How can I download template json for an Azure Resource Group that I created in the portal?

Question

I am trying to find a way to retrieve the JSON version of an Azure Resource Group that I created in the portal. I\'ve looked through all the PowerShell documentation, tried

Answer 1

While it is possible to retrieve the JSON for a resource group from the Azure Resource Explorer, there are some caveats you need to be aware of.

Resource Explorer is a tool that describes the current runtime configuration rather than the deployment configuration that a resource template does. While it is primarily the same language there are a number of subtle differences.

For instance resource explorer will tell you the IP address that is assigned to a NIC, which isn't something that is possible to assign from a template.

While they can be a good starting point for building resource templates you will need to go through them and clean out the extraneous information.

Personally my three calling points in building resource templates are

• Azure Resource Explorer

• Azure Quickstart Templates

• Azure Resource Manager Schemas

Between the three of those you can usually put together some concise, powerful templates.

There is a feedback item that is 'under review' to allow for the creation of full ARM templates from existing resource groups.