Advantages of Azure Powershell over Azure CLI

Azure PowerShell and Azure CLI are both powerful tools that can be used to manage resources in the Azure cloud platform. While both tools have their own unique advantages, Azure PowerShell has several key benefits that make it a popular choice among Azure administrators.

One of the main advantages of Azure PowerShell is its ability to provide deep integration with the Azure platform. Azure PowerShell includes a wide range of cmdlets (command-line functions) that can be used to perform almost any task in Azure. This includes everything from creating and managing virtual machines to configuring networking and security.

Another advantage of Azure PowerShell is its support for automation. Azure administrators can use Azure PowerShell to write scripts that automate complex tasks, which can save time and reduce the risk of errors. Azure PowerShell scripts can also be run on a schedule, making it easy to automate routine maintenance tasks.

In addition to automation, Azure PowerShell also offers advanced features such as the ability to work with Azure Resource Manager templates. These templates allow administrators to define and deploy complex Azure environments using a simple JSON-based syntax. This can be particularly useful for organizations that need to deploy and manage multiple Azure resources in a consistent and repeatable way.

Finally, Azure PowerShell has a large and active community of users, which means there is a wealth of documentation, examples, and support available online. This can make it easier for administrators to learn and use Azure PowerShell, and to get help when they run into issues.

While Azure CLI is also a useful tool for managing Azure resources, it does not offer the same level of integration or advanced features as Azure PowerShell. For these reasons, many Azure administrators prefer to use Azure PowerShell for their day-to-day management tasks.

In conclusion, Azure PowerShell is a powerful and versatile tool that offers many advantages for managing Azure resources. Its deep integration with the Azure platform, support for automation, and advanced features make it a popular choice among Azure administrators.

Comments

[holger]

Thanks for this article! I believe the thing that also makes Azure PowerShell so powerful is that it is so intuitive because it is... PowerShell. :-) I don't want to miss my Where-Object or simple way of creating objects and put them out as whatever format is required, create functions or put the code into an Azure Function even. PowerShell is just making it so easy. Unfortunately (but understandably), Azure CLI and PowerShell are both lagging the capabilities of the Azure REST API. This makes sense and is also the case with any of the available SDKs, but for me this means from time to time that I have to write my own PowerShell functions to work with the latest Azure REST API capabilities.
Also (again, understandably), PowerShell and Azure CLI use a subscription-based context. I can write scripts that work well against a few subscription but does not scale well when running against hundreds or thousands of subscriptions. In those cases, working directly with the Azure REST API (through PowerShell's Invoke-RestMethod maybe :-) ) has significant performance improvements.