Microsoft Azure Tutorial

A guide to Microsoft Azure, from first login to production-ready cloud architecture.

Who This Is For

• Developers moving workloads to the cloud
• DevOps engineers working with Azure infrastructure
• Software architects designing cloud-native systems
• Anyone preparing for Azure certifications (AZ-900, AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-305)

Contents

Foundations

1. Introduction - What is Azure, cloud concepts, global infrastructure
2. Getting Started - Account setup, Azure CLI, Portal, Cloud Shell

Compute & Storage

3. Compute - VMs, App Service, AKS, Container Instances
4. Storage - Blob, File, Queue, and Table Storage

Networking & Security

5. Networking - VNets, NSGs, Load Balancer, Application Gateway, DNS
6. Databases - Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL
7. Identity & Security - Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, Key Vault, Defender

Modern Architecture

8. Serverless - Azure Functions, Logic Apps, Event Grid, Event Hub
9. DevOps & CI/CD - Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Container Registry
10. Monitoring - Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics
11. Architecture & Best Practices - Well-Architected Framework, cost optimization

How to Use This Tutorial

1. Read sequentially for a full learning path
2. Jump to specific topics if you need a quick reference
3. Follow the CLI examples. Hands-on practice beats reading alone
4. Build something real after each chapter, even a small resource you delete afterwards

Quick Reference

Essential Azure CLI Commands

# Install Azure CLI (macOS)
brew install azure-cli

# Install Azure CLI (Ubuntu/Debian)
curl -sL https://aka.ms/InstallAzureCLIDeb | sudo bash

# Log in
az login

# List subscriptions
az account list --output table

# Set active subscription
az account set --subscription "<subscription-name-or-id>"

# List resource groups
az group list --output table

# Create a resource group
az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

# List all resources in a group
az resource list --resource-group myResourceGroup --output table

# Delete a resource group (and everything in it)
az group delete --name myResourceGroup --yes --no-wait

Quick Cheat Sheet

Learning Path Suggestions

Cloud Beginner (1 week)

1. Introduction (chapter 1): understand cloud fundamentals
2. Getting Started (chapter 2): get hands-on with the Portal and CLI
3. Compute (chapter 3): deploy your first VM and App Service
4. Storage (chapter 4): upload and serve files
5. Networking (chapter 5): understand VNets and NSGs

Developer Focus (3-4 days)

1. Getting Started (chapter 2)
2. Compute → App Service section (chapter 3)
3. Databases (chapter 6)
4. Serverless (chapter 8)
5. DevOps (chapter 9)

DevOps / Infra Focus (3-4 days)

1. Getting Started (chapter 2)
2. Compute → VMs and AKS (chapter 3)
3. Networking (chapter 5)
4. Identity & Security (chapter 7)
5. Monitoring (chapter 10)
6. Architecture & Best Practices (chapter 11)

Certification Prep

Additional Resources

• Azure Documentation
• Azure Architecture Center
• Azure Pricing Calculator
• Microsoft Learn: free interactive labs
• Azure CLI Reference
• Azure Status Dashboard