How do you type a multi-line command on Azure Interactive Shell?

Question

How do you type a multi-line command on Azure Interactive Shell?

Austin Lee 11

I am working in the sandbox on Microsoft Azure training. I cannot figure out how to enter a multi-line command in the Azure Interactive Shell. I believe entering the backslash '\' should start a new line, but that does not work. Here is the command I am trying to enter:
az network nsg rule create \
--resource-group learn-78daa456-3316-43d7-9a60-f3ec613dca9f \
--nsg-name my-vmNSG \
--name allow-http \
--protocol tcp \
--priority 100 \
--destination-port-range 80 \
--access Allow

Dan M 10 Reputation points

2023-05-28T04:00:28.1633333+00:00

I had to get out of AZ Interactive and revert to Bash. The copy and pasting worked for me then. Make sure you are in Bash and not in interactive mode.

2 answers

Your answer

Dan M 10 Reputation points

2023-05-28T04:00:28.1633333+00:00

I had to get out of AZ Interactive and revert to Bash. The copy and pasting worked for me then. Make sure you are in Bash and not in interactive mode.

Answer 1

Hoekstra Jelle 501

Hi,

I just verified the command..
The command works.
Enter 1 line at a time, and make sure you see > at the start of the 2nd line all the way up to the end.

So do it like:
az network nsg rule create \

Shift+Enter

--resource-group learn-78daa456-3316-43d7-9a60-f3ec613dca9f \

Shift+Enter

etc and in the end give an enter.. It will work!

Hope this helps

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If this solved the issue, please accept the answer and upvote!

Austin Lee 11 Reputation points

2022-12-09T16:08:31.787+00:00

This does not work for the interactive sandbox on the Microsoft training website. I am not sure whether or not it works on the real website. But thank you anyway!
Mathieu Bergounioux 5 Reputation points

2023-11-13T13:51:21.4566667+00:00

so.... you have to enter Shift+Enter instead of just Enter even though the backslash ( \ ) character on each line specifically means that the command is not finished?

EDIT: I just checked and that solution indeed does not work. If you press Shift+Enter in the Azure Cloud Shell (the powershell one, not the bash one) then it responds just the same as if you pressed Enter.

Answer 2

Hello, @Austin Lee !

Where am I seeing this?

Subject: Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Learning Path: Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure architecture and services
Module: Describe Azure compute and networking services
Unit: Exercise - Configure network access

How do I type multi-line commands in the sandbox/interactive Azure Cloud Shell?
When entering multi-line commands, you'll use "\" for Bash and "`" for PowerShell. Since the sandbox defaults to Bash, you use "\". This allows you to enter lines one at a time without executing them or paste entire blocks all at once.

When using the sandbox, you'll want to right click and select paste rather than using keyboard shortcuts as that can create characters that will invalidate the multi-line formatting (see screenshot below).

If you are using "\" and are running into issues, please share a screenshot and I'd be happy to help you troubleshoot this. I'll follow up with you directly.

Entering a multi-line command successfully in the sandbox

Pasting a multi-line command line by line (right click, paste, then press Enter)

Watch out for keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + C) adding invalid characters

Using the Azure Cloud Shell

Documentation examples will sometimes use multi-line characters that are specific to one shell even if the commands themselves can be run in both PowerShell and Bash. Be sure to use the correct multi-line characters in the correct shell.

Multi-line command in Bash

Multi-line command in PowerShell

Errors when using the wrong multi-line character in the wrong shell

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How do you type a multi-line command on Azure Interactive Shell?

2 answers

Using the Azure Cloud Shell

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