Azure Automation is a process automation tool hosted in Azure. It provides the ability to run scripts or Runbooks in Azure, other clouds, or On-premises by a schedule or other event trigger. In addition, we can manage inventory and change tracking with Configuration Management, keep computers up to date with Update Management, and share resources such as modules, schedules, and credentials with share resources.
Continue reading “Introduction to Azure Automation (again)”
I try to find a useful example that demonstrates functionality when I create these posts and videos. Unfortunately, with Override files in Terraform, that was not so easy. As a matter of fact, you may never need to use override files at all, except for some specific situations we’ll get to shortly. With that said, Override files are another tool in the Terraform toolbelt and something you should be aware of if planning on a Terraform certification.
Continue reading “Override File in Terraform and Azure”Resources in Terraform are deployed as top-level resources. A server or App Service plan for example. These top-level resources include inline, or sub-resources; blocks of code that configure the top-level resource. In this blog post and video, we use a Network Security Group (NSG) as a Dynamic block example by creating multiple security rules as inline or sub-resources.
Continue reading “Dynamic Blocks in Terraform with Azure”Until now, we have developed our Infrastructure code as a single developer. As a result, our state file is created and maintained on the local development computer. This is fine for a team of one, but having multiple versions of a state file can become an issue as others join in. This post and accompanying video examines using a remote backend state on Azure Storage to host shared state files.
Continue reading “Remote Backend State with Terraform and Azure Storage”Use Terraform long enough, and eventually, we’ll need to use an existing resource not managed by Terraform as part of the deployment. A typical example is deploying a network-enabled resource, a virtual machine, for instance, to an existing virtual network. This post and accompanying video demonstrate using an existing Azure resource as part of a Terraform deployment.
Continue reading “Use Existing Resources with Data Sources in Terraform and Azure”
Microsoft Flow in Office 365 and Logic Apps in Azure are both options for graphically driven process automation. With a graphical interface and a flowchart-like design, Microsoft Flow and Logic Apps make automation about as simple as it can get. These two applications are similar but different in some important ways. This article goes over the difference between the two to help understand the best situation to deploy each.
Continue reading “Flow in Office 365 Vs. Logic Apps in Azure”
In this video I go over the two methods of starting a runbook from another runbook. This is referred to as a parent child runbook relationship that facilitates a modular approach to creating runbooks. I go over the two different ways to start a child runbook, by Inline Execution and with the Start-AzureRMAutomationRunbook cmdlet. Continue reading “Parent Child Runbooks and Shared Variables with Azure Automation”
In this video I demonstrate how to create and run Azure Automation PowerShell Runbooks from the Azure Portal. This includes editing, publishing and scheduling runbooks. I also walk through the setup and use of the Azure Automation PowerShell ISE Add-on. This module adds a graphical interface in PowerShell ISE for creating, testing and publishing Powershell and PowerShell Workflow Runbooks. More information on the ISE add-on here. Continue reading “Create and Run PowerShell Runbooks in Azure Automation”