Installing the Azure module
In order to administrate a Microsoft Azure Cloud environment with Powershell the additionally required Azure module must be downloaded from Microsoft and installed on your local (=premise) computer. In this chapter, this easy and straight-forward process is going to be demonstrated on a Windows 8.1 machine.
1. Download
The required sources for the Azure module are available at http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/ for free.
2. Installation
3. Start Powershell with the Azure module
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If you use your default PowerShell version, there are almost no drawbacks to using the Azure version if the Azure module has been installed correctly. This is because Powershell takes only a fraction of a second to load the Azure module once it is needed for the first time. Of course, the following line could be added to your profile
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Import-Module Azure Import-Module "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\PowerShell\ServiceManagement\Azure\Azure.psd1" |
even to avoid that fraction of a second delay.
Once the Azure module has been loaded successfully, it is still a good idea to check the new available Azure cmdlets with
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Set-StrictMode -Version "2.0"
Clear-Host
$AzureCmdlets = (Get-Command -Module Azure *)
$AzureHelp = Foreach ($AzureCmdlet in $AzureCmdLets){
Get-Help $AzureCmdlet.Name | Select Name,Synopsis
}
#Output
$AzureHelp
$AzureHelp | Out-File -FilePath "C:\temp\AzureHelp.txt"
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#possible result
Name Synopsis
---- --------
Add-AzureEnvironment Creates an Azure environment
Confirm-AzureStorSimpleLegacyVolumeContainerStatus Initiates the commit or rollback ...
Disable-AzureWebsiteApplicationDiagnostic Disables the website's application ...
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Before one of these Azure cmdlets can be applied in a script, a connection to a subscription in the Azure Cloud must be established. The two possibilities for establishing a connection will be shown in the following chapter in detail.