Deploying Multiple Instances of a Storage Account using an ARM templates

INTRODUCTION

To investigate how to install multiple instances of a storage account in Azure using Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates and Azure CLI in this article. Azure CLI is a command-line tool for administering Azure resources. In contrast, ARM templates are JSON files that provide the setup and infrastructure for your Azure resources.

PROCEDURE

Step 1: Set Up the Resource Group
1.To create a resource group that organizes your resources. Run the following command in Azure CLI:

az group create -n storage-rg -l "eastus"

2.To verify the resource group was created, list all resource groups:

az group list -o table

Step 2: Create an ARM Template
Create an ARM template (e.g., storage.json) to define the storage accounts. Below is an example template that deploys multiple storage accounts using the copy element:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
      "apiVersion": "2023-01-01",
      "name": "[concat('mystorage', copyIndex())]",
      "location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
      "sku": {
        "name": "Standard_LRS"
      },
      "kind": "StorageV2",
      "properties": {},
      "copy": {
        "name": "storageCopy",
        "count": 3
      }
    }
  ]
}

This template creates 3 storage accounts with similar names

Step 3: Deploy the ARM Template
Use the following command to deploy the template:

az deployment group create --resource-group storage-rg --template-file storage.json

This command deploys the resources defined in storage.json to the storage-rg resource group.

Step 4: Verify the Deployment
Once the deployment is complete, you can check the storage accounts in the Azure portal or use Azure CLI to list them:

az storage account list --resource-group miRG -o table

Step 5: Export the Resource Group Configuration
If you want to export the current configuration of your resource group as an ARM template, use:

az group export --name storage-rg --output json > exported-storage.json

This exports the resource group’s configuration to a file named exported-storage.json.

CONCLUSION

This article demonstrates creating a resource group using Azure CLI, creating an ARM template for multiple storage accounts, deploying the template, and exporting the configuration as an ARM template.