful feature that allows you to organize your resources into a hierarchy for unified policy and access management. This hierarchy is built using management groups and subscriptions.

You can create a flexible structure of management groups and subscriptions to organize your resources into a hierarchy. This structure can have multiple levels, with some child management groups holding management groups, some holding subscriptions, and some holding both.

Management groups aren't currently supported in cost management features for Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) subscriptions. However, they are supported in Enterprise Agreement (EA) subscriptions.

To move a management group or subscription to be a child of another management group, you need specific permissions. These include management group write permissions and role assignment write permissions on the child subscription or management group, as well as management group write access on the target parent management group.

Here are the specific permissions required to move a management group or subscription:

If the target or existing parent management group is the root management group, the permission requirements don't apply. This is because the root management group is the default landing spot for all new management groups and subscriptions.