Quickstart: Create and deploy template spec

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This quickstart shows you how to package an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template) into a template spec. Then, you deploy that template spec. Your template spec contains an ARM template that deploys a storage account.

Tip

We recommend Bicep because it offers the same capabilities as ARM templates and the syntax is easier to use. To learn more, see Quickstart: Create and deploy a template spec with Bicep.

Prerequisites

An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account.

Note

To use template spec with Azure PowerShell, you must install version 5.0.0 or later. To use it with Azure CLI, use version 2.14.2 or later.

Create template

You create a template spec from a local template. Copy the following template and save it locally to a file named azuredeploy.json. This quickstart assumes you've saved to a path c:\Templates\azuredeploy.json but you can use any path.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "metadata": {
    "_generator": {
      "name": "bicep",
      "version": "0.13.1.58284",
      "templateHash": "13120038605368246703"
    }
  },
  "parameters": {
    "storageAccountType": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
      "allowedValues": [
        "Standard_LRS",
        "Standard_GRS",
        "Premium_LRS"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Storage Account type"
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The storage account location."
      }
    },
    "storageAccountName": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[format('store{0}', uniqueString(resourceGroup().id))]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the storage account"
      }
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2022-09-01",
      "name": "[parameters('storageAccountName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "sku": {
        "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {}
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "storageAccountName": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[parameters('storageAccountName')]"
    },
    "storageAccountId": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts', parameters('storageAccountName'))]"
    }
  }
}

Create template spec

The template spec is a resource type named Microsoft.Resources/templateSpecs. To create a template spec, use PowerShell, Azure CLI, the portal, or an ARM template.

  1. Create a new resource group to contain the template spec.

    New-AzResourceGroup `
  -Name templateSpecRG `
  -Location chinanorth2

  2. Create the template spec in that resource group. Give the new template spec the name storageSpec.

    New-AzTemplateSpec `
  -Name storageSpec `
  -Version "1.0" `
  -ResourceGroupName templateSpecRG `
  -Location chinanorth2 `
  -TemplateFile "c:\Templates\azuredeploy.json"

Deploy template spec

To deploy a template spec, use the same deployment commands as you would use to deploy a template. Pass in the resource ID of the template spec to deploy.

  1. Create a resource group to contain the new storage account.

    New-AzResourceGroup `
  -Name storageRG `
  -Location chinanorth2

  2. Get the resource ID of the template spec.

    $id = (Get-AzTemplateSpec -ResourceGroupName templateSpecRG -Name storageSpec -Version "1.0").Versions.Id

  3. Deploy the template spec.

    New-AzResourceGroupDeployment `
  -TemplateSpecId $id `
  -ResourceGroupName storageRG

  4. You provide parameters exactly as you would for an ARM template. Redeploy the template spec with a parameter for the storage account type.

    New-AzResourceGroupDeployment `
  -TemplateSpecId $id `
  -ResourceGroupName storageRG `
  -storageAccountType Standard_GRS

Grant access

If you want to let other users in your organization deploy your template spec, you need to grant them read access. You can assign the Reader role to a Microsoft Entra group for the resource group that contains template specs you want to share. For more information, see Tutorial: Grant a group access to Azure resources using Azure PowerShell.

Update template

Let's suppose you've identified a change you want to make to the template in your template spec. The following template is similar to your earlier template except it adds a prefix for the storage account name. Copy the following template and update your azuredeploy.json file.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "storageAccountType": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS",
      "allowedValues": [
        "Standard_LRS",
        "Standard_GRS",
        "Premium_LRS"
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Storage Account type"
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for all resources."
      }
    },
    "namePrefix": {
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 11,
      "defaultValue": "store",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Prefix for storage account name"
      }
    }
  },
  "variables": {
    "storageAccountName": "[concat(parameters('namePrefix'), uniquestring(resourceGroup().id))]"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2021-04-01",
      "name": "[variables('storageAccountName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "sku": {
        "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {}
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "storageAccountName": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[variables('storageAccountName')]"
    }
  }
}

Update template spec version

Rather than creating a new template spec for the revised template, add a new version named 2.0 to the existing template spec. Users can choose either version to deploy.

  1. Create a new version for the template spec.

    New-AzTemplateSpec `
  -Name storageSpec `
  -Version "2.0" `
  -ResourceGroupName templateSpecRG `
  -Location chinanorth2 `
  -TemplateFile "c:\Templates\azuredeploy.json"

  2. To deploy the new version, get the resource ID for the 2.0 version.

    $id = (Get-AzTemplateSpec -ResourceGroupName templateSpecRG -Name storageSpec -Version "2.0").Versions.Id

  3. Deploy that version. Provide a prefix for the storage account name.

    New-AzResourceGroupDeployment `
  -TemplateSpecId $id `
  -ResourceGroupName storageRG `
  -namePrefix "demoaccount"

Clean up resources

To clean up the resource you deployed in this quickstart, delete both resource groups that you created.

  1. From the Azure portal, select Resource group from the left menu.

  2. Enter the resource group name (templateSpecRG and storageRG) in the Filter by name field.

  3. Select the resource group name.

  4. Select Delete resource group from the top menu.

Next steps

To learn about creating a template spec that includes linked templates, see Create a template spec of a linked template.