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Advanced use of az-cli in bash, zsh, and nushell (2025)

This guide demonstrates advanced scripting with the Azure CLI (az) in Bash, Zsh, and Nushell, following 2025 best practices. Real-life DevOps scenarios are included for each shell.

Bash Examples (2025 Best Practices)

If-Then-Else: Check if variable is null

if [[ -n "$resourceGroup" ]]; then
  echo "$resourceGroup"
else
  resourceGroup="msdocs-learn-bash-$randomIdentifier"
fi

Create or Delete a Resource Group

# Create if not exists
if ! az group exists --name "$resourceGroup" | grep -q true; then
  az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location"
else
  echo "$resourceGroup already exists"
fi

# Delete if exists
if az group exists --name "$resourceGroup" | grep -q true; then
  az group delete --name "$resourceGroup" -y # --no-wait
else
  echo "The $resourceGroup resource group does not exist"
fi

Grep: Create if not exists

az group list --query "[].name" -o tsv | grep -Fxq "$resourceGroup" || az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location"

Case Statement

var=$(az group list --query "[].name" -o tsv)
case "$var" in
  *"$resourceGroup"*)
    echo "$resourceGroup already exists.";;
  *)
    az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location";;
esac

Zsh Examples

Null/Unset Variable Check (Zsh idiomatic)

if [[ -n "$resourceGroup" ]]; then
  print "$resourceGroup"
else
  resourceGroup="msdocs-learn-zsh-$RANDOM"
fi

Create Resource Group if Not Exists

if ! az group exists --name "$resourceGroup" | grep -q true; then
  az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location"
else
  print "$resourceGroup already exists"
fi

Using Parameter Expansion for Defaults

: "${resourceGroup:=msdocs-learn-zsh-$RANDOM}"

Nushell Examples

Check and Create Resource Group

let resourceGroup = ("$env.resourceGroup" | default "msdocs-learn-nu-($random)")
if (az group exists --name $resourceGroup | from json | get value) == false {
  az group create --name $resourceGroup --location $location | from json
} else {
  print "Resource group $resourceGroup already exists"
}

List and Filter Resource Groups

az group list | from json | where name == $resourceGroup | is-empty | if $in {
  az group create --name $resourceGroup --location $location | from json
} else {
  print "Resource group $resourceGroup already exists"
}

Real-Life DevOps Scenarios

1. Automated Environment Provisioning (Bash/Zsh)

# .envrc (for direnv)
export resourceGroup="devops-rg-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
export location="westeurope"

direnv allow

# Provision if not exists
if ! az group exists --name "$resourceGroup" | grep -q true; then
  az group create --name "$resourceGroup" --location "$location"
fi

2. Multi-Cloud Scripting (Nushell)

let clouds = ["azure", "aws", "gcp"]
for cloud in $clouds {
  if $cloud == "azure" {
    az group list | from json | get name
  } else if $cloud == "aws" {
    aws ec2 describe-instances | from json | get Reservations
  } else if $cloud == "gcp" {
    gcloud compute instances list --format=json | from json | get name
  }
}

Best Practices (2025)

  • Always quote variables to avoid word splitting
  • Use --output json or from json for reliable parsing
  • Prefer parameter expansion for defaults in zsh
  • Use direnv and .envrc for environment isolation
  • For complex logic, prefer structured shells like Nushell

References