Ansible Azure Resource Manager — VMs and Resources

Introduction

VMs and Resources. Automate Azure infrastructure with Ansible using the azure.azcollection collection. This guide covers authentication, resource creation, management, and cleanup with practical playbook examples.

Prerequisites

# Install the Azure collection
ansible-galaxy collection install azure.azcollection

# Install Python dependencies
pip install boto3 botocore  # AWS
# pip install azure-identity azure-mgmt-compute  # Azure
# pip install google-auth google-cloud-compute  # GCP

Authentication

# Method 1: Environment variables (recommended for CI/CD)
# export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-key
# export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret

# Method 2: Ansible variables (use Vault for secrets)
---
- name: Azure automation
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  vars:
    region: us-east-1
  environment:
    AWS_REGION: "{{ region }}"

Create Resources

---
- name: Provision Azure infrastructure
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  gather_facts: false
  vars:
    project_name: myapp
    environment: production
    region: us-east-1

  tasks:
    - name: Create Azure resources
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Provisioning {{ project_name }} in {{ environment }}"

    - name: Tag all resources
      ansible.builtin.set_fact:
        common_tags:
          Project: "{{ project_name }}"
          Environment: "{{ environment }}"
          ManagedBy: ansible

Manage Resources

    - name: List existing resources
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Managing Azure resources for {{ project_name }}"

    - name: Ensure security groups exist
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Security group configuration for {{ environment }}"

Resource Lifecycle

    - name: Update resources
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Updating {{ project_name }} resources"
      tags: update

    - name: Delete resources (use with caution)
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Destroying {{ project_name }} resources"
      tags: [destroy, never]

Variables Structure

# group_vars/azure/main.yml
azure_region: us-east-1
azure_instance_type: t3.medium
azure_image: ami-0123456789abcdef0

# group_vars/azure/vault.yml (encrypted)
azure_access_key: !vault |
  $ANSIBLE_VAULT;1.2;AES256
  ...

Dynamic Inventory

# inventory/azure.yml
plugin: azure.azcollection.aws_ec2
regions:
  - us-east-1
  - eu-west-1
filters:
  tag:ManagedBy: ansible
keyed_groups:
  - key: tags.Environment
    prefix: env
  - key: instance_type
    prefix: type
compose:
  ansible_host: public_ip_address

Error Handling

    - name: Provision with retry
      block:
        - name: Create resource
          ansible.builtin.debug:
            msg: "Creating Azure resource"
          register: resource_result
          retries: 3
          delay: 10
          until: resource_result is not failed

      rescue:
        - name: Cleanup on failure
          ansible.builtin.debug:
            msg: "Rolling back Azure changes"

      always:
        - name: Log result
          ansible.builtin.debug:
            msg: "Provisioning complete"

CI/CD Integration

# .github/workflows/deploy-azure.yml
name: Deploy to Azure
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          pip install ansible azure-azcollection
          ansible-galaxy collection install azure.azcollection
      - name: Run playbook
        run: ansible-playbook deploy.yml
        env:
          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_KEY }}
          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET }}

Cost Management

    - name: Check for unused resources
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Audit Azure resources for cost optimization"
      tags: audit

    - name: Schedule resource shutdown (dev environments)
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "Shutting down dev resources for cost savings"
      when: environment == "development"
      tags: cost_savings

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Authentication failed	Check environment variables or vault credentials
Region not found	Verify region name matches Azure naming
Rate limit exceeded	Add `retries` and `delay` to tasks
Resource already exists	Use `state: present` for idempotent operations
Timeout on creation	Increase `wait_timeout` parameter

Best Practices

Use dynamic inventory — auto-discover resources instead of static lists
Tag everything — consistent tags enable filtering and cost tracking
Encrypt credentials with Ansible Vault — never commit plaintext keys
Use check mode for dry runs: --check --diff
Implement state management — track what Ansible created for cleanup
Separate environments — different inventories for dev/staging/production

Conclusion

Ansible with the azure.azcollection collection provides infrastructure-as-code for Azure. Combine dynamic inventory, encrypted credentials, and CI/CD pipelines for fully automated cloud management. Start with the examples above and expand based on your infrastructure needs.