Connect to Azure Stack Hub using Azure Account Extension in Visual Studio Code

  • Article

This article describes how to connect to Azure Stack Hub using the Azure Account extension, which enables you to use Azure directly from Visual Studio Code. You will need to update your Visual Studio Code (VS Code) settings.

VS Code is a lightweight editor for building and debug web and cloud applications. ASP.NET Core, Python, NodeJS, Go, and other developers use VS Code. With the Azure Account extension, you can use a single Azure sign-in with subscription filtering for other Azure extensions. The extension makes the Shell available in the VS Code-integrated terminal. Using the extension, you can connect to your Azure Stack Hub subscription using both Microsoft Entra ID and Active Directory Federated Services (AD FS) for your identity manager. You can sign in to Azure Stack Hub, select your subscription, and open a new command line in a shell.

Note

You can use the steps in this article for an Active Directory Federated Services (AD FS) environment. Use your AD FS credentials and endpoints.

Visual Studio Code and Azure Stack Hub

In addition to the Azure Account extension for Visual Studio, a number of other Azure extensions are supported for use with Azure Stack Hub and Visual Studio Code. These include:

Pre-requisites for Azure Account Extension

Get your credentials

In this section you will use your credentials to get your tenant ID. You will need your Azure Stack Hub resource manager URL and tenant ID.

The Azure Stack Hub Resource Manager is a management framework that allows you to deploy, manage, and monitor Azure resources.

  • The Resource Manager URL for the Azure Stack Development Kit (ASDK) is: https://management.local.azurestack.external/
  • The Resource Manager URL for an integrated system is: https://management.region.<fqdn>/, where <fqdn> is your fully qualified domain name.

  1. Open PowerShell with an elevated prompt, and run the following cmdlets:

    Add-AzEnvironment -Name "<username@contoso.com>" -ArmEndpoint "https://management.region.<fqdn>"

    Name  Resource Manager Url                            ActiveDirectory Authority
----  --------------------                            -------------------------
username@contoso.com https://management.region.<fqdn> https://login.partner.microsoftonline.cn/

  2. Run the following cmdlets in the same session:

    $AuthEndpoint = (Get-AzEnvironment -Name "sethm@microsoft.com").ActiveDirectoryAuthority.TrimEnd('/')
$AADTenantName = "masselfhost.partner.onmschina.cn"
$TenantId = (invoke-restmethod "$($AuthEndpoint)/$($AADTenantName)/.well-known/openid-configuration").issuer.TrimEnd('/').Split('/')[-1]
Add-AzAccount -EnvironmentName "sethm@microsoft.com" -TenantId $TenantId

    Account               SubscriptionName  TenantId                             Environment
-------               ----------------  --------                             -----------
username@contoso.com   azure-stack-sub  6d5ff183-b37f-4a5b-9a2f-19959cb4224a username@contoso.com

  3. Make a note of the tenant ID. You will need it when adding the JSON section that configures the Azure Account extension.

Set up the Azure Account extension

  1. Open VS Code.

  2. Select Extensions on the left-side corner.

  3. In the search box, enter Azure Account.

  4. Select Azure Account and select Install.

    Screenshot of installation screen for the extension

  5. Restart VS Code to load the extension.

  6. Press Ctrl+Shift+P, and select Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

  7. In the code editor, update the following JSON snippet with the values for your environment, and then paste snippet into the settings block.

    • Values:

      Parameter Description
      azure.cloud You must use the literal constant "AzureCustomCloud" for this parameter.
      azure.tenant The value of your Azure Stack Hub tenant ID.
      azure.customCloud.resourceManagerEndpointUrl This is the root URL for the Azure Resource Manager for Azure Stack Hub.
      validateAuthority You can leave out this parameter if you are using Microsoft Entra ID as your identity manager. Add the parameter with a value of false if you are using AD FS.

    • JSON snippet:

        "azure.cloud": "AzureCustomCloud",
  "azure.customCloud.resourceManagerEndpointUrl": "https://management.region.<fqdn>",
  "azure.tenant": "<your-tenant-ID>",

  8. Save the user settings (JSON) and use Ctrl+Shift+P once again. Select Azure: Sign in. The authentication page loads in your browser. Sign in to your endpoint.

  9. To test that you have successfully logged into your Azure Stack Hub subscription, use Ctrl+Shift+ P and select Azure: Select Subscription and see if the subscription you have is available.

Commands

Azure: Sign In Sign in to your Azure subscription
Azure: Sign In with Device Code Sign in to your Azure subscription with a device code. Use a device code in setups where the Sign In command doesn't work.
Azure: Sign In to Azure Cloud Sign in to your Azure subscription in one of the sovereign clouds.
Azure: Sign Out Sign out of your Azure subscription.
Azure: Select Subscriptions Pick the set of subscriptions you want to work with. The extension only shows resources within the filtered subscriptions.
Azure: Create an Account If you don't have an Azure Account, you can sign up.
Azure: Open Bash in Shell Open a new terminal running Bash in Shell.
Azure: Open PowerShell in Shell Open a new terminal running PowerShell in Shell.
Azure: Upload to Shell Upload a file to your Shell storage account.

Next steps

Set up a development environment in Azure Stack Hub

Set up Azure Storage in your Azure Stack Hub from Visual Studio Code