CLI example: Run a job and tasks with Azure Batch

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This script creates a Batch job and adds a series of tasks to the job. It also demonstrates how to monitor a job and its tasks.

If you don't have an Azure trial subscription, create an Azure trial subscription before you begin.

Prerequisites

  • If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

    • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.

    • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.

    • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Sample script

Create a Batch account in Batch service mode

#!/bin/bash

# Create a resource group.
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location chinanorth

# Create a general-purpose storage account in your resource group.
az storage account create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name mystorageaccount \
    --location chinanorth \
    --sku Standard_LRS

# Create a Batch account.
az batch account create \
    --name mybatchaccount \
    --storage-account mystorageaccount \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --location chinanorth

# Authenticate against the account directly for further CLI interaction.
az batch account login \
    --name mybatchaccount \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --shared-key-auth

# Create a new Linux pool with a virtual machine configuration. 
az batch pool create \
    --id mypool \
    --vm-size Standard_A1 \
    --target-dedicated 2 \
    --image canonical:ubuntuserver:16.04-LTS \
    --node-agent-sku-id "batch.node.ubuntu 16.04"


# Create a new job to encapsulate the tasks that are added.
az batch job create \
    --id myjob \
    --pool-id mypool

To add many tasks at once

To add many tasks at once, specify the tasks in a JSON file, and pass it to the command. For format, see https://github.com/Azure/azure-docs-cli-python-samples/blob/master/batch/run-job/tasks.json. Provide the absolute path to the JSON file. For an example JSON file, see https://github.com/Azure-Samples/azure-cli-samples/blob/master/batch/run-job/tasks.json.

az batch task create \
    --job-id myjob \
    --json-file tasks.json

To update the job

Update the job so that it is automatically marked as completed once all the tasks are finished.

az batch job set \
--job-id myjob \
--on-all-tasks-complete terminatejob

To monitor the status of the job

az batch job show --job-id myjob

To monitor the status of a task

az batch task show \
    --job-id myjob \
    --task-id task1

Clean up resources

Use the following command to remove the resource group and all resources associated with it using the az group delete command - unless you have an ongoing need for these resources. Some of these resources may take a while to create, as well as to delete.

az group delete --name myResourceGroup

Sample reference

This script uses the following commands. Each command in the table links to command-specific documentation.

Command Notes
az group create Creates a resource group in which all resources are stored.
az batch account create Creates the Batch account.
az batch account login Authenticates against the specified Batch account for further CLI interaction.
az batch pool create Creates a pool of compute nodes.
az batch job create Creates a Batch job.
az batch task create Adds a task to the specified Batch job.
az batch job set Updates properties of a Batch job.
az batch job show Retrieves details of a specified Batch job.
az batch task show Retrieves the details of a task from the specified Batch job.
az group delete Deletes a resource group including all nested resources.

Next steps

For more information on the Azure CLI, see Azure CLI documentation.